Relative Something

With a nod of thanks to my friend, Gary Larson, last night I was able to hear actor, writer, author, voice artist Wallace Shawn speak at an author lecture series at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.  He read from one of his essays on the Quest for Superiority. His perspective, as one who was born into a privileged life, yet suffers the angst of discovering that it comes at the expense of those without privilege, is one that I understand very well.

Earlier in the day, I had read a commentary (counterpoint) in a local newspaper, “White Privilege is Most Potent When Denied” and the combination of the two things, occurring on the same day, both relating to this similar issue, have me re-invigorated to consider ways I might contribute in an ongoing way to shedding light on the topic.

There is that difficulty of continuing to enjoy the benefits of the current system, while trying to point out the failures of the system, that makes doing so particularly difficult. As ‘Wally’ points out, it can be comfortable living in privilege, and it is too easy to lose attention to the issue under the spell of those comforts.

Ideally, it would be desirable for everyone to rise to a level of privilege that would enable the joy of being comfortable, …as opposed to simply removing all comforts toward a goal of total equity for people the world over.

It is an issue that exceeds the capacity of my feeble mind to adequately comprehend, but at least I am past the point of obliviousness, or worse yet, denial. It is something for me to think on, this concept of shedding light on the topic, ongoing.