You are privileged. Yes, you are. If you are reading this that means that you have access to the internet, a phone or a laptop, a bed you are lying on or a chair you are sitting in, and a home you are living in. That is a fact. This is two-way communication from privileged to privileged. It is certain that we left out on the underprivileged and mostly on over-privileged also. We all know what privilege means in the materialistic sense. But what does it mean, psychologically or philosophically? Let me give it a try; Privilege is the removal or absence of certain barriers, created with capitalism. This definition makes sense without the word capitalism too. But before capitalism, it was referred to as a class system, not a privilege. It could be also stated as the set of benefits received without efforts. It is the rope, the harness, in your rock climbing. The safety net to fall onto, bringing the risk close to zero. And when you are minimizing the risk that means you are leveraging the pool of resources you were granted.
Leveraging privilege
Most people who we think of as successful, have leveraged their privilege. It is a moat. At a young age, your source of privilege has the authority to make decisions. But with experience and awareness, you come to realize the effortless benefits and edges you had over others. These advantages could have a significant impact on future events. I mean it surely does, believing that free will does not exist. The family you were born in will affect your life, no doubt about that. But how do you leverage the resources you have and help others and yourself is up to you. Which affects your well-being in life.
Bias towards privilege
Privileged people knowingly or unknowingly have the bias of assumption. Assuming that everyone is or must be equally privileged as I am. This is unexplored territory they want to explore. This is a curiosity gap that they want to fill in. The preconceived notion of equal privilege lies inherently. It could be because of a lack of past shreds of evidence or lack of data to refer to. This bias happens towards money more than anything else. It is more evolutionary, I believe. For example, in tribes, everyone is equally privileged financially. Obviously, some people have dominance and authority but in terms of materialistic ownership, they all are the same, which is what we are now seeing in the capitalistic world—here everything is in excess and abundance.
Excess privilege
Providing excess privilege to a human is not good from a psychological standpoint. It makes it painfully hard for the provider to handle the given privilege, taking into account that they care about the person who is accessing it. Taking an example of a parent and child here, if the parents have excess access to resources, how could they refuse their child to buy something or provide help with anything. Now, in these situations, if parents are smart enough, they understand that constantly providing children what they want begets two things. First, they devalue the resource. Second, the desires continue to grow. And it is proven that there is no limit to human desires. Hence, it becomes really hard for parents with access to abundant resources to bring up their child in the best way they have in their mind. To quote Jordan Peterson here, "Excess privilege creates spoiled children because they get everything by doing nothing and that won't work in real-world". Being aware of the abundance or scarcity takes time.
Scarcity creates a negative feedback loop
When you are aware that you do not have that luxury, security, or comfort, for the lack of a better word, it is quite possible that you will fall into chaos, the unexplored territory. Luckily, most people are not aware or do not think about it considerably until they're in their old age. And those are the luckiest ones I would say. But such people think of why I did not have that materialistic belonging when I was young, or maybe right now? Was I not good enough? What did I do? And It is completely fine to get all these questions because at the end of the day your brain has to make sense of the situation. You have to explore that territory, you have brought order to that chaotic part. The conclusion that you could or should come down to is that it was not my fault, for the lack of a better word. My privilege was not in my hands. It was out of my control and it is not possible on earth that I could have controlled it. It leaves you no option but to be grateful for what you have at the moment.
Objective and grateful
Aren't you glad that you were not born in the Great Irish famine? It is certainly a valid point to be happy and grateful about, don't you think? Being born without any disabilities or diseases is a privilege. I have not taken that privilege into account till now. And just like I did, we all tend to take things for granted what we objectively have. Everyone around me was not born in the great depression, right? So why would I be grateful for it, if no one is? Humans undervalue objectivity. You must have gratitude for any kind of privilege you have. And being alive in 2021 is the biggest privilege any human being on this planet had, comparatively. So, leverage it to the fullest. Also, do not compare materialistic privilege with the privilege of having people you love being around. The privilege of having people who love you, care about you, and who will remorse if you die tomorrow has no comparison whatsoever, to anything in the world. Be grateful for what you have and cherish every moment of it.
Just a reminder: Have gratitude :)
Thanks a ton to Charvi for providing feedback, honest thoughts, and improvements on drafts of this.