Stop calling yourself blessed when what you are is privileged

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get people’s objective in pointing out privilege nonstop. Why? So you can prove that your misfortune is out of your hands and certain races were destined to not be blessed??

As another PP pointed out, they need to create the narrative for themselves that those who have more don’t “deserve it” in order to justify taking it away someday. It’s basically gaslighting on a societal level.

(Alternatively, it is a sign of extreme immaturity. Think of a couple of kids playing basketball - “not fair! You’re taller!” Or running a race - “not fair! Your legs are longer!” And so on.)

Or maybe....they think that it is important in conversations about achievement and potential, particularly in policy discussions, for people to be aware that not everyone is on the same playing field. That is true. And often people overlook that and it can result in perpetuating that uneven playing field.

[Anonymous]

Nah. I'll keep doing what I want to do while minding my own business and you can do the same.

[Anonymous]

How about you stop putting down other people's religious beliefs. The bible teaches about blessings. If you don't believe in it, keep it to yourself. Wrapping your attack on other people's religious beliefs in the cloak of anti-white privilege activism doesn't work. You are still attacking a person's religion. So you are still a crappy person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when someone says they're blessed, to me, it's the same as saying they're lucky, which they might be.

It's not a personal affront, OP. Whether it's luck, privilege, hard work, or a blessing, it doesn't really matter, because the outcome is the same. Just be happy for them and for their acknowledgement that they have something in life to be grateful for.

DP here. I get what OP is saying. It's the tone deafness. What is implied when you say you are blessed because of your good fortune - that some divine being has smiled upon you, and even if you deny it, there is the logical implication that others who haven't had much good fortune in life are not blessed.

That's all.

No, your conclusion is not logical.

Saying that you've been blessed doesn't imply that others aren't blessed because they don't have exactly what you have, when you have it. If I say I am blessed to have a house, it doesn't imply that those without houses are not also blessed. There was a time when I didn't have a house either. I spent years saving for a home, then I spent a year looking for a house and put in offers on multiple homes and was outbid again and again, but I still considered myself blessed then in countless ways. Saying that you are blessed is more about a general state of grace and gratitude, not about having everything you want.

So if you are blessed because you have a house, what happens when you lose that house, have your lost your blessing?

No. Reread and try again.

^Also, since this is about semantics and phrasing, I did not say I was blessed because I have a house. I said I was blessed to have a house; having a house is not the reason I am blessed. I am blessed because of God's grace.

Then why link god’s grace to your house at all?

Many terrible people throughout history have had houses, even palaces. Were those the result of god’s grace too? Do the homeless have a smaller portion of god’s grace?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about you stop putting down other people's religious beliefs. The bible teaches about blessings. If you don't believe in it, keep it to yourself. Wrapping your attack on other people's religious beliefs in the cloak of anti-white privilege activism doesn't work. You are still attacking a person's religion. So you are still a crappy person.

And you are attacking OP’s beliefs. So you are on same level as OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when someone says they're blessed, to me, it's the same as saying they're lucky, which they might be.

It's not a personal affront, OP. Whether it's luck, privilege, hard work, or a blessing, it doesn't really matter, because the outcome is the same. Just be happy for them and for their acknowledgement that they have something in life to be grateful for.

DP here. I get what OP is saying. It's the tone deafness. What is implied when you say you are blessed because of your good fortune - that some divine being has smiled upon you, and even if you deny it, there is the logical implication that others who haven't had much good fortune in life are not blessed.

That's all.

No, your conclusion is not logical.

Saying that you've been blessed doesn't imply that others aren't blessed because they don't have exactly what you have, when you have it. If I say I am blessed to have a house, it doesn't imply that those without houses are not also blessed. There was a time when I didn't have a house either. I spent years saving for a home, then I spent a year looking for a house and put in offers on multiple homes and was outbid again and again, but I still considered myself blessed then in countless ways. Saying that you are blessed is more about a general state of grace and gratitude, not about having everything you want.

So if you are blessed because you have a house, what happens when you lose that house, have your lost your blessing?

No. Reread and try again.

^Also, since this is about semantics and phrasing, I did not say I was blessed because I have a house. I said I was blessed to have a house; having a house is not the reason I am blessed. I am blessed because of God's grace.

Then why link god’s grace to your house at all?

Many terrible people throughout history have had houses, even palaces. Were those the result of god’s grace too? Do the homeless have a smaller portion of god’s grace?

You clearly don't read the bible. I could answer meaningfully, but why bother. You have eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get people’s objective in pointing out privilege nonstop. Why? So you can prove that your misfortune is out of your hands and certain races were destined to not be blessed??

As another PP pointed out, they need to create the narrative for themselves that those who have more don’t “deserve it” in order to justify taking it away someday. It’s basically gaslighting on a societal level.

(Alternatively, it is a sign of extreme immaturity. Think of a couple of kids playing basketball - “not fair! You’re taller!” Or running a race - “not fair! Your legs are longer!” And so on.)

x1000 Nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about you stop putting down other people's religious beliefs. The bible teaches about blessings. If you don't believe in it, keep it to yourself. Wrapping your attack on other people's religious beliefs in the cloak of anti-white privilege activism doesn't work. You are still attacking a person's religion. So you are still a crappy person.

And you are attacking OP’s beliefs. So you are on same level as OP.

Nope. Never attacked a religion. Only OP owns that, nice try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I got an education and made the right choices in life.

Apparently it is impossible for some people to fathom that hard work, education, and good choices pay off in life, and that it is entirely possible that people can earn things through avenues that are not privilege.

+1000

Parents came here with no English. DH and I both were in ESL classes in high school. Hard work, making the right choices landed us where we are today. Houses, cars, vacations, private school educations, kids in elite sports and instruments. The kids will never have to worry about making ends meet but they are taught the values of hard work and making right choices. Call it whatever you want, privilege, blessed, we have in the end, earned it and are grateful for the land of opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me posit this: for those of you who preach “personal responsibility” and believe it’s so feasible to pull oneself up by the bootstraps, why are you saving for your kids’ college? Why are you creating a trust fund for them? Why do you live in McLean? If it’s so simple to just work hard and make it no matter where you’re from, why bother with all of that? Can’t your kid just save up money themselves like you tell poor kids to?

The idea that it is immoral or unethical for a parent to provide a better life for their child is flat-out inhuman. It also implicitly presumes that everything one family has really belongs to the collective and has been inequitably distributed. These are communist talking points.

[Anonymous]

I suppose I am privileged, however that is defined. I've thought about it carefully with all these focuses on equity in the last two years, and I've concluded that I really don't care either.

It's apparent enough that most people whining about privilege or playing fields are obscuring personal failures and it's easier to blame it on systematic structural problems so you don't have to take personal responsibility for it. I can tell from the way they utterly and completely ignore the poverty and limited opportunities in rural areas and small towns because it doesn't fit the narrative, or that plenty of immigrants of all origins come to the US with nothing and achieve far more than most native born Americans.

[Anonymous]

As stated above, putting down other people's religion is crappy.

Now consider for a moment - what religion are most hispanics and blacks in this country? Christian perhaps? You bet these christians do believe in blessings, thank god for blessings, pray for blessings.

The.end. (fullest stop!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suppose I am privileged, however that is defined. I've thought about it carefully with all these focuses on equity in the last two years, and I've concluded that I really don't care either.

It's apparent enough that most people whining about privilege or playing fields are obscuring personal failures and it's easier to blame it on systematic structural problems so you don't have to take personal responsibility for it. I can tell from the way they utterly and completely ignore the poverty and limited opportunities in rural areas and small towns because it doesn't fit the narrative, or that plenty of immigrants of all origins come to the US with nothing and achieve far more than most native born Americans.

Why so black and white? Of course there is personal responsibility and hard work and making good decisions are important factors in "success." AND ALSO, people are born into different conditions and some of them have more advantages than others in that regard. Why can't both be true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Let’s cancel overuse of “privileged” next.

This.

If you work for it, you aren’t privileged.

And, privilege shouldn’t become a scarlet letter.

It’s not a scarlet letter. So why not admit you have it?

It is in today's world. Calling someone privileged is a slam against them. It's saying they have something they don't deserve to have. It couldn't have been earned, it had to have been because of their "privilege".

It is the favorite “insult” of the perpetual victim crowd (who universally never recognize or acknowledge their OWN privileges and blessings in life).

It’s such a silly insult bc it never lands how they hope. If someone called me privileged, I would shrug and admit it’s true and…then that’s it. What else? Be more aware? Sure. Give all my belongings away? No. I already give half our money in taxes. It’s just not an effective insult or motivator.

[Anonymous]

I am called privileged pretty routinely I just smile and say:

"I know. And my biggest privilege is intelligence. I wish I could share that privilege with you."