Tags
Discrimination, Downtrodden, Entitlement, Immunity, Life, Privilege, Racism, Reality, Society, Superiority complex
Privilege tends to dent our psyche, gives us a notion of superiority and makes us a slave to its desires. However, there is a tendency to forget with it comes responsibility which isn’t mostly exercised, since it seeps into our minds and contributes to throwing our weight around. The drill of privilege becomes a daily ritual which can’t be shaken off because it empowers people and gives them unprecedented influence.
Interestingly, privilege in majority cases tends to be abused and misused to make a point, much like the aristocracy of the old days which gave them immunity to go unfettered and unchecked. It may buy you influence, sway, social standing and ability to throw tantrums, however, it doesn’t provide you respect if it isn’t responsibly exercised. It allows moronic tendencies to hold sway and allows such individuals to get away with a lot of crap without being held accountable.
Blighted by our proud sense of privilege, we tend to get blind-sighted by our actions and in the quest for power and influence let it drive us towards mistreating others who aren’t part of that fold. Ironically, that is how society has functioned since time immemorial, irrespective of the rise in awareness of equality there is a superiority complex that still allows it to thrive.
What does privilege provide? It grants us access to the echelons of society, shoves us into the mainstream and allows to intermingle at a level par of the status reserved only for the privileged. It is like the old order, who believed they were ordained by God to rule by birth and that is the mentality still afflicting our privileged class.
It is a worldwide phenomenon, but in third world countries the notion of privilege is beginning to be questioned and its nauseousness is irritating those who are rising through the ranks and challenging the status quo. For the status quo, amongst which the privileged class constitutes a majority feel threatened by those who they believe are inferior and are snatching to what they believe is rightfully theirs.
Consequently, it leads to insecurities, egotistical behaviour and thrusting of one’s influence to subjugate those who are victims of the abuse of privilege to forward their agenda’s. It is to show them their place and make them realize that they don’t belong amongst those privileged classes. The efforts to enter the privileged class circle by those not born into it leads to resistance and quashing their attempts for gaining access to it.
To hinder the progress of those trying to rise to the ranks of the privileged are demonized, discriminated and mistreated for who they are. Privilege is symbolic, it provides patronage and unlocks the door to unprecedented power and influence. This imbalance permits those privileged enough to knock out those aspirants and show them who is the boss. In every realm of life, we let this superiority complex clout our actions and thoughts which contributes to incessant hatred for the downtrodden and those below us.
Privilege is like a concoction, an addiction that has ensnared the elite, the powerful and their counterparts to exercise undue power and influence. This addiction in its very notion is toxic, distasteful as it sounds but this is a reality which cannot be ignored. It continues to thrive despite the rising awareness amongst those who are fighting to gain their rightful share in society.
The communion of those privileged and those below them is practically impossible. The interests and values clash, but those willing to bend and act like them tend to somehow gain access but they are never recognized as one of them. Those granted entries remain outcasts and tend to be disowned in many cases. In medieval times, it was common for those rising through the ranks to somehow arrange marriage in the nobility to gain legitimacy and recognition.
Earning a legitimacy license in the ranks of the privileged is a hard task so to speak, considering their biases. It is futile and any attempts to dissuade the privileged from throwing their weight around has been an abysmal failure. Clinging onto the hope that equality will thrive in this divided world is an exercise for the foolhardy and good luck to them!
