Privilege is having an advantage over someone else or another group. With this advantage, you are playing to your strengths. This can be socially, more money, jobs, education, or the law. Privilege exists today in the world we all live in. You can see it anywhere you go. You hear all the time the phrase, "white privilege." This is the most common form of privilege in my opinion. The privilege people receive today is inherited from their parents above them. They were given the easy path of life, either because of their skin color or the amount of money in their bank account. They then brainwashed their children to believe there is no other way to be then besides the way they are. This is a never-ending cycle of privileged people with no source to be cut off. The article by Katherine D Kinzler even goes to say that kids learn and are inherited privilege.
Values and privilege get mixed up very often. Someone's values do not mean they are a privileged spoiled brat. For example, this past July, I had been working and saving for a car. I finally saved enough and bought a very nice one. When many of my friends saw it, they began to think I was spoiled and had it bought for me. That can be the case for a lot of people. If someone values hard work, they can be mistaken for privileged and spoiled. Someone who the day they turn 17 has a $30,000 car bought by their parents is considered privileged. Someone who at 21, years after they receive their license buys a car when they worked and saved accordingly is sticking to their values of hard work and should not be mistaken. People are often jealous of values and hard work so they are quick to throw out they are privileged as an excuse for their success. These people are the lazy ones who do not care to improve their lives.
We see all time in society that the wealthy and privileged people stick together in tribes and groups. They like to only associate with ones of their kind and do not like outsiders. They are not welcomed into their group. This is common with white wealthy families, middle eastern families, and even black or colored families. Whenever there is a color or money involved, they become very secluded. White families join country clubs to hang around and golf with the people of their color and hobbies of their similarities. There is really no benefit to this. This only draws people further apart. They start to talk about others behind closed doors and it always somehow gets out to them and this is how problems start.
No, I have not felt underprivileged in my live. If anything, I think I have felt privileged. I am a white male living in America who is getting an education and has a job and comes from a upper middle class family. I have never had an issue doing anything, driving through a certain neighborhood, or applying for a job. At work, I am the highest paid out of all the kids my age that work there. The next kid that works their my age is a Spanish kid. He gets paid less than me even though we do the same work. this is an example of me being privilege as a white male. The PewResearchCenter article even states that the white net worth it 13 times greater than anyone else. My family or I never had to struggle financially. We were always in a good place with my father having a job making 6 figures.
Privilege impacts women and men many ways. Women are paid less than men in the work world, even though they are sometimes doing the same job. The white man is always paid the most no matter what. If his competition for a job interview is a women or colored man, the white man will win all the time. This is a trend that has been going on since the beginning of time. This will probably continue forever. The white guys on top are too powerful to take down single handedly and colored people and women and just outnumbered.
Many white people have an easier life vs the colored people. They often start off with a head start and a more of an advantage, hence the privilege they are given over the rest of society. Many people do not like privileged people. They believe they are spoiled and greedy and selfish. Yes, some are but being privileged is simply playing to your strengths. It would be foolish for someone with the advantage they have to not use it to positively impact their ability for success. This does not mean step on other people's toes, this mean if you are given a chance or benefit, you should use it to your ability and exceed.
