To Deny Privilege Is To Lose Humility

Every individual on this planet is privileged. The amount of privilege depends on the circumstances in which that person is born; namely the financial status and opportunities that person is going to have based on a number of other factors such as proximity to good education, healthcare, and other facilities of modern-day life. Now if we were to deny our privileges that we inherent possess by birth in our families with such influence or power, then it can be safely conjectured that we cease to be humble from that very day onwards. This is because there are a huge number of people who are not blessed to have such opportunities in life that the more privileged class does. There are billions of people who are in abject poverty, therefore unable in most cases to lead a happy and healthy life.

So I believe at each and every step of our lives, we need to remind ourselves of the kind of privilege that we inherited just by virtue of being born in our families, and then we need to accept that privilege humbly and gracefully. By this, I mean not just in thought but in action. This has a connection with the cycle of wanting more and more in life. Everybody wants to earn more money, own a bigger house, drive a fancier car, wear more expensive apparel, travel to another exotic destination, and so on. But in this journey of life, we tend to forget the have-nots.

I am not saying that these things are not required in life. But there should be a moral and ethical obligation to think about those who don’t even possess the very basic necessities of life – clean air, clean water, nutritious diet, shelter over their heads, or adequate clothing to cover them. These people are therefore exposed to the terrible weather conditions most of their lives, forget about having a decent education and healthcare. And most likely, these are very people who also have pitiful working conditions most of their lives. Now the reason I am pointing this out is that if the handful of people who are privileged do not come up to hold the hands of those, who are not so privileged, then there will always be these parallel worlds coexisting in a not-so-peaceful manner.