One of the most annoying privilege memes I've ever dealt with is "Anyone can get rich in this great country; if they don't, it means they're just not working hard enough." I encountered this meme almost daily as a kid growing up in a highly conservative "red state"...
(This post has a definite US slant, simply because that's the only country whose culture I've experienced firsthand. I suspect it's different elsewhere - feel free to comment.) This all started from a comment made by DNi on my post, Personal Privilege List. I...
While it shouldn't be a privilege to escape abuse in this life, there are trappings of privilege for those who have been so lucky. I know it's an odd thing to say, and it's a realization I've been slowly moving toward since childhood, but it works like this: Once...
If you find yourself in agreement with a dominant belief - the most popular religion in your culture, a love of the favored local sports team, or the belief that life is mostly neat and people are mostly good-hearted - you may occasionally have trouble distinguishing...
Every once in a while, one of my fellow Americans blows my mind with her assumption that customer service workers get insurance, paid sick days and paid vacation, and at least $10/hour. These assumptions are often of no consequence, but on some occasions they're...
If you observe an abuse cycle in a family – e.g., “Mom abuses her kids because her dad abused her because his mom abused him” – you’re lucky if you can trace it back more than a few generations. Which always leaves me wondering: where did it begin? And how? Did this family have one rotten apple who decided to be an asshole even though no one had ever taught him or her assholishness?
I said in an earlier post I ...read more
I generally avoid political topics, but once in a while, one of them is such a damn good example of privilege that I’m left thinking: what the fuck?
All the universal health care plans being yapped about at length by various committees within Congress (I could’ve sworn the Constitution outlined a clear procedure for proposing a bill and then voting on it that did not involve marathon committee circle jerks wherein participants vote amongst themselves and then whine to the press ...read more
This is a typical conversation between a Christian and a non-believer:
Christian: Abortion/homosexuality/[insert incredibly incindiary topic here] is blah blah blah. Atheist/agnotic: (smiles and nods)
We smile and nod because we know Christian beliefs are respected and other beliefs are not so much, and if we say something precisely as offensive/inane in response, we will be treated as if we just punched a toddler in the face. I’ve done this a number of times:
Christian: Abortion/homosexuality/[insert incredibly incindiary topic here] is blah blah blah. Atheist/agnotic: ...read more
No, I haven’t forgotten this site. I’ve been slowly making my way through a nightmare recently, and believe me, elements of what I’ve gone through will end up here, as there is a lot of privilege involved. But due to what I’ve gone through, it may be a while before I have the headspace and energy to get worthwhile articles written.
In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about a few other topics I want to write on. For example, anarchy and ...read more
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