Social Privilege

Forums: Money, Class, Wealth, Social Privilege
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As a gay white man who has dealt with discrimination all of my life, I sort of understand how black and brown people feel.

I also grew up in a middle class family until the money ran out. This money was not old money but rather, money my father earned throughout his life. He worked his way up from the bottom and no one gave him a shortcut to the top.

If you have ever been on the receiving end of homophobic discrimination then you know what I am saying. Still, I am white, and I cannot even fathom how a black or brown "gay" person must feel.

One may ask, if we are all created equal what is "class"? Class in the US is based upon earned or inherited wealth, but class should be no reflection on the inherent value of a person; but it does.

How can a poor person compete with a rich "person"?

And when corporations are people too, then a poor person has to compete with a whole board room of rich people, social privilege. And if the business (corporate person) goes under, very few are held accountable to the poor investors they bring financial ruin too.

So, in a few years they can go out and do the same to more people.

It comes down to accountability; some are expected to be accountable for their actions and some are not. That is what social privilege is all about.

Politicians can be guilty of egregious crimes and say the most hateful things and still get into office (with fake votes, corruption and foreign money). Money is what creates the divide between people. Money corrupts and the social fabric crumbles.

Social privilege is alive and well in corporate personhood.

What does social privilege mean to you?

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@TheCobbler,

Quote:

As a gay white man who has dealt with discrimination all of my life,
I sort of understand how black and brown people feel.

Only in the most limited way can you understand. The black or brown person, similar to other skin color, is judged by people the second they are seen. As a gay man (if you are Caucasian), you can go places and sit in a restaurant or park without a preconceived notion of who or what you are.

(Unless you wear a sign that tells everyone your sexuality)

And for the record, I am gay.

Quote:

I grew up in a middle class family...

I don't know what this has to do with your being gay.

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What does social privilege mean to you?

It's a label. Some use it to parade around flaunting their so-called stature in life and the world, others live more humbly and work to better themselves.

Bottom line is everyone comes into the world and later leaves. What a person does in between is in most cases of their own choosing, when it comes to how they interact with others and view and treat themselves.

And what does the matter of gay discriminatory practice have to do with this? There are many men and women who are homosexual and in the mix of the "upper crust and elite". Stop letting their starting point or yours be the definition of who you are and who you can be. Even the person up at the top often comes from dirt-poor humble beginnings.

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@TheCobbler,

One inherits class from one's father (British model). One can then either become upwardly mobile, or downwardly mobile, or remain at the same class, all based on how one leads one's life.

However, not all folks/demographics subscribe to class awareness. Some just say some (whatever) have more money, while some (same whatever) have less money. Only WASPs have the most codified concept of social class.

Some poeple's concept of social standing (analogous to class) can be based on other status factors, such as how many relatives are members of the clergy, or have a fairly high ecclesiastical position. Even how many professionals in one's family.

America allows for all types of snobbery, if one likes to affect snobbery.

This concept of class correlates to what "scene" one is in, since most "scenes" have a pecking order correlating to the class concept.

Enough already, Foofie.

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Social Privilege

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