Tag Archives: privilege

The Road to Diamond, Day 252: Unrequested

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 7, 2025- In a well-appointed room, at a resort along a prosperous coast, a young man stretches and prepares to enjoy a summer’s day, on his break from University. He didn’t ask for good fortune, but it follows him. Perhaps he will someday go through equally unrequested heartbreak and suffering, but for now, all is well.

In a rock-strewn, hollowed out gulch, along a desolate, impoverished coast, a young girl tends to her two younger siblings, feeding them biscuits and a few leaves of spinach. They didn’t ask for this ill fortune, but it follows them. Perhaps they will someday see prosperity, as a now elusive peace settles on their homeland, but for now, survival is all that lies in front of them.

In a small Midwestern town, a father shops around for enough food to bring to his wife and four children. He stretches his dollars, as his father did before him, and Grandpa before that. None have asked for ongoing ups and downs of the local economy, but it has long settled among them. Perhaps someday there will be a return to locally grown food as a standard, rather than as a set of anomalies, but for now, he and they push forward, day to day.

On the roof of an apartment, in a hardscrabble Caribbean neighbourhood, three young men sit and discuss how they might respond to news of a wealthy man taking charge of their country. They didn’t choose him, and though he offers hope of stability, they have heard it all before-as have their parents and grandparents, going back eight generations. Perhaps someday, there will be a true and honest consultation among the people, but for now, the young men will follow whoever seems to have the power on the streets of their city.

I think of these people, and others, as I sit in an apartment which I chose, in the city where I gladly chose to live, eating food that I prepared myself, from ingredients also freely chosen. It hasn’t always been a life of choice, at least outwardly. Yet, the changes that have taken place in my life have been influenced by my preferences-even when those choices are small, limited and not the most optimal.

I hope and pray, for each person finding self in harrowing conditions, or in debilitatingly privileged states, to ponder the options that may be available-and take the ones that will bring beneficence, even if it starts out as a few more morsels, or a bit more conscientious self-restraint.

The Road to Diamond, Day 108: Perquisites

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 16, 2025- I have been blessed to have not been raised as what Mom used to call “a privileged character”. We were each loved and encouraged to develop moral fiber. Part of that was willingly taking our places in line, sharing with one another and with others and not expecting any over-the-top rewards for doing what we were supposed to do in the first place.

It is that way with, arguably, the majority of people around the country, and around the planet. We get up in the morning, go about our work or other daily tasks, enjoy the company of family members or others close to us and pursue our dreams-all within the bounds of the society in which we live. Some live hand-to-mouth, others, paycheck to paycheck and still others, like myself, have a bit more leeway. There are those who, either by dint of hard work and careful planning, live more comfortably than we. Then there are those who, by a variety of factors, have risen to a place of perquisite-indeed, the privileged ones about whom Mom warned us.

Everyone essentially has to do the same basic tasks each day-and none can escape the aches and pains of life, nor can anyone escape the transition to the spirit realm at some point, We each have moments of joy, and times of sorrow. Even the uberwealthy can find themselves in dire straits-either material or spiritual; maybe both. Therein lies the masquerade of perquisites. It strikes me as sad, that the most powerful people on Earth are often the most insecure; they appear to us as needing artificial protection from reproach; indeed, protection from any criticism. Thus we have the spectacle of people who merely protest at Tesla dealerships being labeled “domestic terrorists”. (NOTE: Anyone who vandalizes property, public or private, is committing a crime and deserves to pay the price.)

Free speech is not curbed by the perquisites of its focus occupying a place in the upper strata of society or of government. Free speech does not depend for its existence on being in any sort of agreement with those in positions of power, real or imagined. I am no fan of religious zealotry or of political extremism. Nonetheless, absent acts of terror or concrete evidence that same is being planned, I oppose the detention, incarceration or deportation of any citizen or legal resident of this country-be they Right, Left or anywhere in-between. Removal of those here unlawfully still needs to be accomplished in as dignified and humane a manner as is humanly possible. It cannot be done haphazardly, lest human beings fall through the cracks-some of them literally so.

There is no perquisite that says someone in power can unilaterally do as suits him/her. In that, as we saw in 1974, Richard Nixon was wrong. So is anyone else who assumes otherwise. Abraham Lincoln noted that the President of the United States has enormous power. It is, however, not unlimited.

Being 64

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Posted by on in Personal goals, Social

November 28, 2014, San Diego-  I woke today, looked in the mirror and lo & behold:  There was a face that looked every bit of sixty-four.  I’ve always regarded looking one’s age as a sign of a life well-lived.  Acting one’s age, that’s another matter.  After all, men old enough to be my father have made no bones about going after young women.  That’s not my style, though.  I had a fine marriage, have a son who is contemporary with the aforementioned ladies and besides, I enjoy the company of people of all ages, as friends, at this stage of my life.  Maturity, for sixty-somethings and older, is a choice.

I’ve thought a fair amount about privilege.  In some ways, I enjoy it;  I don’t have to worry about being pulled over by police, just because of the type of vehicle I’m driving.  I can go anywhere I can afford to go. I am not followed around by store security, even when I’m “dressed down”.  No one asks me my business, when I’m in a public place. I could, conceivably, be hassled by people, when in some parts of Hawai’i , or Mexico or any number of Native American communities.  So far, though, that hasn’t happened.  I was treated just fine in the Honolulu area, have visited Yaqui, Tohono O’Odham, Navajo and Hopi communities, with no unpleasant events and drove  a friend to Mexico a few years ago, without any sense of imminent danger.

What I don’t enjoy, though, is seeing people who are just trying to get from A to B, being hassled.  I also don’t like seeing miscreants try to poke holes through civility, by creating a scenario of “racism”.  Every person should obey the law, not take what isn’t his/hers and refrain from bullying people who are trying to make an honest living.  Every person is also entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labours, earn a decent living wage and not have to sneak across borders to do so.  There is a lot, an immense amount of work to be done in that regard.

I got a lot done this past year, and will get more accomplished in the year ahead. (Details in next post).  For today, though, I am content to head up to La Jolla, hopefully see some marine mammals, hike a bit at Torrey Pines and kick back this evening with a Netflix film at my son’s apartment.  Sixty-four is a fine age to be.