General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhite people are the worst
Heh.
It's true. We started 2 world wars, we built nuclear weapons. We trashed Europe and the North Americas. We have polluted the planet beyond all reason. South America and Africa are comparatively clean places.
So, those who are harshing on our white privilege.. .. more power to you.
zappaman
(20,605 posts)Heh.
JI7
(89,182 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I agree, you do seem you are.
uppityperson
(115,674 posts)zappaman
(20,605 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Is it because we kill any who threaten us?
If not that, what is it? Can you even begin to tell us why we have this privilege, oh wise one?
JI7
(89,182 posts)where certain people benefit more and certain ones face more discrimination and none of these are whites. and we can talk about many other places.
but in this case we are discussing the US.
you just aren't getting what it is.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Not white privilege obviously. What term?
Would we use a color? Or is that not PC there? Hmmm, maybe we wouldn't base it on race elsewhere. But honestly Chinese privilege exists for someone who is white there - but then we are calling them a nationality which doesn't fit how we do it here. We use colors here to talk about people.
And would it extend to all people of that color?
Just wondering how we talk about it elsewhere and the approved terms (which probably would be different I am guessing so as not to offend others, but then since they are the majority they can't really be offended and have nothing to complain about.)
JI7
(89,182 posts)but my point is the OP doesn't understand what is being discussed.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)One overall race with different ethnic backgrounds. So we might say that there are, within one race, segments more privileged than others. Like the Irish here, Scottish, etc. But here that distinction doesn't appeared to be allowed and it goes to all humans of one color.
So all whites get all the privilege here in the US, but in other countries we allow that different groups of the same race can suffer from less privileges. Poor whites are still white and are better off than wealthy and powerful people of any other color.
Just not sure how it all maps everywhere else.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)TBH, I don't doubt that some sincerely believe that. But it's not really true. If anything at all, speaking overall, despite the racism factor, wealthy People of Color are actually significantly better off than poor whites; yes, class does indeed play a role, and a much larger one in this era than some realize yet, or in some more extreme cases, are willing to admit. So obviously, it's a lot more complex than just "race", really, as I'm sure you and I will probably agree.
JI7
(89,182 posts)group will have members who are better off than members of a group that is overall better off.
in india a good example is that woman who was underpaying her maid and had to leave the country to avoid a trial. she comes from the group that is most oppressed , the "untouchable" dalits.
but she is very well off and better off than many others who come from groups that have benefited more.
the same is true in the us. as we see people always mention oprah.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)A person can be white and be less privileged than another white person. However, because of their race, they are still as better off than every person of another race. Which I suppose means they cannot really be bad off at all overall.
In other countries we allow people to be of the same race and don't call them privileged. We could say all people in India who are not black are more privileged than black people there. And while that would probably be true I don't see what it actually does as it discounts a very large group of people who are also oppressed that are of the same race the oppressors.
JI7
(89,182 posts)i know many gays who are pretty well off financially , but i know i have many privileges from simple things like being able to hold hands and kiss in public to getting services for couples such as wedding cakes, hotel rooms, dinner etc without the same worries as gay couples.
uppityperson
(115,674 posts)what one individual may have in their life.
"they are still as better off than every person of another race"
Are you serious with this subthread or playing devil's advocate or simply trying to provoke? I am curious to know before replying more. Thank you TSS.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)We so often only look at things from an American/US point of view and I think sometimes we feel problems that we have here are unique to us.
Words and concepts are important and how we define them should be fairly consistent.
If there were only white people in the US would there still be white privilege? It appears when we look at other cultures we see the same ideas but we don't use the color of people. That leads interesting places. If I say 'hey, white folks have it bad too' it is said I am whining (as noted in another thread) and we still have it better than all. Yes, on some levels and on some things whites have an easier time in a very broad and general sense. There is a plus one gets for being white (even more so as you go back in time).
But that doesn't translate into much for many and there is still very powerful losses people feel by those with wealth and power and the big 'privileges' - and that shows up when we look at other countries. It exists - but like some say with white privilege people ignore it. It has an affect. Class doesn't know color.
There are a lot of people hurting and who are victims in this society of the few and the powerful. Telling someone that because of their race to shut up and quit whining because they have it better than someone else really doesn't seem like a progressive discussion at all. Maybe we should give it name, like whiter white privilege
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Your definition is wrong.
We kick ass! That's how we got privilege.
We sit around thinking about the next best weapon so we can kick even more ass and take their shit. Iraq ring a bell with you?
But certainly, if you have a better explanation as to how we got all this privilege, write it up. Don't be shy. Have courage!!
But you won't, 'cuz you don't. Get it.
Dorian Gray
(13,469 posts)There were very few places where I was NOT treated better bc I was a white American.
(People were pretty darn nice and accommodating everywhere.)
The same was not true to people of other Asian or African backgrounds.
oneofthe99
(712 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I hate world wars, nuclear weapons and global pollution, tho. And yeah, we whites are about 99% to blame for those awful things.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The best wurst is weisswurst which, I thought, was veal.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Just saying.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Posting a dumb response like is just edumacation. A certain president would be proud of that.
The OP is 99% true.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)They have GMO's for what ails you, I hear.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Even unto the third and fourth generation.
To go full Metal Godwin, the Nazis had a a concept called sippenhaft or kin liability, you are responsible for what your kin do and all white people are kin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippenhaft
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)The artificial divisions cause us even more problems.
We are even, omg, kin to chimps!
Dogs are not far away, either. They just walk funny.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Like living dinosaurs, precariously teetering around on two legs instead of a sensible four like the great majority of the animal kingdom.
Four legs good, two legs bad!
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)They can lick themselves all over. Heh! (are comments like that allowed?)
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Tailless bipeds are just damn strange.
+1 on the licking thing though.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)Some of the most polluted areas on earth are in Asia.
Once we white boys set up bizz there, it was all she wrote for a clean Asia.
Where do you think most of our trinkets and lumber comes from these days?
Just 30 years ago, when people like me began protesting the white's privilege to rape and plunder the environment, we were on track to be the worst, ever. So the white bizzman just moved there and set up shop. Asia has the most people and they lived pretty clean until we arrived.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)was a pristine ebvironement before U.S. companies arrived? What color is the sky in your woeld?
You seem to believe South America and Africa are pristine as well. You must drink a lot of Evian.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Gawd..... yeah, sure, their coal plants created global warming. Their atmospheric nuke tests put radiation around the world. All their cars have just made it hotter.
Amirite, or is you right?.BZZZZt. Times up. You are wrong.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)China powerplantszburn more coal thant the rest of the world combined. Do you think they have any 'scrubbers' in their powerplants?
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)because they make all our crap over there. And ship it to us courtesy of our US Navy protecting the high seas. They have 4 times as many people in China as we do in the US. For years they kept it going sustainably. Then we white bizz boys moved in and showed them how great they could be.
Can you imagine 4 times as many people here in the US? Crushing comes to mind with all the greedy power hungry white boys who will oppress anyone who doesn't play along and follow our rules. Certainly the natives here objected, eh? What happened to them?
We have privilege because we stole it!! Yea white folks!!
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)Ha Ha Ha Ha!
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)Without the white man, the rest of the world would have been happy to live in peace with nature. Our species would live in caves and simple structures, not the McMansions and other buildings built by stealing resources that belong to the Earth.
Humans should live like the rest of the animal kingdom. The sun and our bodies as our sole source of warmth. Wild nuts and berries our sole source of nutrition. When we get sick, we eat plants, not pills.
Then, we would all be living in a world of peace, love, good health, and acceptance. Just like our ancestors did hundreds of thousands of years ago, long before the age of fire, metal, and agriculture.
Response to FrodosPet (Reply #61)
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951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)All we do is bring wars, conflict, nudist camps, destruction and destroy natural resources.
We are a cancer. Every time I look in the mirror I wonder who I'm going to oppress today.
Down with myself!
Fridays Child
(23,998 posts)Self-flagellation? Reparations? What's your plan?
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I live like 99% of the planet in that I hardly use much money, gas, or other people's freedom. Since i removed myself from the dog eat dog rat race, life has gotten so much better.
Otherwise, i did what i could and was successful. And laughed at by many of my contemporaries who just kept seeking ever more trinkets, war, and nukes.
Fridays Child
(23,998 posts)ancianita
(35,813 posts)Also, remember that a rigged game and its damage capacity existed a long time before we got here.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yE6pj0IxRzo/UgmyylDEX5I/AAAAAAAAE2I/n-lOE6TLAU0/s1600/Half+the+World.jpg
Kurska
(5,739 posts)The world was a harsh and horrid place where people toiled mostly in abject poverty under the rule of despots before the rise of European colonialism. It continued to be afterward.
Only fairly recently have things gotten remotely better and that has nothing to do with white people being good or evil.
Response to Kurska (Reply #41)
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Kurska
(5,739 posts)There are currently more CO2 emissions coming out of Asia than Europe or North America.
The entire world's quality of living has been increasing for decades though. Your grasp on human history is tenuous if you really think only white people are living better.
trusty elf
(7,349 posts)Squinch
(50,774 posts)But it seems like all the privilege deniers are insomniac.
If you look at the history of, say, English foreign policy, you see a clear picture of what you are talking about.
Make7
(8,543 posts)Squinch
(50,774 posts)Make7
(8,543 posts)... and it went downhill from there.
Squinch
(50,774 posts)Par for the course.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)badtoworse
(5,957 posts)Response to RobertEarl (Original post)
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hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Javaman
(62,442 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)FSogol
(45,360 posts)Orrex
(63,086 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)Response to RobertEarl (Original post)
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bravenak
(34,648 posts)I know it's old and you got mysteriously locked out but i keep looking at it and laughing. I am going to read it to my mother over the phone and make her tell it to her husband. He lacks the proper amount of white guilt. ( that was a joke people)
I about 1/3 irish. I have a bout 33.33333 percent of me that is very privileged. You've seen my picture. I look innocent. Lol! If only they knew.