Privilege

I live a privileged life…

I was lucky enough to be born into a family that could support me attending a local state college.  This opportunity turned into graduate school.  This opportunity turned into career experience.  This opportunity turned into law school.  All these opportunities developed into… Wait, no it didn’t develop into anything.  This is where I was stuck.  I had worked hard with the opportunities that my privilege provided me, but I now had career experience, a lot of ambition and a ton of school debt.

I had an idea for a business that I was uniquely qualified to lead with my opportunities, my effort and my privilege.  But I was not privileged enough to start a business.  No bank would loan me money.  I did not have a rich relative to fund me.  My debt load did not allow for more debt.  No amount of effort would get my business started.

I needed to find someone who believed in me and was willing to part with money to get me started.  I am not “self-made”.  I owe a lot to a lot of people.  For my business, I owe a lot to my wife’s friend who had enough money and enough privilege to get my business off the ground.  Because I had some privilege, I could get to the beginning of a business start-up, but I needed someone with more privilege to fund me.  Because I had to take on investors, I don’t own a majority of my business.

I am in a great position now.  It was not just because of effort.  It was not just because of opportunity.  It was not just because of privilege.  It was all of these things together.

But remember, it all started with privilege.  Those less fortunate do not have the opportunity to attend college and no amount of effort will overcome some of the obstacles that exist in today’s world.  With income inequality growing, opportunities diminish and effort cannot create opportunities.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-short-comic-gives-the-simplest-most-perfect-explanation-of-privilege-ive-ever-seen?c=ufb1