Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds

If you've read Candide, the above quote will be well-known to you. If not ... go read it.

Assuming that you'd rather not right this very second, the title of this post is taken from the character of Pangloss, who is a philosopher and optimist and believes that everything in the world is the way it is because this is the "best of all possible worlds." Candide is a vicious satire (and I love it) and Voltaire meant it to eviscerate the attitude, common at the time it was written, that since God made the world the way it is, everything about it must be to a good end, so it is not actually possible to have a better one.

Pangloss, alas, is alive and well today. "Sure," say the economists, "Lots of people are very, very poor. But what can we do about it? If we were to alleviate their poverty, the economy would crash and no one would have anything. As much as I hate it, everything is already for the best in this best of all possible worlds." That's just one example. There are Panglosses in every field.

It goes without saying that this is an attitude I have not much use for.

I am a reclaiming witch. In the Reclaiming tradition, examining privilege and working for equality is a foundation of the faith. The whole basis of the Reclaiming tradition and what separates it from other varieties of Wicca is the commitment to political action and change. Reclaiming witches are famous for getting themselves thrown into jail during non-violent protests on any one of a number of issues. As a result, I've spent a great deal of time since I admitted my conversion over a decade ago thinking about this--privilege, and what is privilege, and what can you do about it when you have it?

Privilege is the flip-side to discrimination; but it is not simply the lack of discrimination. It is unearned advantage. It is getting a job because you are white, feeling safe outside after dark because you are male, being able to access public institutions because you are able-bodied, having access to the institution of marriage and all of the rights that marriage entails because you are heterosexual. It is government programs that increased access to financial resources that were restricted to white people. It is the ability to repeat someone else's idea and have it credited to you because you are male. This is not just not-being-discriminated against. This is being awarded something you do not deserve because you belong to a powerful group.

I throw "privilege" around like everyone has spent the last twelve years of their life studying it; but maybe you haven't spent much time thinking of yourself who has unearned benefits and rights. In which case, I would encourage you to read this article on white privilege. Obviously it won't apply to all of you; but hopefully it will get the idea across. If you are white, if you are straight, if you are able-bodied, if you are middle- or upper-class, then you need to admit that there are a substantial number of things in your life that you have not earned and do not deserve. Good things. Things you are used to taking for granted.

Some people are trying to argue that this doesn't count as "politics."

From the dictionary:

"politics

"n 1: social relations involving authority or power [syn: political relation] 2: the study of government of states and other political units [syn: political science, government] 3: the profession devoted to governing and to political affairs 4: the opinion you hold with respect to political questions."

Hmm. Looks like politics to me. Unless one is defining politics so narrowly that it considers only the maneuverings and strivings of a limited number of persons, mostly straight white men, and the political authority they wield whether legitimately or no. In which case, one has defined the vast majority of persons right out of politics; and the entire field becomes only one more expression of privilege and power of an elite over a majority.

In any case, in every usage of "politics" I've ever encountered, "social relations involving authority or power" has been the foundation of the discussion whether stated or not, and that's what I'm talking about. Social relations involving power and authority. Specifically, unearned power and authority, or privilege.

The same people are also arguing that just because blogging status reflects traditional social hierarchies (eg. my contention that women whose children are disabled are twice as likely to have an unpopular blog) doesn't prove anything--that old "correlation does not equal causation" canard. Of course, by this standard, systemic discrimination can never be proven. By this standard, that women earn 80 cents on a man's dollar does not prove that women are discriminated against in the labour market (maybe they don't work hard enough at their jobs). The proof, of course, is that any alternative explanation besides discrimination is itself bigoted. I reject bigotry; therefore, I reject the alternative explanations.

I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually require me to prove that writing ability or work ethic are equitably distributed between women of different demographic groups.

Let me be clear about two things:

1. This is not about me. Any claim I might make of being under-privileged would be laughable. I am white. I am upper-middle class. I am employed as a professional. I live in a major urban centre. I am straight, and married. I have the benefit of being considered able-bodied, since type 1 diabetes is largely invisible; and I have the benefit of passing as secular or atheist in any situation where self-identifying as a witch might harm me. I am young. I am thin enough not to be penalized for being fat. This is not about me. I am not complaining that I am being discriminated against. I am arguing that discrimination and privilege are present on the momosphere. As a reclaiming witch, I could not ethically participate in a community without starting such a conversation if I felt it were warranted. It is an inescapable part of my religious identity.

All of the posts I am reading, which in essence state that this entire conversation has been sour grapes, are entirely missing the point. Believe it or not, not everyone argues about privilege or discrimination from a position of self-interest. Considering the position of the special-needs momosphere is what triggered this conversation; but even within that group I am much more privileged than not. Which is another reason why I consider myself responsible for initiating this conversation: unlike many special-needs bloggers, I have a considerable audience outside of that community. I am hoping that I can use that position to start a needed conversation that crosses the boundaries of the various communities I am part of.

(Who are these people who think I'm an unpopular blogger? OK, I get that you don't like me, but seriously; my average daily visitors number is comfortably over 300. The difference is that most of my readers are not bloggers themselves (I can tell) and I frankly consider that to be a good thing. You're not the world, you know?)

Instead, what's been happening is a whole of people--people who embody privilege--saying "nonsense! All things are for the best in this best of all possible worlds." Only the world in question is the momosphere. So polite! So civil! Well, of course it is; anyone who might have a different point of view has been defined out of the community.

2. Equality will entail losses for you.

Yes, you. And if you are not prepared to entertain the concept of material loss in your life, then you are not committed to equality. Especially, good god, if you are not permitted to consider the loss of some status in a virtual environment; I can't see how anyone who vociferously protests any questioning of their position in the momosphere could ever seriously work for any movement in which they might lose some of their class or financial status.

I can already see the well-credentialed waving about for an opportunity to say: "equality is not a zero-sum game, Andrea!" When it comes to respect, you are right. There is infinite respect and affection to go around. When it comes to jobs, money, housing, clothing, leisure time, retirement savings, and so on, you are wrong. It is a zero-sum game; and if the disadvantaged are to make real gains, it will be at our loss. We need to be willing to share. Your privilege means you own things that don't belong to you.

If you work only for feminism, and if the feminism you work for has been defined in such a way that it primarily benefits women of your own economic and social class, then you are not working for equality. You are working for your own advancement. And that is very, very different.

Unfortunately, the momosphere as I've seen it so far embodies the worst criticisms of second-wave feminism: not only are most of us white, middle- or upper-middle class, straight, married, healthy and so on, but the issues we talk about centre almost entirely around our own narrow concerns and interests. Daycare. The "choice" to work. Maternity leave. Breastfeeding vs. formula feeding. Types of diapers to use. Flex-time and part-time work. Birth plans. Vaccines, for gods' sake. And if this is the mother's movement as you understand it, then you have pre-defined it to exclude the vast majority of mothers in North America and overseas; the mothers it will benefit are already relatively privileged. I am not interested in being part of that kind of mother's movement.

I've seen a lot of rhetoric about how the momosphere has the potential to lead the mother's movement. It will only do so if we can pull our collective heads out of our privileged asses and look at the broader world around us. Otherwise, it will only be another instance of the already-powerful co-opting a social movement that could have been revolutionary, if only they'd never shown up.

I am determined to be Betty Reese's mosquito--not because my feelings as hurt, as so many people have opined elsewhere, but because I am outraged. I have repeatedly invited anyone to offer actual proof to counter my thesis--there has been none. Instead, people defend the inequality. If anyone proposed such reasons for why women bloggers are overlooked (and they are--it's been well documented, to the point where the entire history of blogging has been rewritten in the popular imagination to exclude the female pioneers) you would all be screaming with rage. Somehow, though, it's ok when the women in question are mothers to children who are not like yours. If they're being excluded, it can't possibly be discrimination--there must be some other reason.

I have been beaten and neglected by my parents. I have diabetes and asthma. I've been so broke I didn't know where my next insulin dose was coming from. I've been depressed. I've attempted suicide. I've been divorced. I don't even cry at funerals--do you really think I'm talking about this because my feelings are hurt?

All appearances to the contrary, I am not a stupid person. I did not think that this was a topic of conversation sure to gain me admirers and friends. I am not talking about it in the vain hopes that suddenly, lo, thousands of links shall appear. I did however believe that a few people--not many, but a few--might be receptive to what I'm talking about and willing to examine their own unconscious patterns of behaviour. In that respect, I was right.

What I really did not see coming was for anyone to read any of this and decide that I was arguing for my own advancement, out of hurt feelings. Because that would be stupid, and I am not stupid. (See above.)

Remember Ghandi? Lovely man, he emancipated India.

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

If you want the world to be a lot of people who look and act exactly like you, then we're in good shape. If you actually do want equality, if you want a world where justice is a birthright of everyone, then we have got some work to do. And it starts with you.

~~~~~

This topic is done.

What? The inequality bit? The -isms? No. That's not done until October 27th. But this topic--i.e., me and my motivations for discussing this--is done. It's a waste of my time and energy. Think whatever you want.

Posted by Andrea at September 17, 2006 9:10 AM under Web

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