Tag: privilege

043b – checking your privilege & other confusing phrases 

Over the last few months, I’ve felt an increased responsibility towards giving back to the society. This came through a variety of sources, the primary being a book called “All about Love” by Bell Hooks, where she talks about how the western society doesn’t believe in wealth sharing, etc. (She said it better, I don’t remember the whole thing). 

It’s also come up in discussions between friends, discussions related to privilege and what it really means to “check your privilege”. We don’t really understand this phrase, but our hunch is it means to be aware of your privilege. And I think, fortunately, most people around me are somewhat aware of it. 

It also came up because I recently decided to take a break from work and do nothing. Which, as a friend pointed out to me (though I already knew this), is something very few people can afford to do.

A couple years ago, I’d discovered this beautiful tool: https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org/ — you can basically input your annual income and it tells you how rich you are, globally. It’s really impressive, clean and concise.

I’m currently unemployed, but while I was earning, I was basically in the top 3%, globally. (And 1% when I was in the US). So, yeah, privilege. Anyway, now that I finally had some mental bandwidth, I signed a pledge!

Of course, a discussion about privilege would be remiss without me mentioning the areas I’m not privileged in: I’m a woman of colour, I’m queer (now living in India), and I have an anxiety disorder (GAD).

However, here’s the crazy part: I’ve found that it’s easier to accept these things (ie what’s not good) when you accept what is good. And it’s easier to accept how privileged you are when you’re not feeling guilty about it.

So, the simplest way to accept your wealth privilege? See how significant it is. And if that clarity calls you to do something about it, that’d be awesome. If and when you do donate, feel free to be happy and vocal about it. I firmly believe that the whole “donations shouldn’t be talked about or should be more under the radar” school of thought is not necessarily helpful. If being vocal about sharing your wealth makes you more likely to share it, I think that’s okay. 

Share your fortune, folks! Spread the love.

028b – flights

Adding this picture here since I think it has some interesting things worth noting. I love how it has things related to the pandemic as well as the fact that it’s the pride month – something else I wanted to talk about it in this piece, but didn’t end up getting to. Still worth it, though, I think.

I’m stuck in a five hour flight. Two of the five hours have passed and I’m slowly starting to enjoy it. Had a terrible night since this was a 6 am flight, and why past me thought it’d be feasible is beyond me. Spent the whole night in the “too anxious to fall asleep” and “too sleep-deprived to focus on anything” loop / limbo. But.. I’m here now, and not unhappy nor frustrated. The airport was terribly packed, by the way. In a way I’ve almost never seen before. It’s not completely unexpected since the pandemic is sort of coming to an end here, or at least a pause (who’s to say, really), but still took me a little by surprise.

I was trying to write a little bit earlier too. I was thinking about how it’s been difficult to sit down and focus on writing coherently. I was thinking about how inspiration has been fleeting lately. How it does knock on the door from time to time but flees before I can invite her in. But it’s interesting how a medium-long flight offers exactly the right kind of an environment to focus. 

My body is, admittedly, quite uncomfortable, but I’m sure my plight is nothing next to that of the very tall boy sitting next to me who seems incredibly uncomfortable in the middle seat.
This got me thinking about the economics of shared but unequal travel, or in general… shared but unequal experiences. It’s been quite a while since travelers have been able to afford various privileges for an additional cost, but it’s one of the first times I’ve been on the more privileged side. It’s a weird feeling, I didn’t expect so much guilt around it. I wanted to let him know to let me know if he wanted the windows up or down, and for a minute I’d even felt like offering him my seat if it were slightly less uncomfortable. Then I remembered I’d paid more for my seat and there was no reason for me to have to do that. So yeah, the guilt around privilege was and is very real. 

Anyway, my time in the States will be coming to end in around 7-8 months. And it’s weird how that changes things so much. I’ve noticed how ever since I got the confirmation of this news my perspective on my remaining time has shifted quite significantly. Every experience feels retrospective even as I’m living it. I was thinking about the people who made the last three and a half years worth recounting. Some of them were people I knew from before I moved, some I met once I got here. So, so happy and content with this last phase of my life. I think I’ve grown a significant amount and learnt so much about myself and what I want from life. Of course, I don’t know whether I would get everything I want or not.. but it’s still nice to feel more aware. 

Flights always bring up a lot for me. Something I can’t stop thinking about is the first flight I took when I was moving here. I was seated with another girl similar to me in age, and a married man probably in his 30s. The three of us had ended up talking a lot and having a great time (flights from India to the US are terribly long),  – and it just warms my heart to remember that experience. It was such a great welcome to this place, and I’ve always been so grateful to both of them for providing me with that. Hope I can pass that on to someone else at some point.