Making Peace With Privilege
The past few weeks have underlined privilege. How much we have in contrast to others, that makes a difference between the lockdown being a life threat or an inconvenience. This is not easy to face; our privilege never is. Because it forces us to face the randomness of birth & how little control we have over the experience of living.
Privilege Guilt is the helplessness of having something one did not earn. But your self-flagellation doesn’t actually make heal a sick person. It just allows you to feel like you’re ‘paying’ in some way for your privilege + temporarily escape the discomfort.
This discomfort powers rage reactions, overzealous shaming, frantic jumping to conclusions. Fear makes one do terrible things & escapism even worse. Anything not to have to face the awfulness of this reality.
But feeling this isn’t weak, it is a sign of something that cuts past the coldness of privilege. Empathy. Don’t rush to kill it. Discomfort will not kill. Eventually, it will be possible to accept the nature of things beyond our control, including the luck of our birth.
We can only be generous when we accept the truth of our abundance. And help without generosity isn’t helpful; it’s a favour. Favours keep power imbalances in place so they are not a good solution to privilege inequality.
It must start with facing what we fear. Admitting we have this much means we must take responsibility for our selves. It may sound like we are not allowed to feel distress, worry or pain but that’s not true. Feeling abundant includes the freedom to feel all things. It just means not being limited by them anymore.
You cannot share what you deny. Honour the privilege you have by acknowledging it & turning it into goodness for the world. Richard Bach wrote “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” So please, enjoy your lessons and be grateful (not guilty) for the kindness with which life is delivering them to you. Receiving this kindness lets you be kind in turn.
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