Benders run the government, benders run the police, benders play a vital role in maintaining infrastructure, benders run the gangs and extort normals left and right. Hell, even pro sports requires bending ability.
Even if there's no actual oppression, benders play a heavily disproportionate role in Republic City society.
Benders run the government? Where has this been shown? Is the police force in charge of everything?
In the original series, the Fire Nation's nobility tended to be fire benders. This was true of the Air Nomads as well due to their society. But the northern water tribe had a ruler and a lot of warriors in high positions that were not benders that I was aware of (I don't recall the chief bending, for instance, and there were a lot of non-benders in elite positions, like Yue's betrothed). In the Earth nation most of the nobility either couldn't bend or were never shown bending.
In this series, due to the nature of who Korra is likely to run into, we've seen few governmental officials besides the police force. I'm not even sure the guards who spend time listening to pro-bending can even bend.
Basically, generally benders are in positions where physical force helps. Otherwise it isn't used. Top merchants don't need bending. We've seen ONE sport, and it requires bending, but we've likely only seen this one because they made it plot relevant.
There is mention of how much damage the benders did. Give me a match, and I could equal that damage in a relatively short period of time (don't even need a match). You don't need a lot of skill to terrorize shopkeepers. At all. They could accomplish the same thing with clubs, I bet.
Bending gives a huge advantage where physical force is a primary consideration. It is an advantage, but so is being smarter than the average bear. We haven't seen any evidence of discrimination beyond the simple fact that someone born with more advantages is likely to do better. You can become more physically capable ... to a degree. You can hone your intelligence ... to a degree. But complaining about benders would be like me complaining about Einstein. I can't do what he did, and likely in a million years I still would not be capable of that insight.
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
The fire nation nobility did not even tend to be benders, just the royal family. No other nobles that we see are benders. The idea that only benders can extort money from people is also ridiculous given that it happens in the real world as well. And you do need training to do what the thugs did. Remember that Katara could only catch fish and stuff with her bending before training and even that was with a lot of practice. I'm sorry but you are really reaching to try to find stuff that just isn't in the source material.
I'm certainly not wholly on his side but the idea that there aren't obvious, significant advantages to everyone knowing you can literally kill them with a wave of the hand is ludicrous.
But that is not oppression. We haven't seen any proof that benders dominate the government or are richer on average then non benders or have old benders clubs that fix each other up with jobs etc.
Do you not consider having to regularly fear that a group, and only one group, is going to destroy your block in a dispute oppression? That in any interaction with one the power is always out of whack? You've yet to address the fact that outside the ring bending has been demonstrated as terribly destructive and responsible for more damage than anything else. This alone is reason for people to be fearful and upset. To say nothing of the threats the Avatar made, the followed through on, against a peaceful protester.
So yeah. No one's oppressed so long as they don't upset the people with the power to ruin their lives in an instant.
I'm certainly not wholly on his side but the idea that there aren't obvious, significant advantages to everyone knowing you can literally kill them with a wave of the hand is ludicrous.
But that is not oppression. We haven't seen any proof that benders dominate the government or are richer on average then non benders or have old benders clubs that fix each other up with jobs etc.
Do you not consider having to regularly fear that a group, and only one group, is going to destroy your block in a dispute oppression? That in any interaction with one the power is always out of whack? You've yet to address the fact that outside the ring bending has been demonstrated as terribly destructive and responsible for more damage than anything else. This alone is reason for people to be fearful and upset. To say nothing of the threats the Avatar made, the followed through on, against a peaceful protester.
So yeah. No one's oppressed so long as they don't upset the people with the power to ruin their lives in an instant.
In the show a bender vs a non bender of equal talent and training is an even fight. Period full stop we have seen that time and again. This isn't the real world and nonbenders can do impossible martial arts and gymnastics. If benders are on average better at fighting it is because they train at fighting more.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
How do you know that? We certainly saw poor benders in the original series.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
There's a lot of unseen stuff that, historically, ties into a ruling class within society:
- The military officer corps
- The national police leadership
- The central political leadership (whether that be the politburo, the Democratic or Republic National Committee, etc.)
These are all groups that frequently tend to gravitate towards homogeneous groups of people (not necessarily ethnically, mind you), and give said group disproportionate power in society. It's certainly true now, anyway. But I haven't seen nearly enough of this show to extrapolate if its the case in the Republic features in Korra.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
Yeah, between the two of them they made pretty decent money, though some of that was ill gotten gains.
In the show a bender vs a non bender of equal talent and training is an even fight.
In the show it took Aang just screwing around with fire bending, with no formal training, to horribly hurt someone. It has regularly not been proven equal and the only time we've seen a nonbender beat a mediocre bender is with years of training. Zuko had to resort to bending fighting a mediocre earth bender, Sokka only fought another bender while hiding behind Zuko.
And even with years of training, it's still limited. There's nothing that can be done when someone decides to erupt a volcano, bring on a tidal wave, create an earth quake, or use a comet to commit genocide in a night. In the show benders regularly tear apart their surroundings more than any other nonbender. And only because of their ability to do so. You seem to be ignoring this.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
How do you know that? We certainly saw poor benders in the original series.
Because it took Mako all of one day to find a well paying, far less glamorous, job.
And the Equalists aren't rebelling against the situation of 70 years ago.
In the show a bender vs a non bender of equal talent and training is an even fight.
In the show it took Aang just screwing around with fire bending, with no formal training, to horribly hurt someone. It has regularly not been proven equal and the only time we've seen a nonbender beat a mediocre bender is with years of training. Zuko had to resort to bending fighting a mediocre earth bender, Sokka only fought another bender while hiding behind Zuko.
And even with years of training, it's still limited. There's nothing that can be done when someone decides to erupt a volcano, bring on a tidal wave, create an earth quake, or use a comet to commit genocide in a night. In the show benders regularly tear apart their surroundings more than any other nonbender. And only because of their ability to do so. You seem to be ignoring this.
Horribly hurt someone? He gave 2nd degree burns to her hand. Someone training at a martial art could accidently punch someone in the head and do more damage. I am not ignoring it. In the show we have seen Hakoda, Sokka, Suki etc take on multiple fire benders and win. Master Piando could take on multiple benders in a fight when they had Sozin's comet giving them a power up. We also never saw anyone erupt a volcano or create a tidal wave or earthquake.
Once more, benders have a significant presence on the ruling council, quite possibly make up the entire ruling council, and they run the police.
There's also plenty of proof that benders are richer on average than non-benders. We've seen poor people, but no poor benders, and if even a menial industrial job bending pays good money, poor benders are not likely to be found.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
How do you know that? We certainly saw poor benders in the original series.
Because it took Mako all of one day to find a well paying, far less glamorous, job.
And the Equalists aren't rebelling against the situation of 70 years ago.
You don't know that. He worked as a day manual laborer and said it was good money but we have no idea how it compares to how much they make as probenders. The very fact that he got the job in one day as a day laborer means it probably isn't unionized so I doubt it was all that much.
This discussion actually brings up kind of a sore point for me. They had all this talk about how the comet was going to supercharge the firebenders, and then the comet shows up and THAT is when they totally bitch slap the entire Fire Nation military? I mean sure, Iroh is likely to be quite a force with the comet behind him, but very few members of the Avatar's side of the conflict were firebenders.
Having poor benders doesn't mean that there is not discrimination/oppression. However the case of discrimination/oppression has never been successfully evidenced as far as I can tell.
Mostly from what I can tell, people fear other people who might have power over them. But for the majority of those individuals doing the fearing, a moderately trained martial artist could accomplish the same.
Conceivably, anyone could potentially maybe be able to train so they wouldn't have to fear others in a physical confrontation. For the majority of people, I doubt they consider this to be a reasonable possibility.
edit: I guess, basically, this thing really smacks of the sort of complaints people have against scientists here in America. "Those darned experts are oppressing us!"
In the show a bender vs a non bender of equal talent and training is an even fight.
In the show it took Aang just screwing around with fire bending, with no formal training, to horribly hurt someone. It has regularly not been proven equal and the only time we've seen a nonbender beat a mediocre bender is with years of training. Zuko had to resort to bending fighting a mediocre earth bender, Sokka only fought another bender while hiding behind Zuko.
And even with years of training, it's still limited. There's nothing that can be done when someone decides to erupt a volcano, bring on a tidal wave, create an earth quake, or use a comet to commit genocide in a night. In the show benders regularly tear apart their surroundings more than any other nonbender. And only because of their ability to do so. You seem to be ignoring this.
Horribly hurt someone? He gave 2nd degree burns to her hand. Someone training at a martial art could accidently punch someone in the head and do more damage.
Someone trained in a martial art wouldn't be accidently punching people.
I am not ignoring it. In the show we have seen Hakoda, Sokka, Suki etc take on multiple fire benders and win. Master Piando could take on multiple benders in a fight when they had Sozin's comet giving them a power up. We also never saw anyone erupt a volcano or create a tidal wave or earthquake.
O_o
I think you need to rewatch some of the last season. Piando rides in on a tidal wave created by a bender. Toph has no trouble shaking the earth around her. Past Avatars are specifically shown detonating volcanoes. Hakoda, Sokka, and Piando fought other benders in a war while supported by their own. War =/= a fight between two people.
And, in the current day, launching cars through shop windows and attacking peaceful protesters.
In the show a bender vs a non bender of equal talent and training is an even fight.
In the show it took Aang just screwing around with fire bending, with no formal training, to horribly hurt someone. It has regularly not been proven equal and the only time we've seen a nonbender beat a mediocre bender is with years of training. Zuko had to resort to bending fighting a mediocre earth bender, Sokka only fought another bender while hiding behind Zuko.
And even with years of training, it's still limited. There's nothing that can be done when someone decides to erupt a volcano, bring on a tidal wave, create an earth quake, or use a comet to commit genocide in a night. In the show benders regularly tear apart their surroundings more than any other nonbender. And only because of their ability to do so. You seem to be ignoring this.
Horribly hurt someone? He gave 2nd degree burns to her hand. Someone training at a martial art could accidently punch someone in the head and do more damage.
Someone trained in a martial art wouldn't be accidently punching people.
I am not ignoring it. In the show we have seen Hakoda, Sokka, Suki etc take on multiple fire benders and win. Master Piando could take on multiple benders in a fight when they had Sozin's comet giving them a power up. We also never saw anyone erupt a volcano or create a tidal wave or earthquake.
O_o
I think you need to rewatch some of the last season. Piando rides in on a tidal wave created by a bender. Toph has no trouble shaking the earth around her. Past Avatars are specifically shown detonating volcanoes. Hakoda, Sokka, and Piando fought other benders in a war while supported by their own. War =/= a fight between two people.
And, in the current day, launching cars through shop windows and attacking peaceful protesters.
I have a friend who got a concussion when they were practicing TKD because the other guy messed up so yeah, that can happen. As for the Piando thing that wasn't a tidal wave. A tidal wave is a very specific and much much bigger thing then that. So right now your total point is that Korra did a couple things, therefore there is oppression which is pretty ridiculous.
You don't know that. He worked as a day manual laborer and said it was good money but we have no idea how it compares to how much they make as probenders.
Yes we very much do. Which is significantly more than the nothing they currently make as pro benders. Again, no one is forcing them to do it but they want to. They're in the minor leagues hoping to make it to the majors. But they could just go get regular jobs and make plenty to support themselves.
You don't know that. He worked as a day manual laborer and said it was good money but we have no idea how it compares to how much they make as probenders.
Yes we very much do. Which is significantly more than the nothing they currently make as pro benders. Again, no one is forcing them to do it but they want to. They're in the minor leagues hoping to make it to the majors. But they could just go get regular jobs and make plenty to support themselves.
They made money as probenders, it is just that they spent all that money to pay back their debt. Just because they could get a job doing manual labor doesn't mean that they wouldn't be poor. Plenty of people in the real world manage to work in manual labor and be poor.
So, basically, we're just wondering why no one has managed to invent a bomb, which lets a single normal person cause similar levels of havoc (not necessarily the volcano thing).
You don't know that. He worked as a day manual laborer and said it was good money but we have no idea how it compares to how much they make as probenders.
Yes we very much do. Which is significantly more than the nothing they currently make as pro benders. Again, no one is forcing them to do it but they want to. They're in the minor leagues hoping to make it to the majors. But they could just go get regular jobs and make plenty to support themselves.
They made money as probenders, it is just that they spent all that money to pay back their debt.
Debt from the place they worked for. That is not making money. In fact, that's actually called wage slavery.
And Mako said the money was good. I trust that Mako can tell whether or not he's making money.
You don't know that. He worked as a day manual laborer and said it was good money but we have no idea how it compares to how much they make as probenders.
Yes we very much do. Which is significantly more than the nothing they currently make as pro benders. Again, no one is forcing them to do it but they want to. They're in the minor leagues hoping to make it to the majors. But they could just go get regular jobs and make plenty to support themselves.
They made money as probenders, it is just that they spent all that money to pay back their debt.
Debt from the place they worked for. That is not making money. In fact, that's actually called wage slavery.
And Mako said the money was good. I trust that Mako can tell whether or not he's making money.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
People can have a job and still be poor, especially if that job is non union physical labor in a 1920s analogue.
I have a friend who got a concussion when they were practicing TKD because the other guy messed up so yeah, that can happen.
Not equivalent. Do you have a friend in a dojo get hurt because they were a few yards away and someone was doing the equivalent of punching a dummy?
As for the Piando thing that wasn't a tidal wave. A tidal wave is a very specific and much much bigger thing then that. So right now your total point is that Korra did a couple things, therefore there is oppression which is pretty ridiculous.
And you know Toph shaking the earth, Sozin's comet being used for instant genocide, volcanoes being erupted, etc.
And I'm sorry that Pakku and the other master's giant waves aren't large enough for you and were merely horribly destructive rather than civilization destroying. Clearly all that's necessary than for people to fight volcanoes is to make sure to spend a few hours every week at the dojo.
So, basically, we're just wondering why no one has managed to invent a bomb, which lets a single normal person cause similar levels of havoc (not necessarily the volcano thing).
But any technological advance would work just as well for the benders, inventing machine guns wouldn't help, because the thugs would just have machine guns as well in addition to their superpowers. Plus the metalbenders/earthbenders/firebenders would just shatter/crush/ignite the non-benders gun at long range.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
People can have a job and still be poor, especially if that job is non union physical labor in a 1920s analogue.
Please do not ignore the point.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
So, basically, we're just wondering why no one has managed to invent a bomb, which lets a single normal person cause similar levels of havoc (not necessarily the volcano thing).
By the standards of turn of the century orphans, Making and Bolin are fucking loaded. They can afford nice clothes. And a pretty big apartment for themselves alone. And dumplins.
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
People can have a job and still be poor, especially if that job is non union physical labor in a 1920s analogue.
Please do not ignore the point.
I'm not ignoring the point, honestly I feel like you are. You are saying that Benders have a huge economic advantage over non benders and that the only poor benders we see are poor because of chasing their dreams. I am saying that just because someone was able to get a job as a manual laborer that doesn't mean they can just work their way out of poverty and that the assumption that Benders are an economic overclass is unfounded.
So, basically, we're just wondering why no one has managed to invent a bomb, which lets a single normal person cause similar levels of havoc (not necessarily the volcano thing).
IT'S A CARTOON FOR CHILDREN! Bombs and terrorism? What are you thinking?
I also find it odd, Neaden, that you claim pro bending pays well despite it being shown on screen that Mako and Bolin get no money from it, indeed they lose money, but you want to claim that industrial work pays poorly despite what's seen on screen showing the opposite.
I also find it odd, Neaden, that you claim pro bending pays well despite it being shown on screen that Mako and Bolin get no money from it, indeed they lose money, but you want to claim that industrial work pays poorly despite what's seen on screen showing the opposite.
I am saying that we don't have any evidence that pro bending is wage slavery which is what you said or that industrial work means that they aren't poor.
Edit: Also they didn't lose money from probending, they just only had enough to buy groceries and pay their landlord.
I also find it odd, Neaden, that you claim pro bending pays well despite it being shown on screen that Mako and Bolin get no money from it, indeed they lose money, but you want to claim that industrial work pays poorly despite what's seen on screen showing the opposite.
I am saying that we don't have any evidence that pro bending is wage slavery which is what you said or that industrial work means that they aren't poor.
Edit: Also they didn't lose money from probending, they just only had enough to buy groceries and pay their landlord.
They had enough to pay for last week's groceries. They still need to eat this week too.
And oh hey Mako's part time job that he says pays really well but clearly isn't as fun and glamorous easily covers that.
I also find it odd, Neaden, that you claim pro bending pays well despite it being shown on screen that Mako and Bolin get no money from it, indeed they lose money, but you want to claim that industrial work pays poorly despite what's seen on screen showing the opposite.
I am saying that we don't have any evidence that pro bending is wage slavery which is what you said or that industrial work means that they aren't poor.
Edit: Also they didn't lose money from probending, they just only had enough to buy groceries and pay their landlord.
They had enough to pay for last week's groceries. They still need to eat this week too.
And oh hey Mako's part time job that he says pays really well but clearly isn't as fun and glamorous easily covers that.
He bought dumplings. Also if we are going to do that then it also presumably paid for a whole months rent. Neither of them really seem like they provide all that much money or mean that they aren't poor though, which was your claim.
Man Quid, you are repeatedly directly comparing average folks to the Avatar and other titans of bending. Average benders do not erupt volcanoes or create tidal waves or earthquakes. They like throw rocks.
So, basically, we're just wondering why no one has managed to invent a bomb, which lets a single normal person cause similar levels of havoc (not necessarily the volcano thing).
IT'S A CARTOON FOR CHILDREN! Bombs and terrorism? What are you thinking?
*sigh* It is a cartoon, yes. We are adults (well, many of us). We are trying to socioeconomically investigate a cartoon for children using information presented to us. My post was not intended as an assumption we would see such a thing, simply pointing out that Quid's comment on the level of havoc achievable by a single individual is similar between benders and non-benders. His further comments on how normal people feel intimidation by benders but not by non-benders simply points out to how biased their view is. Yeah, that guy approaching me might be able to throw a car at me. He might also just be able to knife me to death. While hypothetically I could more easily defend against one, in reality I'd be equally likely to die by either.
The end statement of the non-bending faction is simply that they are afraid, and unreasonably so to my mind. I don't think everyone who has a knife is going to try to knife me, similarly just because someone is a bender that doesn't mean I should be afraid of them either.
Edit: Really the only difference to me between a bender and a guy with a knife is how much of my corpse is left.
Further edit: I'm not sure just how oppressed or afraid Amon's shill really was, since he had no fear of mouthing off to the Avatar. The shill himself mostly seemed to be expressing jealousy, not fear.
But it includes their rent and grocery money. Mako said the money was good but that is by the standard of someone who used to be a homeless orphan. I'm saying that it is a job as a manual laborer and I doubt it is enough to make them middle class.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
People can have a job and still be poor, especially if that job is non union physical labor in a 1920s analogue.
Please do not ignore the point.
I'm not ignoring the point, honestly I feel like you are. You are saying that Benders have a huge economic advantage over non benders and that the only poor benders we see are poor because of chasing their dreams. I am saying that just because someone was able to get a job as a manual laborer that doesn't mean they can just work their way out of poverty and that the assumption that Benders are an economic overclass is unfounded.
This entire sentence does. Benders are capable of significantly large destructive capability at far less effort. This is not an assumption, it's clearly visible throughout the series. That some people, with a significant amount of training, can fight benders of a certain skill level does not make them equal to all benders. There wasn't a pile of corpses around monk Gyatso because they just weren't skilled enough with a sword.
Man Quid, you are repeatedly directly comparing average folks to the Avatar and other titans of bending. Average benders do not erupt volcanoes or create tidal waves or earthquakes. They like throw rocks.
Because Neaden claimed a person of equal training could hold their own against them.
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In the original series, the Fire Nation's nobility tended to be fire benders. This was true of the Air Nomads as well due to their society. But the northern water tribe had a ruler and a lot of warriors in high positions that were not benders that I was aware of (I don't recall the chief bending, for instance, and there were a lot of non-benders in elite positions, like Yue's betrothed). In the Earth nation most of the nobility either couldn't bend or were never shown bending.
In this series, due to the nature of who Korra is likely to run into, we've seen few governmental officials besides the police force. I'm not even sure the guards who spend time listening to pro-bending can even bend.
Basically, generally benders are in positions where physical force helps. Otherwise it isn't used. Top merchants don't need bending. We've seen ONE sport, and it requires bending, but we've likely only seen this one because they made it plot relevant.
There is mention of how much damage the benders did. Give me a match, and I could equal that damage in a relatively short period of time (don't even need a match). You don't need a lot of skill to terrorize shopkeepers. At all. They could accomplish the same thing with clubs, I bet.
Bending gives a huge advantage where physical force is a primary consideration. It is an advantage, but so is being smarter than the average bear. We haven't seen any evidence of discrimination beyond the simple fact that someone born with more advantages is likely to do better. You can become more physically capable ... to a degree. You can hone your intelligence ... to a degree. But complaining about benders would be like me complaining about Einstein. I can't do what he did, and likely in a million years I still would not be capable of that insight.
Um, Mako and Bolin didn't seem very rich to me. It looked like basically extortion to me, even.
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Do you not consider having to regularly fear that a group, and only one group, is going to destroy your block in a dispute oppression? That in any interaction with one the power is always out of whack? You've yet to address the fact that outside the ring bending has been demonstrated as terribly destructive and responsible for more damage than anything else. This alone is reason for people to be fearful and upset. To say nothing of the threats the Avatar made, the followed through on, against a peaceful protester.
So yeah. No one's oppressed so long as they don't upset the people with the power to ruin their lives in an instant.
No one said otherwise.
Mako and Bolin are poor because they're going for their dream rather than something practical.
There's a lot of unseen stuff that, historically, ties into a ruling class within society:
- The military officer corps
- The national police leadership
- The central political leadership (whether that be the politburo, the Democratic or Republic National Committee, etc.)
These are all groups that frequently tend to gravitate towards homogeneous groups of people (not necessarily ethnically, mind you), and give said group disproportionate power in society. It's certainly true now, anyway. But I haven't seen nearly enough of this show to extrapolate if its the case in the Republic features in Korra.
Yeah, between the two of them they made pretty decent money, though some of that was ill gotten gains.
In the show it took Aang just screwing around with fire bending, with no formal training, to horribly hurt someone. It has regularly not been proven equal and the only time we've seen a nonbender beat a mediocre bender is with years of training. Zuko had to resort to bending fighting a mediocre earth bender, Sokka only fought another bender while hiding behind Zuko.
And even with years of training, it's still limited. There's nothing that can be done when someone decides to erupt a volcano, bring on a tidal wave, create an earth quake, or use a comet to commit genocide in a night. In the show benders regularly tear apart their surroundings more than any other nonbender. And only because of their ability to do so. You seem to be ignoring this.
Because it took Mako all of one day to find a well paying, far less glamorous, job.
And the Equalists aren't rebelling against the situation of 70 years ago.
Mostly from what I can tell, people fear other people who might have power over them. But for the majority of those individuals doing the fearing, a moderately trained martial artist could accomplish the same.
Conceivably, anyone could potentially maybe be able to train so they wouldn't have to fear others in a physical confrontation. For the majority of people, I doubt they consider this to be a reasonable possibility.
edit: I guess, basically, this thing really smacks of the sort of complaints people have against scientists here in America. "Those darned experts are oppressing us!"
O_o
I think you need to rewatch some of the last season. Piando rides in on a tidal wave created by a bender. Toph has no trouble shaking the earth around her. Past Avatars are specifically shown detonating volcanoes. Hakoda, Sokka, and Piando fought other benders in a war while supported by their own. War =/= a fight between two people.
And, in the current day, launching cars through shop windows and attacking peaceful protesters.
Yes we very much do. Which is significantly more than the nothing they currently make as pro benders. Again, no one is forcing them to do it but they want to. They're in the minor leagues hoping to make it to the majors. But they could just go get regular jobs and make plenty to support themselves.
Debt from the place they worked for. That is not making money. In fact, that's actually called wage slavery.
And Mako said the money was good. I trust that Mako can tell whether or not he's making money.
Their grocery money for the last week. Meaning if they wanted to get by solely a pro benders they would have to continue in debt. That they had a room paid for doesn't mean they made money. Pro bending, much like any other sport, doesn't pay well until you get near the top.
Of course they could just go get real jobs, which Mako says pays well, and live off of that. Their current poverty is self imposed as they go for their dream. It is not the result of lack of opportunity.
And you know Toph shaking the earth, Sozin's comet being used for instant genocide, volcanoes being erupted, etc.
And I'm sorry that Pakku and the other master's giant waves aren't large enough for you and were merely horribly destructive rather than civilization destroying. Clearly all that's necessary than for people to fight volcanoes is to make sure to spend a few hours every week at the dojo.
But any technological advance would work just as well for the benders, inventing machine guns wouldn't help, because the thugs would just have machine guns as well in addition to their superpowers. Plus the metalbenders/earthbenders/firebenders would just shatter/crush/ignite the non-benders gun at long range.
Please do not ignore the point.
Can we not go down this road again?
IT'S A CARTOON FOR CHILDREN! Bombs and terrorism? What are you thinking?
Edit: Also they didn't lose money from probending, they just only had enough to buy groceries and pay their landlord.
They had enough to pay for last week's groceries. They still need to eat this week too.
And oh hey Mako's part time job that he says pays really well but clearly isn't as fun and glamorous easily covers that.
The end statement of the non-bending faction is simply that they are afraid, and unreasonably so to my mind. I don't think everyone who has a knife is going to try to knife me, similarly just because someone is a bender that doesn't mean I should be afraid of them either.
Edit: Really the only difference to me between a bender and a guy with a knife is how much of my corpse is left.
Further edit: I'm not sure just how oppressed or afraid Amon's shill really was, since he had no fear of mouthing off to the Avatar. The shill himself mostly seemed to be expressing jealousy, not fear.
This entire sentence does. Benders are capable of significantly large destructive capability at far less effort. This is not an assumption, it's clearly visible throughout the series. That some people, with a significant amount of training, can fight benders of a certain skill level does not make them equal to all benders. There wasn't a pile of corpses around monk Gyatso because they just weren't skilled enough with a sword.
Because Neaden claimed a person of equal training could hold their own against them.
And that is simply untrue.