AES193 Privilege

Everyone is dealt different cards in life. Sometimes you get lucky, and other times you don’t. Each individual person has their own mix of things that makes life easier or more difficult. This can range from looks, intelligence, wealth to social status. Now, privilege on it’s own isn’t a guarantee of success, it’s more of a head start that other people do not have.  

Privilege isn’t an inherently bad thing by itself, because life itself is unapologetically unfair, there’s bound to be people all across the spectrum. What can be bad about privilege is that it allows some very lucky people to brag about their accomplishments and status as if they’ve earned it all on their own, with no regard to the connections, opportunities and economic freedoms that allowed them to reach it in the first place. This can create a false message to the rest of us that with hard work and a can-do attitude, we too can accomplish what they did. You see this often when they interview billionaires about the secret to their success, they always say “hard work” is the answer. They never bring up the massive inheritance, capital seed investments, family connections and the insane amount of luck it took for them to even get started. 

From my own experience, I come from a loving, respected family that always has enough. I never had to worry whether we could afford food for dinner, or worry about making the next rent payment, they always had my back and I could talk to them about anything. Most people don’t have that. And realizing it made me feel almost guilty, why do I get to have all of these privileges, while others don't? It doesn’t seem fair to me that I get to enjoy a mostly worry-free existence while others have to struggle so much. This evolved to a gnawing feeling deep inside that I don’t deserve my comfortable place in the world, that it would be better to give up all of my privileges and live as a hermit with just the bare minimums. But after talking a lot with my parents, I realized what it’s all about; Privilege isn’t a burden you have to drag around and apologize for, it is instead an opportunity to better yourself, so you can help improve the lives of others.  

There’s little point in trying to erase or disavow the privileges we own. The most we can do is acknowledge the privileges that we hold, and use our position of privilege to help the less fortunate the best we can. If you have the privilege of belonging to a majority group, you can support and amplify the causes minority groups are trying to get across. Or if you come from a wealthy family, you can use the resources you have to provide food and clothes for the less fortunate. There’s plenty of ways to use privilege for good, instead of feeling guilty about it, or even worse, using it solely for your own personal gain. Let’s try to make this unfair world a little bit more fair, and do the best that we can with the opportunities we are given.