Let’s Stop Flinging Poo, Shall We?

There was recently a post wondering how and why people feel entitled. The comment had to do with entitlement across gender lines, but it could be equally applied across racial lines. Once you see that it isn’t about race or gender, you can ask what it IS about.

Lack of empathy. Fear. Flawed theory of mind. Lack of maturity.

Here are some attitudes and values that underly this behavior:

“The world revolves around me/my tribe.”

“They know how I think/feel”

“I know how THEY think/feel, even if they say differently”

“The world is hierarchical, and me/mine are at the top”

“The heart wants what it wants.”

“Life is a jungle. Kindness is weakness.”

“The world is unfair.”

“You have to take what is yours”

And of course, every one of those has instances of greater and lesser justification. When you see a negative behavior from a person or group, you will have the choice of asking “what kind of fear creates that anger, creates that violence?” (and yes, calling the police on someone is violence — simply indirect or “yin” in that sense).

Why do people exhibit privilege beyond the bounds of reasonableness or “common sense” or social mores? Well, partially because the definitions of these things change from time to time, instance to instance, generation to generation. What you see is…