Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Privileged?

person sitting near table holding newspaper

Not least among the oddities of this discussion whenever it arises - and this is very common today - is the fact that privilege is an unbelievably hard thing to define. It is also very nearly impossible to quantify. One person may have 'privilege' from inheriting money. For another person this same privilege may be a curse, giving them too much too early and disincentivizing them from making their way in the world. Is a person with inherited wealth but who has a natural disability more privileged or less privileged than a person without any inherited wealth who is able-bodied? Who can work this out? Who would we trust to work it out? And how can the various stratas of this arrangement be flexible enough not just to include everybody in view but also take into account the comparative changes for the better and worse which will occur across every human life?

- From The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray

[Photo by Adeolu Eletu at Unsplash]

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