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I suspect most systemic oppression is a myth. But it's very commonly used as an important concept in America, and I wanna make sure I'm not missing anything - can someone steelman systemic oppression for me - what it means exactly, and if that definition is supported by data?

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We systemically oppress the poor in this country. It's expensive to be poor: Renting is more expensive than owning (houses but also cars). Regressive taxation such as sales tax. Getting an education is unbelievably expensive and you can't make more money without one!

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You *can* if you have an exceptional talent and luck, but this is not true for most people. Most people who don't have a college education will never make enough money to break free of the poor trap described above. Lots of people are working multiple jobs just to get by.

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"Moves into..." suggests they start a job that does require a college education (most lucrative ones do). Once you get that on your resume, you get mobility to move. Maybe there are tens of millions of non-college making bank, but a *hundred* million at or near the poverty line.

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I've assumed most people do college because it's a clear path to stability; if you don't do college you have to do more work to figure out your own path. College is generally useless but self sustaining in value; if jobs need it, you need it too for easy stability.

4:48 PM · Feb 25, 2020

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And by jobs need it I mean jobs look at it as a necessary thing for you to have done, not as it actually being important

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