Well, I would argue an even stronger argument than that: Taxation.
If you don't pay your taxes, the government can take everything you own, threaten you with jail time, and even threaten you with firearms (a definite sign of forced oppression). Such a thing as taxation is oppression because you cannot opt out of it (the cost of denouncing ones citizenship is overwhelmingly high).
In the trivial case, all useful governments must have some way of exerting force on it's constituents, otherwise it could not maintain governance. A willfully entered contract of governance can only last as long as the generation that entered into it. After that, all generations are born into the governance and so do not have a choice as to whether they are governed or not. It is, quite literally, forced upon them with threat of violence, theft, or both.
However, I agree with your over-arching point that it is generally not fruitful, and can even be damaging, to believe that one's position in life is the fault of a generally democratic government that they live under. For if that is ones belief, then that person could never better their position in life.
mr moose reacted to straight_stewie in 3 sides of oppression:
