The privileged
The term "privilege" is becoming increasingly widely used, with more people using it. Some people become defensive when the word is mentioned, without fully comprehending what it means or how it impacts those who have not been given the same undeserved advantages.
Privilege functions on a personal, interpersonal, societal, and institutional level, giving members of dominant groups advantages, favors, and benefits at the expense of members of target groups. People who belong to one or more of these social identification groupings, for example, are awarded privilege in some nations. It is the ability or formal authority of an institution to decide what is best for their people. The capacity to choose who has access to what resources, possessing the ability to exert control over others.
Not everyone has the opportunity to have the power, influence, and all of the comforts that others desire. They will have to earn it. Most of the time, such privilege is so difficult to come by for the masses that only a select few have it. However, how can privilege be used to effect constructive change?
Being privileged entails having access to numerous things that others have not had access to and have only dreamed of or envisioned achieving. They just yearn for it, even if their generation has not yet reaped the benefits, but hope to do so in the future. But it's merely a wish.
Those who are fully unaffected by the virus, for example, compare their lifestyles to the misfortune of those who are affected and feel guilty for being better off during the pandemic. As a result, there appears to be a sense of guilt affecting persons of varied degrees of perceived privilege, which is rationalized through comparisons with those who are substantially worse off.
As a result, it is a deeply frightening vision of power being misused when it is applied against the less fortunate, the disadvantaged. For instance, when a simple security guard, or any ordinary person, is subjected to the harsh and inappropriate use of privilege.
What we think about least may be the place from which we can do the most good. Each of us has some form of ordinary privilege, and that’s good news, because that means almost all of us have more influence than we may realize.
Privilege should be utilized in a beneficial manner. After learning how undeserved advantages may have aided a person's life or career, it is possible to assist individuals who do not have those advantages. It's tremendously powerful to advocate for others, share opportunities, and actively provide a voice to people who don't have one.
Understanding privilege is a difficult road to take --it is eye-opening, potentially painful and uncomfortable, but highly worthwhile in order to become a better leader and, most importantly, a more compassionate human being.
Having the power and capability to stand up and aid others who are less fortunate is a gift that not everyone has, and even fewer people use it. We have the ability to accomplish more.
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