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Top-level
 @aral Exactly. If it seems like something you can opt out of with no consequences for how you go about, look at & feel about your life, then contratulations, you're privileged. Also, I wish people would stop viewing "you're privileged" as an insult. I mean, you tell someone "You're lucky" it's almost universally accepted as something akin to a compliment & it basically just means the same. 4 comments
 @jwcph @aral “You’re taking advantage of something you did nothing to deserve” certainly sounds like a moral judgement (if not an insult per se). “You aren’t an empathetic person” seems like a criticism. This is what people hear when they’re told “you’re privileged”. Of course, when these *criticisms* are taken as *insults*, people become less likely to change… @ulyssesalmeida @aral That's a pretty load-bearing "usually" there. If a conversation has already broken down for whatever reason, yes, maybe you'll find that meaning with some frequency - other than that, though, it sounds more to me like the kind of "You probably mean X as an insult"! they-are-out-to-get-me kind of excuse a lot (!) of people come up with to not have to listen or check their own standpoint. I think you have it backwards. |
Gregory's Server
@jwcph @aral “Privileged” means at least two different things, maybe three now you mention “lucky” as an option. Sometimes it means “given special treatment”—the law operates differently for different people. Sometimes it means “oblivious”—you never had to worry about (eg) climbing a staircase, so you forget that some people can’t do that. “Lucky” is underneath both of these, but special treatment is different to finding life easier with the same treatment as others.