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[–] 2 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

What you are misunderstanding (possibly intentionally), is that each axis of power dynamics has more- and less-privileged positions: race, class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, physical dis/ability, mental dis/ability, etc. A fully able-bodied and mentally healthy rich, white, straight, cis man is obviously going to be more privileged than a paraplegic, poor, black, gay, trans woman with learning disabilities (but note that even this does not automatically translate into more happiness, better self-esteem, etc.). But if you try to compare the privilege of an upper-middle class, native-American, gay, cis woman born with only one hand vs. a poor, white, straight, cis, teenage boy with ADHD, it’s much thornier, and ultimately not an important comparison to make.

When people speak of white privilege, they are saying that a white person lives generally unencumbered by their race and how others perceive them because of it. They are, in aggregate, less likely to be pulled over or stopped by police. They are more likely to get job interviews, and to be seen as a good potential hire by those interviewing them.

For male privilege, it means being more likely to be seen as leadership material, less likelihood of being sexually assaulted, a probability of higher lifetime earnings, and less chance of having one’s ailments dismissed by doctors, or of being passed over for a promotion because you might someday get pregnant and need maternity leave.

Every axis of privilege is different, they are not particularly cross-comparable, and they are all just probabilities - none are deterministic. Some types of privilege are fairly inherent (class, health/ability), while others are based on how our society treats people differently based on group affiliation (race, sex, gender, sexuality). The point of identifying these is not to shame those who have privilege, but rather to recognize the various difficulties faced by those who are less privileged, so that we might mitigate those challenges. In a just world, everyone would be treated as though they were a member of the privileged group(s) along every axis, and judged only by their own actions.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (3 children)

    so wait, none of it is deterministic... but we should use those to figure out how determine how we treat other people?

    You are re-inventing racism, but making it more complex and stupid.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago (2 children)

    Your reading comprehension is lacking, or you just didn’t bother to read my whole comment. I specifically said that all people should be treated the way we currently only treat the people belonging to the most privileged groups, which would be to judge them by their individual actions and not by their race, ethnicity, class, sex, gender, orientation, etc.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 days ago (1 child)

    Right, it's not that you theory is faulty, it's that I'm stupid.

    How do we treat the most privledge groups? hmmm well we worship them and aspire to be like them... so we are all supposed to worship and aspire to be like each other? How exactly... does that make any sense in the real world?

    You yourself are loaded with your own biases, and yet your standard is 'nobody should have any biases and we should all treat each other as if were were white male billionaires'?

    So if I'm a white male billionaire, and you are too, which of us should be giving giving massive tax subsidies to each other? I would wager a guess, that you don't think that's how we should treat each other, and it's more like you are the white male billionaire and i should be giving you my money...

    Your theory immediately breaks down when you apply it to real world scenarios. All pie in the sky idealism does, because we don't live in a the Kingdom of God where resources are infinite. Everyone is finite and everyone is biased and everyone is a white male billionaire in their own head.

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  • Wow, you are adding in a whole lot that I didn’t say. I certainly don’t assume that anyone worships or aspires to be like white people, men, straight people, or cis people. As far as class, I was leaving the ultra-rich out of the equation, as they are such a tiny portion of the populace that they cannot occupy the cultural privileged/default/“normal” position - that position is filled by the “middle class”, which could be loosely described as those who appear to the outside world to be financially comfortable (even if their reality is different).

    The idea of privilege is that for each axis (race, sex, etc) there is a group that does not face the same obstacles as the other(s). Thats it. It doesn’t mean that if you are a member of a privileged group that things are easy, just that you are less likely to face those specific forms of discrimination. Most people are privileged on some axes and not on others, and even people who are privileged in literally every category can have very bad things happen to them that are no fault of their own, because that is true for anyone at any time.

    All I am saying is that privilege means not having to overcome the same level of stereotypes, prejudice, and aggressions (micro- or direct). In a halfway decent society, members of groups not viewed as default also would not face such obstacles, and everyone would be judged on their own words and actions I don’t know why you are so resistant to understanding this relatively simple concept.

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