I can give a real life story about privilege from my own life. I was born in 1989 in south eastern PA. My father is a retired state trooper now and my mother an art teacher. I went to public schools for a bit in one of the shittiest districts and due to political religious reasons I was forced into christian schools. My mom had to work their to curve the tuitions. Because of this I have a gap in my education and failed horribly because certain subjects piggyback off each other and I was in advanced classes and didn't understand anything. I spent hours with a tutor and getting help and I still "wasn't trying hard enough". In high school I worked part time, bought my first car a 94 honda accord. Then after realizing my parents limitations and making me the scapegoat for thier shitty decision making and them complaining they couldn't take of me I joined the air force at 19, got my GI bill, got out at age 25 and my AA is in criminal justice. I work part time and pay all my bills, I scrap by every month...
Then we have my friend Jake, his dad has a doctorate in Chemistry, his mom a masters in Biology. His dad worked for a big chemical company, got laid off and teaches at temple. Because of this him and his sister got FREE college. Also him and his sister were home schooled K-12. Jakes parents bought him a car, he works but they pay for all his bills. He has a MBA in history. He got to take his masters program in the UK. I asked him how he planned to afford it, he said "my parents are paying for it!". He is now working on a doctorate in history... When I went overseas I paid for everything myself and what made it worse my family even the extended ones would hit me up for money all the time because "Military guys get paid so much". My first year in the air force I got 800$ every two weeks... That is a story of someone with a privileged life and me someone who had to work for it. Me and him constantly butt heads because he can't relate to struggling at all and assumes things about lower class people
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I strongly agree but I don't like the word choice "privilege" so much. Maybe "ignorance" would be more fitting. For example I have been born almost completely blind and throughout my life, I've had experiences where people accused me of malingering. I've had to listen to things like "oh come on, it can't be that hard, don't be so whiny". Hearing this kind of stuff from people who have absolutely no clue about the things I've went through can be very hurtful. I have a couple of very painful memories where I remember telling my parents or my girlfriend about something that happened to me and saying "I wish person xy could just for one day be in my shoes and see with my eyes."
The reason why privilege is not a very good word choice is because not everyone who is unaffected is automatically an ignorant asshole. For example my girlfriend never knew a disabled person before she met me but she's incredibly sweet, caring and understanding about it. So the problem is more that SOME people are ignorant idiots with a severe lack of human empathy.
Strongly agree. Most privileged people are completely unaware of their own privileges, because they're so used to them that they don't even notice them. You often hear people disagree with racism/sexism because they claim that they've "never experienced/seen something like it" and therefore it "doesn't exist", or that "they personally don't think they've ever benefited from their privilege". They refuse to understand that they practically live in a bubble, and that of course they're not going to think they benefit from their privilege because it's something that happens so actively that they're used to it. For instance, I'm never going to understand what it's like to be black because I'm white. I don't experience the things black people go through, nor am I probably as informed about their issues as a black person is, because it's not something that gets brought up much in my day-to-day life. However, that does not mean I get to dismiss the struggles black people face because they're black. In fact, it just means that I have to educate myself even more and MAKE SURE I'm aware of their struggles, what I can do to help from a privileged standpoint, and to keep making sure that I'm not being ignorant. This of course applies to all people, all minorities and all privileges/lack thereof.
Just an example, I am a white female and of course I see that I have privileges that say, women of color don't. I know its a clear problem but i don't think I will ever fully understand the struggles of a woman of color BECAUSE I am white. I'm not experiencing it first hand, so I will never have the full impact.
I can see its a problem and want to stand with them but when a woman of color points out that I don't see the whole picture, I believe them. And the important part is when they tell me what I'm not experiencing, I listen.
I'm honestly not too sure if I disagree or agree with this one. I can say that it might be ignorance more than privilege. Personally, I think people know issues are going on with other people who don't have the lives that us as Westerners have, so they just ignore them or don't care.
I'm very undecided about this.
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In an abstract sense, what you are describing is perhaps myopic, but I would not call it privilege. As the term is applied, it is one of those labels that gets thrown around to discount anyone who disagrees with your position: You're a homophobe, or you don't see because of white privilege.
I'm sure all the SJW's will tell you what you want to hear but for me: NO SALE. I totally disagree because if I don't have something someone else does, it doesn't mean they are privileged. The guy in the picture is clueless about what privilege means. Since the guy is a Black Lives Matters person, he's clueless about a lot of things! Does me having a car that costs $5,000 more than yours make me privileged? No, it means I could afford a little more expensive car than you can. That's all it means. If I worked at a job that pays more than your job, am I privileged? No, it means I'm qualified for a better job. People like the Black Lives Matter folks think that if you have more, there is something wrong with it. Maybe all those idiots who marched and said "kill the pigs" should get jobs and make themselves better. All this PC stuff is just that, stuff. It has no value. So that I don't get a ton of hate messages, I think ALL lives matter regardless of race. And those that want to "kill the pigs" should go to another country of their choice to live the way they want to. As far as I'm concerned, those who want our police killed should never call the terrible police when they need help. Why would anyone who hates them need to call them?
I disagree. I know that every individual faces their own share of adversity given their specific circumstances. I faced mine as a mixed person, especially when I first set foot in the U. S. and repeatedly got the whole, "Go back to your own country" thing. I even had teachers who mimicked my Japanese mannerisms in an attempt to poke fun at how I spoke and how I often bowed and kept my eyes down. It didn't help that I couldn't speak English very well starting out and also given that the little English I knew originally was British English, not American English.
I overcame a lot of adversity there thanks to perhaps one privilege: I received my early schooling in Japan. If I had one major privilege going for me, it was that. There we learned a work ethic that boiled down to keeping your head down and working hard. So I did that. Instead of being proud and rebellious and keeping my chin up, I kept my head down and worked hard.
While I maintained a 4.0 GPA in my university, I developed and published a new algorithm for computer graphics that began to be applied throughout the film industry. After that I had job offers coming up the ass. I was able to auction off my starting career to the highest bidder. I never even had to apply for a job let alone write a resume.
If someone can do the same thing I did and innovate a technique that changes the face of their industry (example: a new graphics algorithm that supersedes mine) and find that they can't share the same career success because they're female or black or Hispanic or whatever, then I might begin to believe in the notion of privileged classes of people. Yet that seems like an incredibly unrealistic scenario: these R&D fields highly benefit from a meritocratic approach.
Until then I believe in studying hard, working hard, and ultimately in raising children who prioritize these things above all else so that they can enjoy the fruits of their labor as adults.I disagree with that statement. If I'm an expert skier then I might think that skiing down a mountain is not a problem whereas someone else might see it as a big problem. That doesn't make me privileged, that just means that I've spent the time and put in the effort learning to ski. Similarly, advanced mathematics might not be a problem for me, because I've studied and learned.
The definition of the word 'problem' is all important. Is a problem something that you suffer from or a challenge that you face? If I am better able to face a challenge it may simply be because I have worked harder to face that challenge.No, It's 100% bullshit. This entire "privilege" fad is such bullshit that whenever someone brings it up, I immediately write them off as clueless idiots.
Like that guy in the picture with the sign. A clueless idiot. I wouldn't listen to a thing he had to say. If he actually had something to say he'd say it. Instead he's throwing around meaningless bullshit. He's using the far too common tactic of using a charged word, with some kind of implied meaning, therefore he's right. That's not a valid argument. He presents no argument at all.
It's the same with all the other charged words that people like to throw around. If someone has a valid argument, then make it. Simply using a word with all kinds of loaded implications just makes them look stupid. This practice is becoming far too common.
If people think throwing words like that around help their cause, it's doesn't. It has just the opposite effect.The problem with the use of priviledge isn't that there's something wrong with this definition or any other; the problem is that its definition is completely fluid. Its scope and effects grow and shrink depending on what a specific argument or dialogue calls for. Its a logical fallacy know as Motte and Bailey. An example would be the guy that says, "Religion isn't extreme. All I meant is that God is just the symbolic sum of the wonderful things around us. But you better bow down and worship him because you'll spend eternity in hell fire if you don't" From everything I've observed, the use of the word privilege exists to be able brand people with it in order to invalidate opinions (ad hominem). And what it means to have priviledge can be as extreme or bland and agreeable as necessary so that it can be applied to anyone.
How is this for privilege? I had to work 2 jobs during college to afford to live. Meanwhile minorities were given free room and board for their entire stay. When I got out of college a potential employer told me during an interview that they were going to consider me because they had to hire a woman. My company gives preferential treatment to minorities simply because they are minorities. We are pressured to hire them at the expense of extremely more qualified and intelligent candidates. Who is privileged?
It's no really a privilege, just an idea that being white isn't going to hurt your chances as much as being a different ethnicity or race would be. It's not like someone being white will be getting free shit. The difference is that being black may subconsciously (or consciously) keep you from being getting the same opportunities. That being said, I just don't give a shit... I don't get why white people get so defensive (I do and it's stupid) and I don't get why other races cling onto it as a crutch (I do and also think it's equally as stupid). People just need to stop bitching and move on and stop being so fucking butthurt every time they're made to feel uncomfortable in any sort of way
I think it's spot on. For instance most white people dont understand what white privilege is because they have it. To them white privilege is getting s Job or having money but what it really is, is how your race is seen. If your a young white male your parents probably never had to tell you to make sure you didn't walk home at night with your hood up vs s young black male who's parents probably told him repeatedly for his safety.
This "not a problem" has to come with some advantage that only you/your group/class/race/gender [and so on ] have over others. If there are no advantages, there are no privileges. Many things are not a problem for me but are a problem for others, but give me no advantage, therefore those things are not privileges.
well thats narcissism and a person can just be miserable and not give a shit without having any kind of benefit in life whosoever. people can also be privileged and feel the need t give back and be compassionate bc they hd it easer.. so i dont this they go hand in hand.
I don't like that definition since it would make literally everyone on earth considered privileged in some ways. I mean if you use that definition you could make outrageous and ridiculous arguments like, "starving kids in Africa are privileged because they don't have to worry about first world problems"
I think the current dictionary definition "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group." is perfectly fine.If that's privilege, then 99 percent of this generation are privileged. Because honestly, that's 99 percent of their mentalities. How many times do you try to express what you've PERSONALLY seen, or had happen to you, only to be told right to your face, "You're making that up!", or "That doesn't really happen." or "Well, I that hasn't happened to me, so there must be something wrong with you." How often huh? I get it ALL THE TIME.
That's accurate... So many people don't agree which is really unsettling. We all live in certain groups (whether ethnically, socially or situationally) and we have been conditioned over ages to not consider any group besides ours... that is a root of much suffering
A privilege is something that is given to someone based neither in fairness or necessity.
Say the right to drive is a privilege while access to clean water should be a basic right. Universal healthcare is a privilege while access to medicine should be a right.Meh. Privilege then could also be relative to mundane matters such as having better soil in the garden compared to your neighbor. He can't grow good vegetables because his soil is shit. You, on the other hand, grow lots and lots of delicious vegetables because your soil isn't a problem. #soilprivilege
Flawed logic. So anyone who doesn't care about a lack of religion in parts of the U. S. is privileged? I mean, it's not a problem to some of them, right?
So who anyone who doesn' think abortion is a problem in America is privileged because the problem doesn't directly impact them?
So anyone who doesn't see the infringement of Second Amendment Rights as a problem is privileged because they don't own guns?
What "problems" America confronts is different for different people. Just because they don't see them as problems doesn't mean that they are "privileged."Usually the most privileged people are college kids because either the have inherited privilege from either their parents hardwork or parents inherited privilege or they've been privileged to get a scholarship. Anyone else must forgo college or work hard to pay for it themselves.
I disagree. That's what it means to be selfish, oblivious, or single-minded. A person could be privileged and still care about other people's problems.
Privilege is when your life is easier because of the status, family and country you were born into. I am a very privileged person, but I still think world hunger is a problem, even if I don't suffer from it.
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