On being born with privilege
Posted by davidmcnab 9 years, 2 months ago to Philosophy
Earlier today, I saw a feminist posting on social media about the "privilege inherent in being white, straight and male". It had an undertone of expectation that anyone in that position should feel guilty and hold themselves back in favour of those denied that privilege.
Anyway, this was my reply:
To anyone with privilege of any kind be it artistic genius, or wealthy birth, or athletic capability, or political connections, or dominant gender/sexuality/ethnicity, I say this:
Do not under any circumstances allow yourself to indulge (or others to manipulating you into indulging) in that toxic infectious emotion called 'guilt', or feel you have to hold yourself back in any way, or for anybody.
Take everything great you have been given, and use it to its utmost to be all you can be. Through your productive accomplishment, you inspire others, and even lighten their load.
Audit all the helpful and unhelpful cards you have been dealt. Strategise your life to maximise the benefit of your helpful cards, and minimise the adverse impact of your unhelpful ones, and where possible, even convert the unhelpful ones into helpful ones.
And be mindful that the true measure of a person is not what cards they have been dealt, but how they play them.
I don't identify as Christian, but that passage on 'charity' in Corinthians offers much guidance, especially if you substitute the words 'open heart' and/or 'empathy' for the word 'charity' (which today has taken on a connotation of moral obligation to give to those less fortunate).
Anyway, this was my reply:
To anyone with privilege of any kind be it artistic genius, or wealthy birth, or athletic capability, or political connections, or dominant gender/sexuality/ethnicity, I say this:
Do not under any circumstances allow yourself to indulge (or others to manipulating you into indulging) in that toxic infectious emotion called 'guilt', or feel you have to hold yourself back in any way, or for anybody.
Take everything great you have been given, and use it to its utmost to be all you can be. Through your productive accomplishment, you inspire others, and even lighten their load.
Audit all the helpful and unhelpful cards you have been dealt. Strategise your life to maximise the benefit of your helpful cards, and minimise the adverse impact of your unhelpful ones, and where possible, even convert the unhelpful ones into helpful ones.
And be mindful that the true measure of a person is not what cards they have been dealt, but how they play them.
I don't identify as Christian, but that passage on 'charity' in Corinthians offers much guidance, especially if you substitute the words 'open heart' and/or 'empathy' for the word 'charity' (which today has taken on a connotation of moral obligation to give to those less fortunate).
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The pertinent question is...if you now have xyz million dollars why are you investing?
The key word for you is security and safety of your funds
Investing is ALWAYS a risk of one degree or another
Start off with where do you put it?
A bank and when it fails you get $250,000 back?
Offshore - nothing illegal with all taxes paid.
In country? The safest place at present are T bIlls even at zero percent. the most you will lose is buying power. So let's look at ten million after taxes. In a bank without a lot of extra steps each good for only 250,000, you would still have 6,500,000 in buying power if the crash was equal to 2008.
in a bank you would get 250,000 minus 35 percent or 175,000
Why? Uncle Sammy can't afford to renege on T Bills. He counts on them too much just to survive and besides...it's just a matter of issuing checks with magnetic notations
thus we arrive at the full faith and cred it of the US Economy.
L
Also consider the recent case of the Oscar nominees. It's a well accepted fact that TV, Movies and media in general is aimed at target demographics most likely to buy the product. Are you more than likely to attract a profit with a film or TV show targeted to 87% of the country or 13% of the country? Of course it's not that simple to cut, but you get my point. As one who works in Advertising, I see this delineation every single day. Companies are focused on targeting people who have cash to spend and they are not interested in researching ways to screw over minorities. They do however spend a lot of money trying to figure out how to get minorities to buy their products but even then the spend is proportional to the economic power of the market segment.
So while some will observe a "privilege" being exercised, more often than not (institutionally speaking), they are just ignorant of larger currents at play.
The articles I read pointed the finger at the difficulty in the child of famous parents living up to the fame. Nothing they could do would make them 'better' than their parent(s). They always felt 'second class' or 'worthless by comparison'.
So, perhaps the winning of a lottery is a different phenomenon, though I think that you are probably accurate to point out that 'this rarely ends well'.
Jan
So when I hear about "white-privilege" I laugh a bit to myself and remind myself that the greatest danger faced by Americans is not Al-CIA-Duh, or ISIS, or ISIL, or Ali Babba and his 40 Thieves. No, our greatest threat, that which will wind up destroying our country and the human race in its entirety is, STUPIDITY.
Hunker Down "Gulch". You are surrounded by it.
None of the 'not you' category needs to be apologized for, please note, but it is dangerous. Studies done on the 'children of famous people' show a very high incidence of alcoholism and drug use, for example. (I just tried to look up some stats but could not find any easily - have read many articles on this in the past, however.) I observe that this sort of 'leg up' to success is often a poison pill.
Jan
I recognize the amazing advantages of being born in America in the 20th century. That alone is no guarantee of happiness, but it makes the pursuit of happiness a completely different challenge when compared (for example) to an individual in India, Russia, China, or the entire continents of Africa and South America.
I complain frequently and loudly about the violations of the US Constitution and encroachments of the federal government and the powerful people who manipulate its affronts on individual liberty. I recognize that these liberties are rare, and that they are the fountainhead from which the advantages of being born in America flow.
We must preserve those liberties at all costs and against all enemies regardless of the danger and in spite of any inconvenience or slander.
Who counsels the counselors?
which I did was "not-you" replication of the achievement
of others. . only the occasional "you" inventions made me
a unique producer;;; otherwise, I was applying the
work of others to my circumstances. . I wanted to be
the next Edison, but only made it to journeyman.
I was indeed frustrated that I wasn't TAE.2, but
setting high standards for myself drove me for
my first 50 self-sustaining years and continue to
help me to this day. . the drive for excellence is
a worthy goal if credit is given as due, don't you think? -- j
.
world are made by those who are making the absolute MOST
of all they have at their disposal -- talent, resources, luck --
as you say, David. . it is not done by those who make the LEAST
of their talent, resources and luck! . your life is what
you make of it, and only those who make the most
of it have profits with which to help others whom they
love to share their walk through life with -- family,
friends, compatriots, veterans, bums with clean-
collared shirts on trains. . the more you profit, the
more you can love. . Go Make A Profit, Y'All. -- j
.
The world of today is quite different from the world of the 1960s. Just about anyone who will comport themselves with proper decorum, using properly the rich lingual heritage afforded us in the USA, and willing to put forth a modicum of effort can succeed quite well, notwithstanding race, or ethnicity.
However, If you walk in looking like a gang-banger, and speaking like a foul-mouthed longshoreman, and acting like a slovenly sloth, don't expect to be awarded the privilege of those who put forth the effort to succeed.
You are only a victim if you allow yourself to be a victim. If race is the determining factor, how did Ben Carson get to where he is today?
I guess that's why creation was created that way.
No matter the cards dealt be Jokers or Aces. But history shows that those dealt jokers have created more than those dealt aces.
Perhaps those dealt jokers are privileged by their own determination, perseverance and ultimate successes.
That word, 'mansplain', is the quickest route to my blocklist!
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