What are the material effects of privilege, at least as they are imagined by those who believe the concept to be something that must be sussed out and eradicated? A privileged person gets to live their life with the expectation that they will face no undue hurdles to success and fulfillment because of their identity markers, that they will not be subject to constant surveillance and/or made to suffer grave consequences for minor or arbitrary offenses, and that police will not be able to murder them at will. The effects of “privilege” are what we might have once called “freedom” or “dignity.” Until very recently, progressives regarded these effects not as problematic, but as a humane baseline, a standard that all decent people should fight to provide to all of our fellow citizens.

Here we find the utility in the use of the specific term “privilege.” Similar to how austerity-minded politicians refer to social security as an “entitlement,” conflating dignity and privilege gives it the sense of something undeserved and unearned–things that no one, let alone members of racially advantaged groups, could expect for themselves unless they were blinded by selfishness and coddled by an insufficiently cruel social structure. The problem isn’t therefore that humans are being selectively brutalized. Brutality is the baseline, the natural order, the unavoidable constant that has not been engineered into our society but simply is what society is and will always be. The problem, instead, is that some people are being exempted from some forms of brutalization. The problem is that pain does not stretch far enough.

We are a nation that worships cruelty and authority. All Americans, regardless of gender or race, are united in being litigious tattletales who take joy in hurting one another, who will never run out of ways to rationalize their own cruelty even as they decry the cruelty of others. We are taught from birth that human life has no value, that material success is morally self-validating, and that those who suffer deserve to suffer. This is our real cultural brokenness: a deep, foundational hatred of one another and of ourselves. It transcends all identity markers. It stains us all. And it’s why we’ve all run headlong into a regressive and idiotic understanding of race at a time when we desperately need to unite and help one another.

I really enjoyed this writing on privilege theory, especially the part I'm block-quoting here, double-especially the part I'm boldfacing in red here: https://whitehotharlots.tumblr.com/post ... ause-it-is

I'm obviously not religious, but it's recently become more and more clear to me that with the collapse of Christianity the collapse of Western civilization is likely to follow.

I'm obviously not religious, but it's recently become more and more clear to me that with the collapse of Christianity the collapse of Western civilization is likely to follow.

One of the founding principles of the United States was a lessened role of religion in society. I'd say it worked out pretty well for the first 200+ years.

One of the founding principles of the United States was a lessened role of religion in society. I'd say it worked out pretty well for the first 200+ years.

What nineteen year-old wrote this? The bold part is idiotic.It might describe some people, but no more than a small slice of Americans.

We are taught from birth that human life has no value, that material success is morally self-validating

That's 100% wrong.

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I'm obviously not religious, .

That's 100% wrong.

just as a side conversation between buds, you say this but it really doesn't seem like you believe it. Sure you may not be an attendee but taking your posts collectively, your mindset seems more than just shaped by a religious foundation, it seems to currently co habitate with it.

However, you aren't understanding the context of the document if you think any of that was put in there to diminish its importance in society. State religions and de facto state religions were a problem plaguing social mobility. They were inextricable from european monarchies.

Is this a counter-argument to my point though that the United States lessened the role of religion in society to the benefit of society or an agreement with me about it?

are you equating society with government

Government is a major part of society. If a religion is controlling the government then how could it not have a larger impact on society as a whole than if the government operates separately from religion?

If Christianity was the state sponsored religion would the United States be more or less religious?

There are more than 40K different Protestant denominations.

Which one are you referring to?

Well said. That's why it's a good thing that religion has a lessened role in society.

What nineteen year-old wrote this? The bold part is idiotic.It might describe some people, but no more than a small slice of Americans.

We are taught from birth that human life has no value, that material success is morally self-validating