Privilege

Table of Contents

• Social Status
• Point of Discrimination
• Social Evil
• Who is Deserving?
• Metaphysics of Privilege
• Primal Authority

Social Status

I must start with a question, are we all socially identical?

No.
Yes and no.
Society wants us to think we aren’t.

Is everyone equally prepared to utilize any resource given them?

No.
I think so.

I will admit I have no use for a doctors scalpel, what about you?

I use one but on books.
I have surgery coming up, sooooo…
I try to stay away from them.
I find the people least able to navigate the system are the ones who could use its services, but they’re hindered.

If everyone is equally prepared to use any resource they are given, shall we have Starbucks baristas do kidney surgeries? If not why not? If so why?

Then the price of kidneys will go up.
If so, yes. I think competition is good.
Well if the barista has a medical degree and someone collapses in the Starbucks…..
They need the skills and training.

Why is a degree needed?

Proof of qualification.
It shows they have the skills and knowledge.

Why are skills and training needed? Aren’t we all equally prepared? Why do we need to be qualified?

Not when it comes to skills.
No, we need to be trained.
I can not have a garbage man operate on me.
We aren’t born knowing how to fix kidneys.

Not when it comes to skills. Not when it comes to thoughts or perceptions, these being intimately linked.

We need some way to verify someone we don’t know can do something. Why do we need that?

So I have a level of confidence they won’t cheat me. Trust. Yes.

Because otherwise awful things happen…like politicians that don’t understand economics or science making laws that are idiotic.
Certified doctors cheat people.

Both of those things do happen.

What is this trust that we set up special certifications to justify?

We are dumb to trust someone just because they are so called professional.
Yes, is why I say a ‘level of confidence’, there is no guarantee.

Why is there no guarantee?

My family doctor told me that this surgeon is very good and comes with high recommendations, so I trust my doctor.
The certifications help us save time in screening people.

Isn’t screening people practising social inequality? Yes. Isn’t that morally wrong?

No, it’s only morally wrong with the basic human abilities.

I think you trust the doctor you have spoken too. You don’t really know until you interact with them.

What would happen if we trusted literally nothing? Nothing and no one?

Things would go very slowly for one.

It’s only inequality if only certain people are allowed to become doctors….if everyone has the same opportunity to go to medical school, than it is fair.

Only certain people are allowed to become doctors. Our education process screens people from becoming doctors.

Well there are economic barriers, but anyone can go to medical school. As well as intellectual barriers.

Not everyone can pass or earn their certification from medical school

Not if the medical school was outside of the country they want to practice in.

Why do we discriminate on intellectual ability?

Not everyone would want to go to medical school.
It’s more then economic… you have to write essays and show group involvement etc.

Indeed, there are social barriers as well. An introverted doctor would find it hard if not impossible to proceed in that path.

We don’t trust professionals that don’t speak our language well.

I’ve heard that dental schools can be very subjective. Yes. They are as a matter of policy.

I can try and become an Olympic runner if I want to, but if I can’t run as fast as the other guy, then he deserves the medal and I don’t.

Without sponsorship your efforts at becoming an Olympic runner are more or less a waste of time.

I think the intellectual discrimination is purely an arbitrary way to cull the pack. I’ve seen very capable people that don’t get good grades.

I disagree…I don’t want a doctor that doesn’t know what he/she is doing.

Point of Discrimination

So what is the point of all this discrimination?

Manage supply to meet demand.

And my previous question, what if as a hard and fast rule we didn’t trust anything or anyone? What would that be like?

I am pretty close to that. What’s it like? Exhausting.
I don’t like hard and fast rules, sorry.

Most people trust systems. There is a cognitive bias that governs about 90 percent of peoples behaviour in general. We believe readily available information, and we are bombarded by information about rules and protocol constantly, more or less all day every day. In general, we don’t stop to reflect on this. It would take too much time and energy, and be too confusing, largely crippling really, of our ability to make it through the human social environment.

So can you have definition without social barriers? Defined roles without social distinctions? Can a doctor beg for change in the street?

I don’t know, maybe another way is possible?
I think that happens sometimes if he can’t work or has lost his license.
Sure.
It’s a joke now that your cab driver likely has a PhD.

Why can’t that supposedly high level professional beg for spare change in the street? If they did, how would people react?

Oh, their credibility would go away.
He or she probably wouldn’t make much dressed like a doctor.
I’ve heard that begging in the street can make you more money than a minimum wage job. It potentially can yes, especially if you don’t actually live on the street.

That type of beggar is an object of some hate in street culture. We have expectations. We construct a social ecosystem in our minds.

But.. there are people that use food banks when they are without work. We do not judge them so why judge a doctor for begging?

We do judge them, or many people do. Some of the social services, that aren’t so dramatically stigmatized, avoid it only because they can remain invisible, behind the scenes. If we can see it then we instinctively restrict it.

But we do not know they are a doctor, just a beggar.

If a rich person is utilizing resources that are supposed to go to poor people, then that will make a lot of people angry.

So just as we identify trees and grass and birds and dogs and cats, we identify types of people in our environment. Tell me, have you ever in your life been able to avoid doing that?

I see them everywhere…the types.

How well would you function if you didn’t identify these types of human being?

Not as well. It would be slow going.
Being able to categorize people is a self defense mechanism….like a rabbit hearing a hawk.

It’s a structural organization mechanism as well. Tribes villages and societies don’t work without it. Many of our surnames are actually role labels, originally were though we have forgotten what many of those words mean. Joe Smith at one time would have been the smith. Jim Carpenter would indeed have been a carpenter, as would William Farmer…

Social Evil

So why is privilege seen as a social evil? Why is it supposed to be a disallowed thing?

Privilege that is not deserved.
No animal group would function without the order.

How do we determine someones deserving status?

It’s only the lower classes that think they want what the higher ones have? I speak as one who came up in the lower classes, even they don’t all want higher class privilege.

It’s not thought of as privilege when it is earned through hard work. So there are two types of privilege?

Oh, I think people like Bill Gates are looked done on for their social class even though he got it through his work.
No, many poor people hate the rich and hate educated people. It’s a sour grapes thing.

Actually, it is no such thing. They do not resent the rich and educated simply because they are rich and educated. Being in the underprivileged section of society, especially if you are more intellectually inclined than many, reveals much that isn’t displayed to those of a better social standing.

I’ve had more than once aunt or uncle that made snide comments about college kids and what they were trying to do was to drag me down by shaming me for succeeding.

There is an awareness of who it is that makes the rules, and it is NOT the underclass.

Yes, but if you have the ability and you don’t use it to improve your situation, you have no one to blame but yourself. Fascinating. Ability in my experience can only be used with permission and support that is only granted when you meet the necessary social criteria, when you can get people to believe in you to one degree or another.

Well, in our current society, anyone can start their own business. In our society starting your own business can be a colossal waste of time, offering a lower standard of living than even menial labour would provide.

It can be…it’s a gamble. Most small business fails.

There is much discussion in aspergers forums, about how people with that syndrome are so under employed despite their intellectual competence.

Yes true, being able to interact with people is necessary in many fields. They should go into a field that doesn’t require it.
They all require it, or at least the employers think so.

You become employed by making someone want to employ you, and it’s even been scientifically established, this isn’t ultimately a rational decision. The social pecking order is all pervasive The same applies to the money market, what ultimately drives our entire economy. The decisions behind that are not rational, not in the least fair.

You are right, the rules are only made by a small social class
You get good at something by doing it over and over, and not giving up when you fail.

It doesn’t matter how much you persist. If your work will never be utilized, never be accepted. This was displayed to a lesser degree in the rivalry between Edison and Tesla. Tesla was arguably much more gifted and creative than Edison, but Edison’s people skills gifted him with fame and fortune, where Tesla ultimately wound up on the opposite side of the spectrum.

Edison was more business minded and had lower morals.
Even online, the search engines and social networks display your material based on their narrow definition of ‘authority’.

Merit had nothing to do with it. People with apserger’s syndrome are notoriously rules minded. The glom onto that pretty quickly because it makes more sense than what actually drives society, the social undercurrent. This can make them seem to be more moral than the average person, where in fact the emotional awareness and conscious decision to adopt a moral code may not be there.

If I differ from others with asperger’s syndrome, I would say it’s because I display an uncommon intuition and passion, motivation. I agree. From interacting with you, I wouldn’t say you had aspergers. It’s possible I don’t. I am suspicious of that diagnosis.

Just watch the Big Bang theory, Sheldon, brilliant mind, rule setter, but not accepted in social settings.
Because he’s also obnoxious.
Well, being a jerk will make people not like you. It’s amazing Sheldon has any friends at all.
I see Sheldon as having asperger, so I see him different.

Being a jerk can be a difficult thing to avoid when you lack the understanding that would tell you when you are being a jerk.

Yea, it could be like a blind person trying to be a painter.

So, people hate and fear the underprivileged, why is that?

My ex father in law was blind and he helped paint a room with guidance. The blind and largely blind have learned to paint. There are exotic techniques that can enable it, and with the rapidly growing cybernetic technology, social classifications like blind may evaporate, replaced by hasn’t had the surgery yet which would leave the underprivileged to be blind, as they couldn’t afford the mechanical replacement that would reclassify them. We instinctively greet any evidence of sickness, weakness or disturbance with a very visceral disgust.

I don’t think people necessarily fear the underprivileged. They fear criminals. For example, the Amish are not wealthy, but no one fears them. The Amish maintain a self sustained economy for the most part, so are outliers.

They are hard workers and don’t depend on anyone else.

In my experience as a homeless individual, without exception anyone I stood too close to reacted as if I might be a threat, a criminal. They acted like I might mug them, or otherwise molest them. Why is that you think?

I fear anyone I hear walking behind me until I get a look at them. For some reason I think single guys are more likely to rob me then the granny out for a walk with her terrier.
Could have been because you were male, perhaps a girl would have gained more sympathy?
We spend all our time and effort keeping our wealth from them so it becomes automatic?

I found the same reaction to females. I became unusually popular among the homeless community, because I have a strange compulsion to be helpful. I made efforts to help others in my situation solve their problems, find resources that they didn’t understand were available, or even just navigate social misunderstandings. Having a gift for words has a strange paradoxical power. It confuses people to see this stinking dirty homeless man talking in an intelligent and sober fashion.

Why do we fear the ones who talk to the lamp posts more than the ones who can speak to people?

Yes, people judge us on how well we are groomed. More than how well we communicate and behave. The only thing my communications skills could do was make people pause, they still ultimately reacted negatively.

Who is Deserving?

So who is deserving of what again? I promise you that the ebonics speaking drug pusher on the street corner is much more clever than you in some ways.

Everyone deserves equal opportunity to basic necessities. I fully agree, what are those basic necessities? Are they just food, water, and shelter?

I agree too, but why does society not allow it? Society does indeed forbid it.

Food, shelter, clothing, a shower.
I’d say eating is free but even animals have a pecking order. The pups don’t ever eat before their papas. Would the papas ever think to offer food to their pup?

Having lived in conditions that were just above a homeless shelter, and also having lived in a homeless shelter, you come to understand quite quickly that you are to be a good pet of the state, or you will quickly be turned back out in the wild, or even violently punished as the cops won’t hesitate to do if they think you are suspicious. Weird counts as suspicious.

Opportunity to contribute should be a basic need.

And yet if you went into the wilderness and lived the same way, you would be camping.

No, you would be squatting. That is what the city would call it.

I feel lucky that I was in the boy scouts and learned how to start a fire and build a lean-to. Ah, start a fire and you will be confronted, build a lean to and it will be torn down.

I meant in the wilderness. You won’t find much that anyone actually considers wilderness, and you have to have purchased a permit to be considered to have legitimate business there.

I still find it hilarious that the gov’t can shut down forests. It’s all owned.

In Canada? Park ranges and cops destroy shelters there as well.

If you don’t have money you don’t have legitimate business anywhere.

I dream of living off the grid.
Yes, border guards can turn you away for not having money.
I heard that Hong Kong grew so quickly because anyone could start a business so easily, with no red tape.

The only reason I could immigrate to Canada was my wife’s sponsorship, and even that only worked because she had money.

Just set up your stand and start selling your wares. If you collect stuff they accuse you of stealing it, and stands get torn down. You have no license. I couldn’t sell you some acorns I found, I would be taken in by the cops. I couldn’t sell you drinking water I gathered, again it’s illegal.

Yes, putting monetary barriers to success is definitely not fair.

So who deserves what again? Who earned what? How did they do it?

So are we all socially equal? Why aren’t we all socially equal?

No.
Nope apes are not ever going to be equal. We need an alpha to look up to.
Money.
People will not allow it.
There are indeed barriers to success in many places.

Barriers to success in any place. I have seen no exceptions. Any marginalized group will encounter the same barriers no matter where they go or what they do. As very clever and well educated as my wife is, she encountered barriers in her career as an engineer.

Yes, where rules and expectations are dominated by men.

It was good that she was as comfortable socially as she is with men, but that still didn’t remove the barrier, just eased the strain some.

Did they dare call her darlin’ when trying to explain things? She was the one doing the explaining.

I’ve noticed that women who succeed behave like men.

Perhaps it’s because there is a way to behave that will facilitate success, whether you are a man or a woman and any guy that doesn’t behave that way would also be excluded. I know I have experienced that. There is no such way. There is no intellectual equality. Rationality offers no out from this issue. There is no level playing field, but there is also more than one field.

No, the ‘way’ is determined by who makes the rules.
Yes, true…the owner of the business decides how the organization is run.
Do you think that is likely to change? I do yes, but the change will not be graceful.

Metaphysics of Privilege

Now the metaphysics of all this, there are layers to this issue, depth beyond most peoples consideration. There is the politically correct model of privilege which is not talked about or acknowledged, but is the most emotionally comfortable for society at large.

There is the socially accepted field, business, politics and religion, and then there is the shadow field, the domain of the dirty little social secrets where the real social contests take place, and might makes right. Does this sound wrong? Am I full of it?

The surface field pays lip service to fairness, even if it doesn’t actually allow it. The shadow field pays no such lip service.

Like the business on the golf course?
Oh. definitely there are office politics.
If you get on the wrong side of the gossip clique, you are screwed.
It is more powerful.

The backroom deals, and they don’t care about anything other than outcome.

There is one more field, the primal field, and this one scares everyone. It is very little understood but instinctively sensed. Cultures that lived close to nature understood it better, even developed words for it. The authority derived from it, mana, ashe, divine charisma, the right of kings in the earliest sense of that concept. When it comes down to survival situations, new leadership emerges, and titles and publicly acknowledged authority mean little or nothing.

Maybe we won’t always be ruled by money.

We all know that person whose intuitive sense of the social weather is uncannily accurate. That person who has a strange sense of other peoples physical and emotional state, aware of impending illness or distress long before it emerges. We also know that person who always seems to know when a fight is coming of one form or another, and who will be involved, often even why the fight is going to occur. Does this make sense? Does it match your experience of reality?

Yes.

Primal Authority

We don’t just defer to the strong. We ultimately defer to primal authority, when we have to, when we’re scared and can’t handle things in the way we normally do. Even dogs (domestic dogs I mean) have been found to follow the most friendly in their group, rather than the strongest, the one that promotes group cohesion best. Being socially minded they are drawn to the one who supports that best.

Popularity is power.

The reason there are such things as organized crime, and cohesive fringe military organizations, is primal authority/privilege transcends conscious understanding. No ones permission is needed for authority to arise in a social group. We organize according to our needs, and our needs can shift, our awareness can shift. It’s the bedrock of human nature that shapes things, or forms the foundation for how things get twisted. It’s natural for us to form a social ecosystem, but add tangential thinking on top of that, and you pervert it into a system that will sustain the illusion of order even if genuine order suffers, that neither knows nor cares about the genuine purpose or use of human ability. In a sense, the system of hereditary titles still exists. Rather than being openly publicly acknowledged, these titles are sustained through social expectation.

Yes, the same people still run the world, even though we have the illusion of democracy. Yes, so an alternative before I conclude…

Trust your gut over your imagined perception. As yourself is this a living role I see? Is this person genuinely engaged in the goals and purpose their role is supposed to support? Ultimately, you will feel it if the person is real. There are real spiritual leaders, those who do genuinely want to support peoples spiritual understanding and well being. There are real political leaders, those who do genuinely want to foster their communities well being and prosperity. These tend to be small scale, local individuals.

I hope this was useful in some small way. Society is only a problem to the degree that it serves as a distraction from real human need, from real human nature, and real human ability. I personally feel concepts like the economy are a hideous lie, justifying insanity that hurts us all. That’s just my view.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~