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I think you're right that it's widespread beyond consciously selfish people. Most people naturally reproduce whatever behavior seems to be socially rewarded, an
by dkarl 4y ago
I think you're right that it's widespread beyond consciously selfish people. Most people naturally reproduce whatever behavior seems to be socially rewarded, and some people don't think very hard into it.
For example, in my social group, who as you can imagine are a bunch of well-off privileged people, there is a small but persistent minority of people who complain about ills that plague less privileged people as if they affected them, too. They aren't a minority of the most selfish people; they might be a pious bunch but they're mostly just not thinking.
So I hear complaints about anxiety over employment, from people with Ivy League degrees who could have ten interviews for higher pay lined up within 48 hours if they wanted. And not just acknowledgment of the emotions that everybody feels regardless of privilege, but explicitly linking their anxiety to real economic precarity and political and policy injustices.
Complaints about how difficult it is to pay for health care, from people who have 1% incomes and walk out of a complex surgery owing a few hundred bucks. That's not the health care crisis that people are talking about!
Complaints about exploitative employment, from salaried people who can and do take a few days off whenever they want, for whatever reason they want, and can disappear from work anytime, no matter how awkward the timing, with no questions asked by saying the words "mental health."
These people aren't consciously lying, but they aren't thinking concretely enough to realize that people aren't going to validate and applaud their words like they would if they came out of the mouth of someone less privileged.
I tell them that if privileged people exploit the sensitivity to mental health in the workplace to such a ridiculous degree, there might be a backlash against it before some people even begin to see the benefits. And if people learn to associate "health care crisis" and "food islands" with wealthy people complaining about nearly imperceptible lifestyle compromises, it's going to make it much harder to make progress politically.
But they don't get it. They aren't thinking below the surface. They're just thinking "people sympathize with and applaud these kinds of complaints so I should voice them as well."
- mistrial9 4y agooverall this is real but, how should people of conscience act? Maybe you are annoyed with their privileges, more than your respect for conscience feelings on their part? The ages-old solution here is to act collectively, through a group voice, lessening the individual differences. Many religious groups through the generations serve exactly this function.
- rayiner 4y agoThey could start by refusing to participate in the systems they say are so bad. At a certain point, it seems more like coping with the guilt of privilege (similar to survivor’s guilt) than any genuine intention to change anything.
- dkarl 4y agoPeople of conscience can talk about issues that have profound negative effects on other people without acting like they see those issues at work in their own lives.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago> overall this is real but, how should people of conscience act? You mean people of privilege who want to ease their conscience? Talk is cheap, either donate your money or donate your time. Enough of the "raising awareness" bullshit. Talking about the problems other people have is the cheapest most useless way somebody with privilege could possibly ease their conscience. It should be mocked, not encouraged.
- rougka 4y agoJust something I am curious about, privilege tends to mean an unfair advantage given to a group if I get it right. So how is an Ivy League education a privilege? Doesn’t it require a lot of hard work to get into or finish such school? Isn’t it something rightfully gained?
- hellotomyrars 4y agoDisregarding the general reality that socioeconomics broadly has an impact on academic performance as a result of the resources people have throughout their development, there are only so many scholarships an Ivy League school will offer. So regardless of your hard work you are potentially or primarily limited by your ability to pay to begin with. Being able to afford an Ivy League education is a position of privilege. Both for tuition and also everything else someone needs to live.
- rougka 4y agoYes that is correct but that is of course correct for any higher education school be it Ivy League or not. Even public school education is restricted to some by economic situation and the quality is highly variable across locations. By that logic community college is also a privilege granted upon those with enough money for tuition and enough time to attend This is of course taking one facet of Capitalism, calling it by a scare word (privilege) and forgetting about at all the other identical parts
- MacsHeadroom 4y agoHaving the right pedigree, a network of people encouraging and helping you, teachers who have the resources to help, and people who believe in you are all factors mostly outside of a minor's control. As are adequate nutrition, safe and secure housing, and a host of other privileges.
- rougka 4y agoEdit: Read minority instead of minor My point being is that barring any proof of cheating, merely graduating from an elite university does indicate some level of competence. It requires some very hard work which in STEM not just anyone could do, and therefore it is unfair to say this is some god given privilege Also, you cannot say how many of these graduates had access to the advantages you’ve listed above, and how much of the general population as a whole does