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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   2974 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026

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Privilege Theory

A Privilege is an unearned advantage according to this theory, and if you are born into a position of privilege, you dont know what its like to live without it. I think this idea has many flaws, but I'll let the author go more indepth:

The theory of privilege saying that being born a certain way makes certain outcomes more likely still appears to be a fair observation. So maybe the problem with this theory isn't the theory itself, but rather the way in which it is often applied.

Privilege is often not approached abstractly, but rather concretely. The notion that success is more likely with privilege is bastardized into the assumption that success requires privilege.

What could possibly go wrong when that assumption is made?

David Webb interviews Areva Martin:

I've chosen across different parts of the media world, done the work so that I'm qualified to be in each one. I never considered my color the issue. I considered my qualifications the issue.

Well, you know, that's a whole nother long conversation about white privilege—the things that you have the privilege of doing that people of color don't have the privilege of.

How do I have the great privilege of white privilege, David?

By virtue of being a white male, you have white privilege.

Whole long conversation. I don't have time.

Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should have been better prepped. I'm Black.

Okay then, I—

You went to white privilege. This is the falsehood in this. You went immediately with an assumption.

So who gives you the wrong information?

...the wrong information that I'm white, to come on my radio show? What do you think about that for a minute?

What did she say? Her team.

What was the bad information they gave her?

The wrong information.

So what does that mean?

Well, that's my question. How do you give someone the wrong information about my skin color during this interview?

Areva Martin used the abstract theory of privilege as the basis for a concrete assumption about David Webb.

Martin's argument was that Webb could not have possibly accomplished all of the things that he had accomplished if he was Black.

Well, we know that's not true because David Webb is Black.

So what was wrong with Martin's argument?

Simply put, her argument took the theory of privilege out of the abstract and applied it improperly by making an assumption about an individual.

The theory of privilege states that certain characteristics make certain outcomes more probable. It does not state that certain outcomes are guaranteed.

Thus, this theory should not be used to make concrete predictions.

Unfortunately, that's often how it is.

I can't be the only one who dislikes the accusatory structure of Privilege to begin with? It kind of leads to the concrete argument inherently. Privilege is applied to the group that, by definition, lacks the disadvantage. Wouldn't a more productive conversation be around how to fix the disadvantages of others? If I say someone has Male Privilege, what is that meant to do? I cant say I've ever seen this used very productively. It just feels more like a bludgeoning fist than a helping hand.

Perhaps another argument could be that those with this advantage have an obligation to help others without it, but Its not like a lack of disadvantage is the same as being in a position to do anything, and its not automatically the case that the disadvantage have no power either. Maybe those with wealth privilege could give money to the poor, but that might not affect much if the reasons someone is poor is structural/government policy reasons, or due to their own personal failings. And some one who is poor could very well change their circumstances to become middle class if they work hard and stay in school. Yes this obviously has its limits, but it'll still put you in a better spot than doing nothing. Same with thing with male privilege: I can't stop other men from raping women and using money & power to get away with it unless I possessed a similar level of wealth and power. The fact that I am less likely to experience rape myself doesn't change this idea.

Its a frustrating conversation to have, because it pivots and assigns blame and responsibility to the "Privileged" group, instead putting focus on how to fix the issues of the less fortunate. It gives me the gist that many of these folk are just looking to shit on people and shut them up, rather than actually solve any real problems.

The purpose of privilege as a concept isn't to center groups to help (which would necessitate actually identifying and helping those groups), but to center groups to hurt. The latter is much more useful for intra-elite conflicts, because one faction can deploy it against the other; and it outcompetes the idea of helping the less fortunate, because it supports the accrual of more power and resources to reproduce itself, while the concept of helping the less fortunate dissipates the power and resources of those who hold it.

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