Privilege

There might be such a thing as unearned white privilege ... but life contains many other privileges that are far more subtle and insidious ... and don’t relate to the color of one’s skin. How about celebrities? Once, in coach on an airplane I found myself sitting next to Dick Clark. The flight attendant quickly upgraded him gratis to first class. Is this not a “privilege” of being a celebrity? Every day one sees people famous only because they are famous spouting off in the most inane ways just to keep their names in the news. (Kathy Griffen and Rob Reiner come to mind.)

There are other ways of attracting privilege ... what I call Poobah privileges ... such as low-number or special license plates ... or using limousines to arrive at an event ... or wearing designer dresses or British-tailored suits ... or wearing expensive jewlery or Rolex watches. These are all ways to establish oneself as deserving of better treatment by one’s lesser ... in other words “privilege.”

In the old Soviet Union one would see military men with so many medals on their chests you wondered how they stood straight ... thus deserving privilege. What about the ever-growing number of TV award shows? Is this not a way of celebrities buffing their stars even brighter ... in order to get reservations and turn heads at the best restaurants?

The English are addicted to privilege differentiators ... Earl of this or Duke of that ... see: Edwardian Promenade. Royalty also bestows status and privilege on a few with knighthoods ... Sir Richard Branson for heavens sake! Is this not melanin-independent privilege?

Congressional privileges ... executive privileges ... faculty privileges ... doctor privileges ... looter privileges ... the list goes on and on. People like to see themselves as rising above their peers while at the same time professing “inclusion.”

Such bullshit!