Today, privilege is time, silence, and space for yourself. Some circumstances make it harder to claim, but often the barrier is not resources - it’s choice. Most people still run after noise and distractions, chasing things they don’t need, because they haven’t yet realized the cost of neglecting what matters most. The real question is, when will they notice?
Your post resonates because I think a lot about John Rawls' "veil of ignorance" thought experiment. In this experiment, you imagine you're designing the rules for a new society but don't know who you'll be in that society (i.e., what geometries/platforms were pre-built for you).
The primary goal becomes designing a society where the basics required for human flourishing aren't luxuries. That way, you can be assured that you have access to such basics, regardless of the position you might end up in.
Hey I'm a man of nepotist privilege, boo me, shame me, yay me, I don't care... I'd obviously ask Carlo why shouldn't I use *my* resources, this architecture, to ameliorate myself instead of charitably giving to people I see as beneath me (??).
Nice observations but the call to action seems a little weak to be impactful to anyone other than the guy with the paper thin walls, I guess.
Hmm, what makes you say the call to action seems a little weak? I had an entirely opposite takeaway, but it sounds like you have a reason for saying that. :)
I appreciate you wrestling with this rather than just scrolling past. Your discomfort is actually the point - privilege feels awkward to discuss precisely because those who have it are used to seeing their advantages as personal achievements rather than inherited geometry.
But you’ve misread the argument if you think it’s about “charitably giving to people beneath you.” That framing itself is the problem. The piece isn’t suggesting charity - it’s suggesting infrastructure. When you build a ramp, you’re not doing charity for wheelchair users; you’re fixing a broken design that assumed everyone walks. When you document unwritten rules at work, you’re not being charitable to newcomers; you’re making the system legible.
The call to action might feel weak because it’s not asking you to feel guilty or give away your advantages. It’s asking you to use them as tools to reshape the terrain. That’s harder than charity because it requires seeing the systems rather than just individuals.
Your “nepotist privilege” (your words) is just stored potential energy. The question isn’t whether to keep it or give it away, but whether to let it sit inert or convert it into something structurally useful. Not because others are beneath you, but because the whole landscape is unnecessarily tilted.
“My brain, probably” suggests you already know this. The discomfort you’re feeling isn’t weakness in the argument - it’s the friction of seeing the water you swim in.
The overhauls, or reshapings, of this kind of separation narrative need to be systemic, I agree. And further, I agree that I don't perceive the waters I swim in to be good waters. The nepotist privilege is a horrible feeling, but I'd be a moron to *not* selfishly use it as a way to help myself.
That being said, I give my time, when I can, alongside American Vagabond and the grand idea of a more cooperative human kind. I chose the discomfort. I hold heavy feelings of "not doing enough" which inevitably leads me to "this is not worth doing", which is tough, as tough as it is to walk past a painting of my father in the main hospital entrance. I hate it. I feel emotionally dysregulated, and often look for the *right* rally cry, but never seem to get it.
When I scribble notes to articles, as I did here, I don't make an effort to explain myself probably as I should. But thank you for these thoughts and these words, I find your work fun to read.
Permission to share this with my social work students?
Of course :)
Today, privilege is time, silence, and space for yourself. Some circumstances make it harder to claim, but often the barrier is not resources - it’s choice. Most people still run after noise and distractions, chasing things they don’t need, because they haven’t yet realized the cost of neglecting what matters most. The real question is, when will they notice?
Your post resonates because I think a lot about John Rawls' "veil of ignorance" thought experiment. In this experiment, you imagine you're designing the rules for a new society but don't know who you'll be in that society (i.e., what geometries/platforms were pre-built for you).
The primary goal becomes designing a society where the basics required for human flourishing aren't luxuries. That way, you can be assured that you have access to such basics, regardless of the position you might end up in.
Hey I'm a man of nepotist privilege, boo me, shame me, yay me, I don't care... I'd obviously ask Carlo why shouldn't I use *my* resources, this architecture, to ameliorate myself instead of charitably giving to people I see as beneath me (??).
Nice observations but the call to action seems a little weak to be impactful to anyone other than the guy with the paper thin walls, I guess.
Hmm, what makes you say the call to action seems a little weak? I had an entirely opposite takeaway, but it sounds like you have a reason for saying that. :)
My brain, probably
I appreciate you wrestling with this rather than just scrolling past. Your discomfort is actually the point - privilege feels awkward to discuss precisely because those who have it are used to seeing their advantages as personal achievements rather than inherited geometry.
But you’ve misread the argument if you think it’s about “charitably giving to people beneath you.” That framing itself is the problem. The piece isn’t suggesting charity - it’s suggesting infrastructure. When you build a ramp, you’re not doing charity for wheelchair users; you’re fixing a broken design that assumed everyone walks. When you document unwritten rules at work, you’re not being charitable to newcomers; you’re making the system legible.
The call to action might feel weak because it’s not asking you to feel guilty or give away your advantages. It’s asking you to use them as tools to reshape the terrain. That’s harder than charity because it requires seeing the systems rather than just individuals.
Your “nepotist privilege” (your words) is just stored potential energy. The question isn’t whether to keep it or give it away, but whether to let it sit inert or convert it into something structurally useful. Not because others are beneath you, but because the whole landscape is unnecessarily tilted.
“My brain, probably” suggests you already know this. The discomfort you’re feeling isn’t weakness in the argument - it’s the friction of seeing the water you swim in.
The overhauls, or reshapings, of this kind of separation narrative need to be systemic, I agree. And further, I agree that I don't perceive the waters I swim in to be good waters. The nepotist privilege is a horrible feeling, but I'd be a moron to *not* selfishly use it as a way to help myself.
That being said, I give my time, when I can, alongside American Vagabond and the grand idea of a more cooperative human kind. I chose the discomfort. I hold heavy feelings of "not doing enough" which inevitably leads me to "this is not worth doing", which is tough, as tough as it is to walk past a painting of my father in the main hospital entrance. I hate it. I feel emotionally dysregulated, and often look for the *right* rally cry, but never seem to get it.
When I scribble notes to articles, as I did here, I don't make an effort to explain myself probably as I should. But thank you for these thoughts and these words, I find your work fun to read.