Ever heard that phrase, ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch?’ It seems pretty relevant these days, especially when you talk about things like privilege. Yes, it’s going to be one of those posts because once again, the squeaky wheels of the extreme left are getting all the grease and forcing us off the path.
A person I follow on Facebook recently tried to call out all this privilege stuff, basically asking for a straight answer. Talk about kicking over a hornet’s nest. His comment section was filled with links to articles, as well as some ‘how DARE you question the left.’ rhetoric. Folks threw stats at him about black vs. white shootings by cops, and how if you adjust those numbers it certainly appears that police have shot more people per capita than they have white people.
Ever notice that when it comes to things like the popular vote, the left is all about the straight number, but when it comes to crime and the like, they then start to adjust things? Hm.
I’m coming at this as a layperson, I will admit. I mean shit, the only black person I grew up around was actually descended from a family who’d immigrated from the Philippines. I wasn’t exactly chillin’ wit da boyz in da hood growing up. However, I did see some racist tendencies in some folks, and these were people I largely avoided in my life because they were assholes. This guy was and is still a good friend of mine and we still keep in touch, now nearly 30 years after high school. Of course, being Canadian I suppose the majority of my ‘inherent racism’ leans towards natives, since they were the drunks, the poor, and the criminal where I’m from. It’s kinda hard to see folks like that in a positive light when all you see them at is their worst. We are creatures that react to external stimuli, and negative stimuli engender in us negative reactions that stick with us for most of our lives.
One thing I’ve always been interested in knowing though: has the concept of white privilege always meant that white folks were less likely to get shot or bullied by police? Has that always been the case, or is this another case of the goalposts being moved when folks have revealed just how bad off a lot of white folks have it, and how many black folks have been massively successful in business, the arts, entertainment, etc? It’s been tough to follow the argument on some social media platforms because the discussion is quickly smothered by folks determined to push their individual narratives to the exclusion of all else. It also doesn’t help when successful black people step up and beat down the claims of privilege. Having people like Morgan Freeman and others look at ‘their own people’ and tell them to shut their holes, in my opinion, really takes the piss out of institutions like BLM or others who whine about reparations.
That brings me to the title of this post: Free Lunch. A typical person is not born into greatness, or wealth, or status. I say typical; I’m not talking about those few who could spend their entire lives in their own gated community and provide nothing to civilization as we know it. No, I’m talking about the middle class, and those who start off poor. Those of us who gaze up from our toil and behold the ivory towers just peeking out over the horizon. Those who tell themselves ‘I want to be there someday.’
Many will tell you that it’s impossible, and you should continue in your place. You should ‘know your place.’ I’m not talking about the folks who look down on you from their pedestals, no. I’m talking about the person standing beside you, telling you that there’s nothing better for you out there, and that you should just be happy where you are. This doesn’t come from on high…it comes from your peer, your neighbor. Someone who’s been disillusioned or has never seen a way out. They look at those towers not with hope, but with scorn. Did they ever try though? Did they take those first few steps on that journey? No…no they didn’t.
Shoot for the moon. Even if you don’t make it, you’re still among the stars.
Norman Vincent Peale said this, and he’s right. The road to the tower is a thousand miles from where you stand, and every journey begins with the smallest of steps in that direction. We talk about white privilege and how blacks can’t get ahead. Tell me, where’s the black kid who whips out his iPhone and looks up something more than tinder, twitter, or Facebook? Where’s the kid who browses to a library site, or to some other online resource for learning? Where are the mentors who should be teaching these kids how to read and write? Once you can read, the door opens to possibilities unparalleled. Once you can communicate with the rest of humanity, you’ve started on that journey. Any person who holds you down and says you can’t move from where you are…they’re not concerned for you. They’re scared that you’ll succeed and that they’ll end up hating themselves for never trying.
And even if you don’t make it to the ivory towers…even if you don’t become Mr. Fortune 500, or that uber-famous rock-star…even if you only make it a few miles to that place, you’re out of where you were, and things are better. You took ownership of your life and chose to do something about it. Fuck ideals, fuck politics, and fuck groupthink. The age of the unified movement is dead. Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the KKK, Neo-Nazis, White Nationalism…it’s all nothing more than religion with a new coat of paint. Charismatic ideologues leading the masses of those who once again have fallen into the false sense of security provided by the mobs. Many of these folks are atheists, yet they can’t see these groups for what they are because ‘God’ isn’t in the dialog.
Break away from it all. Have friends who believe in that shit, sure, but to yourself be true. Go out there and learn. Find people along the way that can aid you in your quest, but glean from them only what you need. Pursue your passions and ignore all else. You may have to do some shit work along the way. You may end up working at McDonalds, or sweeping floors at a warehouse, but that’s only because you need money to survive. In this age of information and technology, if you have a cell phone with a data plan, the only person who can really stop you is yourself.
The free lunch is tempting, but in the end what does it get you? It makes you dependent on someone else to provide for you and you only grow when and how they say you should. Accepting charity should only be temporary for when you stumble. It’s OK to stumble, but it’s not OK to remain. Eventually you have to be the one to provide your own lunch, and anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t…those are the people you need to avoid.
We all start at different points to be sure. Some start in the middle class, some start in poverty. Some come from criminal backgrounds, and some are runaways from families or situations that would make for great Hallmark movie fodder. I was from the first group – the middle class. My family wasn’t wealthy but there was always food on the table. My Dad worked long hours both at his job and with the Lions’ Club. I remember nights where he only got 3-4 hours of sleep as a result, but was still up and out the door when he needed to be. My privilege, I suppose, was that I never had to worry about where my next meal was coming from so I could focus on things like my studies. Others may have to re-prioritize sometimes, but the important thing is to never let that dream go. Even if in a week you only make one step on that journey, at least you’ve made that step.
The people who built those towers originally came from people like us. They were no better when they started, and instead of looking at them with scorn or avarice, you should be looking at them as what one can achieve when they fully invest in themselves. Don’t dab on the haters…kick them square in the groin and step over them as they fall. Journey to the land of making your own lunch, and you’ll find it’s delicious.