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> One of the things that flies and privileged people have in common is napping and sleeping at night Come on

dathinab 3y ago
I mean to some degree it's true. Most people on HN probably have the privilege to have grown up in a somewhat semi healthy society and now have reasonable decent jobs. But compared to people which are semi forced to do stuff like working 24h shifts frequently or living in a area with so much noise pollution (and or danger or hunger (it's really hard to sleep if you haven't eaten anything for 30h and not much before that either)) that it's hard to sleep at all. Or which have to work 3 jobs sleeping only 4 hours a night it's really quite privileged. A privilege which _should be the norm and not having it is inhuman_. But if we consider that there are _many millions_ of people which do not have it calling it a privilege is sadly not absurd.
- vintermann 3y ago
  I think the word privilege should be reserved for those things which inherently everyone can't have. You can imagine a world where everyone has a flying car, but you can't imagine one where everyone has a personal servant (because then the servants would also have servants, who would have servants etc.) To be an elected representative, or a leader, is a privilege because if everyone was, no one would be. To be rich in absolute terms isn't a privilege, but to be richer than average is a privilege. Same with status, beauty, talent etc. Calling things privilege which aren't, conflates things which are zero-sum and things which aren't.
  - handoflixue 3y ago
    > Calling things privilege which aren't, conflates things which are zero-sum and things which aren't. We already have "Zero Sum" to describe the thing you're talking about. Privilege is a different word, which refers to "a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed by a particular person or a restricted group of people" (Dictionary.com) You can try to fight to redefine the word, but recognize you're waging an uphill battle against how everyone else uses it
    - vintermann 3y ago
      We need different words for rights, immunities or benefits that everyone can have and rights, immunities or benefits that you necessarily have at other's expense. I have to fight uphill either way, since these two are so often conflated by activists. But I'm not alone or the first to insist on making the distinction.
godd2 3y ago
Reject modernity. Return to fly.

I mean to some degree it's true. Most people on HN probably have the privilege to have grown up in a somewhat semi healthy society and now have reasonable decent jobs. But compared to people which are semi forced to do stuff like working 24h shifts frequently or living in a area with so much noise pollution (and or danger or hunger (it's really hard to sleep if you haven't eaten anything for 30h and not much before that either)) that it's hard to sleep at all. Or which have to work 3 jobs sleeping only 4 hours a night it's really quite privileged. A privilege which _should be the norm and not having it is inhuman_. But if we consider that there are _many millions_ of people which do not have it calling it a privilege is sadly not absurd.

vintermann 3y ago
I think the word privilege should be reserved for those things which inherently everyone can't have. You can imagine a world where everyone has a flying car, but you can't imagine one where everyone has a personal servant (because then the servants would also have servants, who would have servants etc.) To be an elected representative, or a leader, is a privilege because if everyone was, no one would be. To be rich in absolute terms isn't a privilege, but to be richer than average is a privilege. Same with status, beauty, talent etc. Calling things privilege which aren't, conflates things which are zero-sum and things which aren't.
- handoflixue 3y ago
  > Calling things privilege which aren't, conflates things which are zero-sum and things which aren't. We already have "Zero Sum" to describe the thing you're talking about. Privilege is a different word, which refers to "a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed by a particular person or a restricted group of people" (Dictionary.com) You can try to fight to redefine the word, but recognize you're waging an uphill battle against how everyone else uses it
  - vintermann 3y ago
    We need different words for rights, immunities or benefits that everyone can have and rights, immunities or benefits that you necessarily have at other's expense. I have to fight uphill either way, since these two are so often conflated by activists. But I'm not alone or the first to insist on making the distinction.

godd2 3y ago

Reject modernity. Return to fly.