Am I doing enough? How can a privileged person be moral?

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This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 4 months ago by Jade.

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November 28, 2014 at 2:53 am #68497

Anonymous
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You cant fix the world – one person just cant and being a white male has nothing to do with this. My suggestion though would be to volunteer in person and get your mind off these things. You will be amazed at the tenacity some of the people there actually have.

November 28, 2014 at 4:58 am #68499

Lily
Participant

Im with Moongal. You might be a white man with privileges but you really need to see how fiercely people who have nothing can fight their battles. Im not saying that all is right and fair in this world but you need to stop thinking that they are weak and cant protect themselves. Know that like you or myself (I am a brown woman from a third world country and consider myself extremely blessed too) they can fight their battles and perhaps with greater tenacity than we ever could. You being male or white or educated has absolutely nothing to do with it. They can hold their own and all we need to do is support them when it is wrong – we arent born to fight every battle, not even our own.

And dont forget to breath and take time to look after yourself. You cant save the world, we will only ever impact a handful of people or causes in our lives – lets try to do our best with that. Also, I couldnt help but thing..what is the underlying insecurity within you that makes you want to do all this to make yourself feel better?

Also, congratulations for being a good human being – you already are. Give yourself a pat on the back, the depth with which you think and feel..your desire to help end the disparities in this world is commendable. Very few who even think along these lines. Dont forget to look after and appreciate yourself.

With warmth your way
Lily.

November 28, 2014 at 7:17 am #68503

AikiBen
Participant

Hi Joey,

There are parts that I would agree above and parts that I don’t. Firstly, it’s not YOUR job to fix the world, when you try to take on such a responsibility you will be overwhelmed, which will surely make you feel disempowered, and your ability to bring love into the world will therefore decrease, just using this logic you can know that this approach is not correct. By the sounds of things you are already doing great things. It is important to have your own life together, to be centered yourself, before you can truly help another. From a position of strength you can offer strength.

By all means, you could go over and help directly (hands-on so to speak), if you think this is the best thing to do, but perhaps you can have more effect, reach more people doing what you’re doing. Slightly contrary to the above, yes, you are already doing very well if you are raising yourself and the few people around you to a higher level, and those effects spread out like a ripple. But of course, some people do effect entire communities, countries, and even the world.

December 4, 2014 at 11:01 pm #68791

Loh
Participant

I feel you think too much actually…… If you do want to make a difference, you can just start with anything in your life. If your struggles are deriving from being white or having other privileges, you can take some training regarding cultural competency. I think most of these cultural competency lectures mentioning how to perform self discourse on white privileges, which can help you better understand a range of -ism issues in our society.

December 5, 2014 at 10:06 am #68813

Jade
Participant

Hi Joey,

Unlike everyone else here, I think that it’s a very good thing you feel the way you do. Those of us who have compassion and empathy for people who are suffering systematic abuses are often confronted with feeling helpless or “cheating” the system through our own good fortune.

You ask how you can be a better person, how to help those who are suffering, and the answer is to help and support people who don’t have the same privilege you do. Have you ever heard of “white saviour complex”? Don’t fall prey to it! It’s true that your white male privilege has given you advantages in life, but use those advantages to support and be an ally for women and non-whites.

Listen, respect, and support. Remember that the personal is political and that if you can make a small difference or contribution on a local scale (i.e. volunteering or charity work in your city), that’s a worthwhile effort. The problems of the world are too complex to be solved by one person, but if we all chipped in little by little together, a drop of water can become a tidal wave. 🙂
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