The Ultimate Privilege

Only in America could some people complain that other people enjoy systemic privilege. All over the world it is simply an accepted fact that some families or clans have an advantage in social and economic circles.

There is no place on Earth where equality is ubiquitous. It is an uncontested reality that there is no such thing as social and economic equality. 

It is also true that racism exists to some degree or another in every large country where the population is not homogenous. The Japanese have not cross-pollinated with other populations like we have in America. Within their society they have internecine conflicts and hatreds, but little conflict over skin color. The point is, over thousands of years, humans have shown little interest in total integration.

The concept of "White Privilege" is a cultural construct of 17th century colonialism. As light-skinned Europeans dominated world exploration and migration, they also tended to reap the economic benefits of modernization. Under those conditions, industrialization and wealth creation led them to exploit those advantages, as would be expected of any biological life form, plant or animal. That is why, if given the opportunity, Bermuda grass will crowd out Fescue grass in your lawn.

Should humans work to mitigate our aggressive tendencies? Of course. But it is simply a utopian dream to think we will ever be passive-submissive patsies. Evolution requires competition, winners and losers, and only the most unforgiving competitors survive to play another day.

As a species, we have to be proficient physically and mentally. And we have to maximize our resources, too. And people are always the most valuable resource in any organization. Have you ever heard the phrase, "It's not what you know, it's who you know"? The concept of networking applies to every culture. Forming alliances of like-minded people is a natural outcome of networking, sharing and building a culture.

It is not inherently racist to prefer to hang with people like yourself. "Birds of a feather flock together" to lubricate social interaction, to promulgate their species, and to maintain a defensive system, a proverbial "department of homeland security". 

It is a process better described as survivalism than as racism. 

The planet is a dangerous place and all life forms have to battle the elements and other competitors to sustain themselves. This explains why humans regularly practice physiological profiling, look for commonality, and form affinity groups, just as do other species. 

Over the past 500 years, America has co-mingled more human DNA than at any time in human history. That is why we are referred to as a "Melting Pot". Anyone can move to America and eventually become an American. That makes America exceptional in and of itself. 

Those of us who were privileged to be born in a particular area called the United States of America, are by far, the luckiest of all humans to have ever existed. We are extremely privileged because we live in a nexus where freedom, resources and opportunity all come together.  Americans are blessed with the highest standard of living, the longest life span, and the most diverse social environment to have ever existed in human history.

I hear so-called "woke" social justice activists say "White people don't understand their own racism." Most of them have advanced degrees from major educational institutions or at least some exposure to cell phones, laptops and the internet-of-things. Ergo, Americans enjoy a systemic privilege over everyone else on Earth. The rest of the world lives in our shadow. 
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Listening to American's of any ethnicity complain about their problems with oppression is baffling. You can't call yourself "woke" if you are ignorant of your own privilege.

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