It is hard to get people to realize the extent and import of their privilege, to acknowledge that certain social inequities that are of minor significance when viewed from a privileged position are in fact deeply oppressive from the perspective of the marginalized. ... . The best way to acquire that sort of information is to listen to anecdotes from a number of marginalized people
Heh. Well, there was a period in my life when I was very very poor. No money to take public transportation (so I walked), no money to buy a can of soda (so I drank water), etc. I lived in a mostly-black area of the city with gunshots heard at night every week or so.
Unfortunately for your argument I'm not a leftist or a progressive, I do not get hysterical about social inequities and you probably would say that I don't realize the extent and import of my current privilege (I'm not very poor any more).
Belief update time? :-D
Unfortunately for your argument I'm not a leftist or a progressive, I do not get hysterical about social inequities and you probably would say that I don't realize the extent and import of my current privilege (I'm not very poor any more).
I don't see how any of this is all that unfortunate for my argument. Perhaps you think I'm saying that only progressives can recognize their privilege along some axis, or that recognizing privilege is sufficient to induce support for progressive policies? Well, I don't believe either of these things. What I do believe is that recognizing the consequences and extent of privilege undercuts the force of several right-wing arguments.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Of course, for "every Monday", the last one should have been dated July 22-28. *cough*