Privilege and Western Civilization

"The Thinker" sculpted by Auguste Rodin

"He heard them abusing him for his large salary, calling him a bloated idler, a bloody beast who stuffed himself to indigestion with good things, while the worker was dying of hunger...Ah! the stinking bourgeois, they  should be  stuffed with champagne and truffles till their guts burst."

Such is the experience of M. Hennebeau in Emile Zola's Germinal as the miners begin their rampant assault on the upper class.

The latest buzzword of choice the Social Justice Warrior (SJW) class is using nowadays to shame their opponents is "privilege." White privilege. Male privilege. Rich privilege. (How long until a "Thin Privilege" meme begins?) If you're a member of the Black Lives Matter crowd then you must complain about White privilege (even though Asians generally make more money and have more educational accomplishments than whites in the US). If you are a white woman then you have to complain about male privilege. If you are poor then you have to complain about rich privilege. If you're a white male then you have nothing to complain about because your life is perfect. Across the board.

It's a game as old as time. People have labeled the strengths of their opposition, often being things that they themselves want, as somehow being scarlet letters or objects of ridicule.

PROTESTER: "You're rich! You wouldn't understand the plight of the working poor!"
EVIL RICH WHITE GUY: "Would you like to be rich?"
PROTESTER: "Of course! Where do I sign up?"

It reminds me of the tactics used by many political groups that claim to be on the side of the poor. They love to rile up hatred and jealousy of those with money, The Other, but what is the one thing these groups always ask for, always beg for, and always need more of in order to implement their plans . . . you guessed it, MONEY.

It's that inner conflict that must get people so worked up. Regardless of race, gender or political affiliation, people love to lash out at what they perceive to be The Other, but what they are actually lashing out in is jealousy and guilt for desiring those same things they hate the others for having. They would love to have that perceived wealth, that perceived power, the perceived good luck, those perceived privileges that may or may not exist.

Black Lives Matter groups often lecture whites that white people don't know what it's like to be black, to be looked at with suspicion everywhere you go, to be treated like second class citizens on a daily basis. I agree. I, as a white male, have no idea what it is like to be black. My heart goes out to those black folks I've seen, whether they are children or adults, who not only go out into White America and make ends meet, but also thrive. Only to be painted with broad brush strokes or eyed curiously when they happen to be in parts of the country where their shade might not be so accepted. I get that. I've seen it. I hate it.

At the same time, black folks don't know what it's like to be white. I'm not saying that whites deal with the same issues as blacks, but life as a run-of-the-mill white person probably isn't as smooth and full of frolic as many blacks think. Just like not all black folks live like Michelle Obama or Will Smith, not all white folks live like Bill Gates or Ben Affleck. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

There are few things in life I love seeing more than people of any racial minority group in the US taking the tools of American or Western culture and using them to greater effect and benefit than anyone else. This happens all the time in the lives of millions across the country in small, subtle ways that don't make the news or garner headlines but do make wonderful contributions to society as a whole. Higher profile examples would be the eloquent writings on human emancipation by Frederick Douglass, the insights gained in astrophysics by Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, and the exquisite playing of the cello by Yo-Yo Ma.

In short, anyone, regardless of race or income or gender, who relies on the fruits of Western Civilization, whether it be the scientific method, free thought, the right to peacefully protest, liberation of women, emancipation, democratic process, gay rights, private property, or freely posting and reading notes on the Interwebs among an ocean of other benefits, is more privileged than they probably realize.