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What does privilege mean to you?


Dirtyhip

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I feel privileged to be living here, and not in some of the other terrible places I read about.

It is true that I have been treated differently due to my color on several occasions. Also, been treated unfairly due to my gender.  

The stats across racial and gender lines are telling.  Numbers do not lie.  I realize that numbers for women could reflect lost wages due to choices for having a family, but I have seen it happen.  People with equal credentials, or even when the gal has better and the wages are not fairly assigned.  Is this due to men having more negotiation DNA?  Testosterone.  A women is usually not as aggressive.  I think this is why women fail to get fair contracts, in comparison to their male peers.  

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24 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I'd say you either "get it" or you don't.  It's far easier not to get it.

I'm happy to pass the torch......to the next generation....which means just explaining stuff to nieces and nephews. Over time..to understand their success stands on the shoulders of previous generations. One doesn't tell them they are fortunate.  You just tell them when right, a simple story and let it sit.

I am the first in my immediate family to finish university. I am probably the 3rd within my extended family to do it:  a Canadian cousin 10 years older is the first....she was a primary school teacher in Hamilton area before retiring. She also.....taught French.  Her marriage is the lst interracal within my extended family. Her white husband was also an elementary school teacher.

It takes time, effort and listening to others...to "get it".  For all the success stories of overcoming barriers, there are others who have difficulty.  A friend with visual impairment (85%) but did graduate from university, got good jobs and became a very strong advocate of the Canadian Charter of Rights:  she gets really furious about the media stories of extraordinary few folks who are severely disabled who "succeed".  She hated that became the benchmark how all disabled people should perform.

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I feel very lucky to have been born here as opposed to some other places that could have been much worse. Think what it might have been like to be born Uighur in China or Hmong in Laos or Jewish in Poland in the 40's.

edit:  note the word lucky instead of privileged.  Lucky represents the truth of the real world.  Privileged is a new word designed to make one feel guilty about being lucky.

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The gender bias is real. When I heard the male finance director was making almost as much as me, I went to the Board. Originally got a so so response. Next, I handed them my resignation. That worked but I should not have had to do it. 
 

and since I was living fine on my previous salary, I have always given the donation back as a gift to the agency. Should not have had to do that. 

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8 minutes ago, Airehead said:

The gender bias is real. When I heard the male finance director was making almost as much as me, I went to the Board. Originally got a so so response. Next, I handed them my resignation. That worked but I should not have had to do it. 
 

and since I was living fine on my previous salary, I have always given the donation back as a gift to the agency. Should not have had to do that. 

wow, Airhead.

One day, to simply not donate..everyone else will forget the "why". People have short memories. You have worked hard for the salary.

(Example:  Clearly POTUS is stunning example of illegal use of his privilege in many ways over the decades. Or fear makes others hang onto privilege. or onto the coattails of the corrupt.) 

 

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I have been to many places in the world, privilege is a hard word to describe. 
I have sat down with people over a meal and  others will call that lifestyle underprivileged and poor, but to me they are still rich and privileged in many ways. 
They might not have everything and might not be able to afford what we believe we should be entitled too. 
 

it is all how you look at yourself and what you really want in life that defines us and our wellbeing. 
 

to me being privileged means I have people I can count on and call friends, food for my family, and having a roof over my head. Everything else I have is just material items I worked hard for but don’t really need.
 

 

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56 minutes ago, Airehead said:

Clean water, toilets, adequate food. Pure privilege compared to so many. 

Exactly.

31 minutes ago, KrAzY said:

I have been to many places in the world, privilege is a hard word to describe. 
I have sat down with people over a meal and  others will call that lifestyle underprivileged and poor, but to me they are still rich and privileged in many ways. 
They might not have everything and might not be able to afford what we believe we should be entitled too. 
 

it is all how you look at yourself and what you really want in life that defines us and our wellbeing. 
 

to me being privileged means I have people I can count on and call friends, food for my family, and having a roof over my head. Everything else I have is just material items I worked hard for but don’t really need.
 

 

This.  Yes!

55 minutes ago, Airehead said:

The gender bias is real. When I heard the male finance director was making almost as much as me, I went to the Board. Originally got a so so response. Next, I handed them my resignation. That worked but I should not have had to do it. 
 

and since I was living fine on my previous salary, I have always given the donation back as a gift to the agency. Should not have had to do that. 

Thank you for your honesty.  

I think most of my success has been dumb luck.  I have worked hard, but there have been others around me struggling much more.  Don't think they were all bad choices.

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10 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

 I think most of my success has been dumb luck.  I have worked hard, but there have been others around me struggling much more.  Don't think they were all bad choices.

 

...working those 7-8 years taking social Security and SSI claims taught me this, if nothing else.  With the exception of inheriting great wealth, a lot of life is dictated by chance.

And even inheriting great wealth comes with its own set of problems.  So you gotta roll with stuff as it comes along, and try to do a Tai Chi avoidance move when the really heavy stuff hits.

 

I just prepared (and we ate) a delicious roasted chicken in wine and citrus, with sides of baked Japanese yams, braised kale.  It was not that hard to prepare, and the shit work was done by the guys raising the chickens, the yams, and the kale.  I did raise the limes involved, but I don't need to mow the lawn that disappeared where the citrus grows now, So that's a wash. :) 

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Not really.  It's defined in Websters dictionary.  It is not a made up buzz word.  It has meaning.   

But still far easier to try and not think about it.  Or downplay it. Your non-buzz word is a buzz killer!

...and it triggers some folks.

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18 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Not really.  It's defined in Websters dictionary.  It is not a made up buzz word.  It has meaning.   

Not anymore, when you throw words around to much and abuse them, they stop having meaning or at least the meaning changes from what Webster's defined it as.  Words change meaning all the time, for example, at one point being gay just meant being happy.

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1 minute ago, late said:

Comparing the US to the rest of the civilized world is a lot different than comparing the US of 2020 to the US of 1950 or 1900 or 1850.  I'd say there are some pretty deplorable examples of both privilege and inequality the further back in US history you go. 

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46 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

 

So, those that feel like giving ALL their stuff back, they can.  Those that don't want to give back, can keep it all.  Fair?

My thought is more along the lines of a slanted scale of responsibility.  The more you have, the more you have to give back.  My husband and I would likely need to give some as well. Maybe mot as much as you, though.  :console:

How do the Dutch pull off that Utopia?

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1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

So, those that feel like giving ALL their stuff back, they can.  Those that don't want to give back, can keep it all.  Fair?

My thought is more along the lines of a slanted scale of responsibility.  The more you have, the more you have to give back.  My husband and I would likely need to give some as well. Maybe mot as much as you, though.  :console:

How do the Dutch pull off that Utopia?

I've read the statistic more than once that people in need are more charitable than those who are not.

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Just now, donkpow said:

I've read the statistic more than once that people in need are more charitable than those who are not.

Yup. The news blips about the wealthy and their generous contributions.  It's like us giving about $100.  Which you and I do, likely several times a year. 

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2 hours ago, late said:

He's a kook, a convicted felon who pled guilty to avoid more serious charges related to money laundering for a political campaign.

Seriously, he's crazy.

Kooks make a lot of very good points.  Some reside right here on this forum.  He was bang on in his argument at Amherst. 

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5 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Kooks make a lot of very good points.  Some reside right here on this forum.  He was bang on in his argument at Amherst. 

A busted clock is going to be right once in a while, but it's still busted. He's a nut.

 

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