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As I understand it, "privilege" has nothing to do with income metrics and what have you. Privilege means that you can assume that society and all its mechanisms

by girzel 6y ago

As I understand it, "privilege" has nothing to do with income metrics and what have you. Privilege means that you can assume that society and all its mechanisms will work in your favor. Privilege means that if something horribly unfair happens to you, you can shout about it, and people will listen. Lacking privilege means that, when you shout about it, society will tell you to STFU. Having privilege means you can forget about having privilege. Lacking privilege means you need to constantly worry about losing it. The reason that a majority of people in a country can be privileged is that, as the majority, they can forget that the minority exists. They can forget that they are the majority. The minority can never, ever forget that they are the minority.

rayiner 6y ago
> As I understand it, "privilege" has nothing to do with income metrics and what have you. Privilege means that you can assume that society and all its mechanisms will work in your favor. When an Asian American born in the bottom 20% is much more likely to end up in the top 20% than a white person in the same situation, how is that not “society and it’s mechanisms working in favor” of the Asian person? > The reason that a majority of people in a country can be privileged is that, as the majority, they can forget that the minority exists. They can forget that they are the majority. That’s just a roundabout way of saying that minorities have disadvantages. Obviously that’s true. But expressing it as “white privilege” is a bizarre rhetorical device that doesn’t reflect how normal people talk. We don’t talk about the “privilege” of being average height, we talk about the challenges of especially tall people fitting into airplane seats or of especially short people in finding suits that fit.
- david38 6y ago
  Exactly. The absence of disadvantaged isn’t privileged. Besides, all those people in America talking about other people’s privilege often neglect the massive one they have - living now, in a first world country. At the end of the day, thumping your chest saying you’re a bigger victim because x, y, z will only go so far. It will get you favor with some, but eventually people tire of being attacked. It seems to come as shock that lots of white men don’t support people who call white men the root of all evil. There seems to be another shock that white women often support the men. I don’t know why they’re surprised. They have fathers, brothers, and sons. Guilt by born identity is a farce. This isn’t the Bible. We don’t have original sin, and while we do have historical sins, everyone has it. everyone.

by girzel 6y ago

rayiner 6y ago

> As I understand it, "privilege" has nothing to do with income metrics and what have you. Privilege means that you can assume that society and all its mechanisms will work in your favor. When an Asian American born in the bottom 20% is much more likely to end up in the top 20% than a white person in the same situation, how is that not “society and it’s mechanisms working in favor” of the Asian person? > The reason that a majority of people in a country can be privileged is that, as the majority, they can forget that the minority exists. They can forget that they are the majority. That’s just a roundabout way of saying that minorities have disadvantages. Obviously that’s true. But expressing it as “white privilege” is a bizarre rhetorical device that doesn’t reflect how normal people talk. We don’t talk about the “privilege” of being average height, we talk about the challenges of especially tall people fitting into airplane seats or of especially short people in finding suits that fit.

david38 6y ago
Exactly. The absence of disadvantaged isn’t privileged. Besides, all those people in America talking about other people’s privilege often neglect the massive one they have - living now, in a first world country. At the end of the day, thumping your chest saying you’re a bigger victim because x, y, z will only go so far. It will get you favor with some, but eventually people tire of being attacked. It seems to come as shock that lots of white men don’t support people who call white men the root of all evil. There seems to be another shock that white women often support the men. I don’t know why they’re surprised. They have fathers, brothers, and sons. Guilt by born identity is a farce. This isn’t the Bible. We don’t have original sin, and while we do have historical sins, everyone has it. everyone.