Don’t Get Upset with the Realities of Privilege in Finance

“Greed is rooted in fear”.

I love phrases that cram so much wisdom into so few words, as this one does easily. Greed being rooted in fear is 100% true. Fear was my impetus for starting the climb to wealth, as I knew wealth was the closest I could get to full protection. Nowadays I enjoy the assurance having six-figure wealth brings me. I also have this WHILE having a comfortable home, more than enough food, lots of books, and easy access to city life. I’m better than fine. I’m absolutely thriving.

This thriving, however, didn’t come without obstacle. I have a lot of privileges working for me, but I don’t have all of them. Very few people in my friend circles actually do – every immigrant, woman, person of color, and queer has a story about prejudice slapping them across the face (sometimes literally). Personal finance and economic stability is one of the starkest examples of privilege in action. The realities of privilege is that it inherently needs discrimination against someone else. Said discrimination is propped up by a long history of using it as a tool for keeping some people in power and others out of power. Those that forged such a tool did it to ensure only people they wanted in power would reach that top echelon.

And it’s because of that tool that so many privileged are in the position they are, instead of someone with a better moral character or ability than they have. When they know they don’t really deserve what they have thanks to privilege, they get scared that someone will realize this and take it away from them. To counteract this they continue using discrimination to sustain their nice lifestyles.

Greed is rooted in fear. That fear drives privilege, too, and bolsters continued discrimination.

Use the Realities of Privilege for the Greater Good

The very definition of privilege is “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group”. You hear it most often in the context of race, gender, or sexuality. You also see some nasty older folks take advantage of it all the time, specifically the ones that scream they can do no wrong because they’re an elder and taking advantage of that privilege.

Besides those realities of privilege, however, there’s others that extend to what you don’t even think about regularly. There’s generational privilege if you come from a stable background. Same goes for if you have access to clean water, shelter, technology, plumbing, education, transport, and a slew of other things we take for granted in modern America. It’s so easy to see others enjoying the advantages denied to you and getting angry about it. I understand that completely, and you have the right to be angry.

With that said, also understand that privilege is an ever-evolving phenomenon. Historically speaking, this tends to move in the direction of giving you more of it as time marches on. I say “tends to” because the wrong people in power can force in reversals very quickly. This should tell you that the response to privilege shouldn’t be getting angry, but getting organized. Advocate for doing better. Your descendants-in-spirit, and by extension the future of humanity, will be even better off than you are today. I mean, you’re better off than you would have been a hundred or more years ago. Ignoring the reality of progress means not being part of getting it there.

Never Ignore Reality or the World At Large

Then you’d be like these shitbirds protesting for people to get back to work – utter losers who cannot fathom goodwill towards their fellow man. “I had to work all my life when I didn’t want to, so everyone else should be forced to go through that now during a public health crisis!”

Geez, can you imagine this thinking at any other point in history? “I had to struggle through doing everything by candlelight, no way should these morons have access to electricity!”

“We had to till the land for our feudal overlords for most of our lives, no way should our government suddenly change to DEMOCRACY!”

“My entire community had to hunt and gather JUST TO EAT. Why would any one of us support this unnatural FARMING and CATTLE-RAISING?!?!!?”

Like… come on. Get with the picture, and get some empathy too. This is basic morality. You never wish for suffering upon others when a better path is at hand. We’re better than that.

If it’s only malicious selfishness that concerns you, think of this: what’s stopping someone ELSE from deciding that you’re part of the group that should continue in some sad suffering? If there was a way that would sweep your upset, ailment, or principal fear back into your life for some arbitrary reason?

Think About these Realities of Privilege

Do you want that as the standard? I sure as hell don’t. I like being the captain of my fate. The master of my soul. The judge, jury, and executioner of what goes on in my day-to-day world. My ability to do this hinges on the decency of others I come across. In other words, I know the vast majority of humans I encounter are not going to deny me my rights.

The Founding Fathers chose “daring liberty over peaceful servitude,” an attitude I consider a fundamentally American one. Will you continue to deny your own prestige, relegating yourself to wallow in undeveloped swampland? Or will you decide to develop, and become strong, and step into your role fully as AMERICAN?

Lucky for you, we all remain captains of our fate. So don’t get upset or angry with the role privilege plays in finance. Work to change it in any way you can. Whether that’s in union organization, advocacy, or financial education, you’re poised to make a staggering difference for yourself and those who most need it.

What path do you choose? I’ve already chosen mine.