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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]“Privilege” has a clear definition. However, it is no longer useful as its mere appearance is a green light for many to vomit forth their agendas and opinions on issues often unrelated and without regard to the original topic, ending its discussion.

Onward!  (Or start a new thread please as I was finding this original topic useful.)[/quote]

Here is the definition and why the word is inapplicable to young people with loving parents, who attend a good college, etc…

A privilege is a certain entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. Land-titles and taxi medallions are examples of transferable privilege – they can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth. By contrast, a right is an inherent, irrevocable entitlement held by all citizens or all human beings from the moment of birth. Various examples of old common law privilege still exist – to title deeds, for example.[1] Etymologically, a privilege (privilegium) means a "private law", or rule relating to a specific individual or institution.[/quote]

Privilege can mean different things to different people. 75% of students at Kenyon come from families in the top 20% by income. Only 1.7% come from the bottom 20%. In addition, most of these kids come from supportive families dedicated to advancing them. Ergo, most students at Kenyon are privileged.

Two of my kids went to T15 SLACs. Most of their friends came from relatively wealthy homes. Their parents were doctors, lawyers, engineers, business people, university professors, etc. A surprising number were only children (meaning all the money and care went to one child only). On average, they have more privilege than most kids at public universities.

When I look at the young people I have watched grow up, the advantages of privilege are obvious.  I've known some of these kids all their lives. A friend's kid went to a $55K a year high school (and expensive private schools from pre-school on). She was immersed in a sport her parents chose for her when she was 3, and they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on coaching. Her parents started panicking when she couldn't get her ACT over 30 and got her extensive private tuition. After several attempts and vast expense, they got her ACT up to 33. She was recruited as an athlete at Yale. She must have had some athletic ability, and she worked 20 hours a week at her sport, but she was probably in the top 0.1% in terms of parental financial investment and had every possible advantage in life. She's of above-average intelligence but is not unusually bright. Her mother shared with me that her IQ is only 126.

Could you contrast this with the young man DC's bestie just married? He came to the U.S. illegally as a 13yo and didn't speak much English at the time. His parents were dirt poor, had eighth-grade educations, and worked very long hours for low pay. He went to a public high school that was infested with gangs. Nevertheless, he was able to go to a Tier 3 public university with lots of merit aid. He worked to help his family throughout college. When he graduated with majors in economics and computer science, he had to work in a menial job because he didn't have a green card. He recently got a green card and is finally earning decent money. I don't know his IQ, but I feel pretty sure he's smarter than the young woman who went to Yale.

How can anyone claim the first kid is not extremely privileged relative to the second kid? Inequality is built into the fabric of our society. I'm stating that as a factual observation rather than a comment on fairness.

I remember Brett Kavanaugh hotly claiming he went to Yale because he worked his butt off. Does he not think Georgetown Prep and relatively wealthy parents helped him to get there? How many kids can go through high school and at least part of their undergraduate education so drunk they need to "boof" regularly and end up with law degrees? The young Hispanic man described above may be smarter than Kavanaugh but was never going to have the same opportunities.

Sorry. Privilege is a thing.

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