REFLECTION
Privilege, Empathy, and Hope for Peace
By Dawn Shattuck
One of the greatest illusions we have as Americans is that we rightly deserve everything that we have, or that we have justifiably earned everything that we have accomplished. While this may be true for a few, is it really true for most of us? If we are completely honest, wasn’ t there someone or something in our past that made it possible for us to have greater access to funds, or to an education, or an inside chance at a job interview? Wasn’ t there someone or some group that blazed the trail or opened doorways making it possible for us to be in the position we are today? Privilege, or lack thereof, clearly has a profound impact on the trajectory and satisfaction experienced in one’ s life.
No matter what part of the world we live in, privilege seems to be a gift of circumstance. The great Midwestern financier Warren Buffett quips that many of us in America have“ won the ovarian lottery,” the ultimate position of privilege he describes as being born a white person in the United States, a society that mandates access to a certain level of education, and is run by a government that continues to support some level of protection of a person’ s basic civil rights.
But does it really make sense that the opportunities that a good life provides be determined in large part by the circumstances of one’ s birth? Should the wherewithal to obtain a good education, land a decent job, or live in a neighborhood where children can play without fear be the luck of the draw? People without privilege are disproportionately and negatively affected by lack of opportunities and options. Many face daunting challenges just to survive, let alone thrive. Under their circumstances, how difficult it must be to find any amount of peace of mind or to have hope for a more secure and successful future.
A humane society should not require a privileged life to be able to feed, house, and clothe one’ s children or to protect one’ s family from harm. A compassionate society would mandate access to those basic needs for everyone, while ensuring access to a good education, healthcare and equal protection under the law.
Does having privilege then come with added moral responsibility? Isn’ t it logical that those more privileged step forward with benevolence and be willing to stand up for others, and certainly, whenever possible, provide added opportunities? Can we really expect the conditions of the underprivileged and ultimately the world as a whole to change if those of much privilege do not help make social change happen? We must not only guard against the arrogance of privilege, but we must also be mindful of how our personal privilege impacts others, negatively or positively. Privilege can be used as a great force of social change if those who are privileged consistently view the world through a lens of compassion and goodness for all.
We can begin to accomplish positive social change by first acknowledging that privilege actually exists, and, with that rarefied capacity to make things happen, work for a more humane world. Considering how many people of privilege live in the United States alone, imagine what might happen if an additional ten percent of the population stepped up to help others; we could easily launch a positive change tsunami.
Empathy as the key to a more humane world
David Lacy, cofounder and columnist for iPinion Syndicate contends:“ We have an empathy crisis in this country. Our fierce sense of independence and entitlement allows us to effectively shut off suffering for anyone but‘ our own.’” What is the impetus then that makes people more attuned
4 IMAGINE l SPRING 2016