The Duty of Privilege - Do the rich and elite owe more to society than the downtrodden?

Inspiration For This Post

This ideas of this post are similar to an earlier post of mine - 'The Civic Imperative'. They focus on how and why the preference of people in general (and Indian People in particular) needs to shift from rights and entitlements towards duties and responsibilities.

The reason I say this is that democratic societies in general and the Indian society in particular often see a shirking of responsibilities and duties that help such societies flourish in the first place. This is visible right from simple things like cleanliness and civic sense to more complex societal problems like crimes. This aloofness often arises due to a very rights and entitlement-centric approach to public life - be it the gun culture of USA or the ochre pan stains in India. The focus usually remain on my rights and my feelings, and never on my duties or my responsibilities. This is hence a sincere exhortation for people can and should do for others and vis-a-vis the state to preserve the democratic fabric of India.

Building on 'the civic imperative', or simply the importance of dharma in society and state, this post goes a step ahead to argue why some people should be even more considerate, conscious and dutiful towards their societal role than the larger masses. These suggestions are not just an act of whimsical thinking, but are important to sustain the social fabric. A more duty-bound approach will ensure a more conscience-stricken populace. A more compassionate, responsible, upright and value-enriched society in this great nation of India can be expected to be a natural corollary.

 

Understanding Intersectionality

The concept of intersectionality has been talked about by feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. She used this concept to explain the deprivations on an individual in a society that might arise from multiple identity-based factors like gender, caste, religion, race or skin colour, language, way of life, ethnicity, etc., that lead to a network of deprivations. The result is often more than the sum of its parts. For instance, the societal deprivations on a Dalit disabled woman will be more than the arithmetic sum of deprivations created by the Dalit identity, the disabled identity, and the female identity taken separately.

As generally understood, understanding intersectionality of deprivations becomes important for two reasons.

1. Firstly, affirmative action by democratic states to uplift the vulnerable is usually determined vis-a-vis this intersectionality. This is because the grievance redressal mechanisms that people require increase with the deprivations they face. The coexistence of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), Scheduled Tribes (NCST), Women (NCW), Backward Classes (NCBC), etc., in India is a good example of this. These multiple institutions ensure that a deprived person has the maximum number of gates open to approach the State to take care of him or her.
2. Another important function that understanding deprivations does is that it makes the socety more aware of the condition of various societal sections. It is reasonable to expect that this will lead to more wholesome social relations through empathy and compassion.

I have further extended the concept of intersectionality of deprivations to understand one more thing - the intersectionality of privileges that people are often born with or develop over time. As is with derivations, the intersectionality of privileges also makes people reap benefits - both deserved and undeserved due to factors like luck and hard work. A person who is, for example, a male, born in a rich family, is upper caste, has studied in an English medium school, and has got the family identity to support him will reap benefits of privileges that will be more than the arithmetic sum of privileges due to the male, rich, upper caste, English-speaking identity taken separately.

I am not passing judgements on privileges being inherently good or bad in themselves. But the fact that India remains a feudal /femi-Feudal society that attaches a premium to identity, these privileges automatically translate to more rights, more fulfilled desires, more satisfaction, and for better or for worse, more entitlements as well. Again these things are not inherently bad, but they can very quickly translate from self-confidence to looking down upon others. This can further lead to ugly phenomena like sexism, casteism, elitism and classism.

Although I can't produce any research to back my observations, they are relevant as I have seen all of these things happening around me. Of course not all people behave like this. My observations are for those who do as there are many who even justify such entitled behaviour owing to their birth, upbringing or lack of empathy and maturity due to facing less issues in life.

This mildly pessimistic view of mine on the human condition arises from the fact that unless people face problems themselves, they seldom have the time or the energy to care about others. This lack of empathy is a direct result of impoverishment, unawareness and modernity's hustle culture. The nature of modernity itself, which has been accurately described by sociologist Zygmut Bauman as "liquid modernity" for its uncertain and rapidly changing nature, has made people more miserable, anxious and hence more self-absorbed. People's journey to peace then can either make them more compassionate by recognising that others face such problems too, or it can make them bitter and narrow-minded. In my personal experience, I have seen more people leaning towards the latter than the former. But I do wish that people of all categories do read this to make sense of the points that I'm trying to put through. I don't expect anyone to agree with my observations or conclusions. All I expect is that people put a conscious effort to understand what I'm trying to say and where I'm coming from. That's where my expectations end.

 

The Duty Of Privilege?

A humble request to my readers - just stop and take a moment. Now observe yourself and the people around you and ask yourself a few questions to answer them with utmost sincerity and integrity - Am I in any sort of way more privileged than the average person around me? (If you've been endowed well) Have my thoughts and actions been able to justify endowments like like money, happiness, a good family, a good house, etc? Have I been too harshly judgmental of people around me based on their identity, ideas, speech, lifestyle, food, looks, etc? What are my good qualities that I have today? Are they there in me because of my own efforts and learnings, or because of how much good people around me have done for me? If the answer to any of these questions is a yes or if the answer to any of these questions even makes you think if it is a yes, then I would say that this requires an even deeper reflection of how you are leading your life and how you are being with your loved ones and with people around you in general.

I very well do realize that the way I framed these questions, the answer will be a yes to at least one of them for 99% people or perhaps even 100% (It is a yes in case of multiple answers even for me). And that is fine because we are all humans. No one is born a god. No one can become god. Hell, I don't even know if god even exists (I am agnostic towards the concept and existence of god). But I would say that we humans are currently the most important species on this planet and hence, the most important stakeholders that can make this planet, this country, and most importantly, our Indian society function and flourish. Not for one moment should we think that our actions don't matter. Not for one moment should we even feel that crime happening halfway across the country had nothing to do with us. This is because we are all part of the same civilisation and the same society with a common history. The butterfly effect accurately captures how even our small and innocuous thoughts, comments and actions that were irresponsible, off-handed or hurtful contribute to a chain of events that can culminate in horrendous tragedies halfway across the country.

Perhaps, this might not even be true. It would be a stretch after all to say that your actions could even be remotely responsible for that gruesome hate crime or sexual assault in the opposite corner of the country. But if you say that there is no conclusive proof that your actions led to that crime, there can be a person, much like this author, who might ask for a conclusive proof that your actions did not lead to that crime! Hence, the reality that we choose to believe is exactly that, a chosen reality. It is the discourse that we are choosing to tell ourselves. It is the confirmation bias we are settling for.

So what I define as that the "duty of privilege" is our conscious feeling of responsibility towards better functioning of the society, and our consequent dutiful actions to make the social relations more wholesome, empathetic and understanding. That is the Dharma of every Indian that will contribute to us all upholding the social contract that grounded in our ancient civilisational ethos, was formalised in our constitution on 26th November 1949. This duty of uprightness and integrity in our actions becomes even more pronounced for people with more privileges. This is because such people will always have more resources, more time and more energy to be more mindful of their thoughts and actions. Of course, no one is obliged to act such way. But they should. And this shouldn't be only because this author is heralding them to. Rather, this should be their own consciousness calling out to them to become better human beings. Carol Gilligan's concept of "ethics of care" would corroborate how kindness and compassion in society has disproportionately high benefits. Hence, even more number of kind-hearted and responsible people will truly bring out the best of the Indian civilisation in terms of social capital and feeling of interconnectedness. This is the duty of privilege.

 

Concluding Argument

Therefore dear reader, convince yourself that you are not the ‘’Little Man’’ or the ‘’Little Woman’’ whose actions, conscience or beliefs don't matter. Each and every single one of us belongs to that single reality, fabric, and that single tapestry of social, cultural, and philosophical relations that make Indian society what it is today. Every action of every human being belonging to this fabric will never be inconsequential. A worse society starts with our own actions. A better society will start with our own actions as well.

Every bad thing we do will get amplified and cause havoc. It might even come back to us to make our life miserable. And this is perhaps why this author likes to believe that sometimes people, even when they are almost convinced that they have not done anything wrong to anyone, still live miserable lives. Here, this author would like to clarify that he doesn't understand the concept of karma that much, ie, what you do to unto others, others will do unto you. What the author would like to clear is that when people say with certainty that they don't do anything wrong, then more often than not, it's because they are not looking deep inside themselves. And harbouring negative thoughts and doing hurtful actions have their own toll. The perpetrators can seldom rise to become better human beings when they themselves have to keep a part of them stooped low to push and hold people down. The desire to imprison others leads to us being the prisoners - of our own minds and actions. Hence when hurting others, we often end up losing a part of ourselves.

On the bright side though, all actions get amplified - this includes the good ones as well. If we do god unto others, it creates a network of positivity, compassion and good values in our society. A simple act of kindness goes a long way in preserving the harmony of societal relations, the fabric of society, and the wholesomeness of our existence as a beautiful country.

And that is what this author means by the duty of privilege my friends. And owing to intersectionality, people who are higher up the hierarchy of privilege should have the conscience to consider their duty of doing good to others even more important. This is because only when people start taking responsibility of their Dharma can it lead to a righteous and just society. Only when people start valuing themselves and their thoughts, speech, and actions in the public and even in the private sphere can the society tread on the path to becoming more nurturing and cultivating for every Earthling.

The objective of this post highlighting these lofty ideals is not to guilt-trip people or pass judgements on how some of us have decided to lead our lives. Rather it's just that some of us humans are hell-bent on getting our own way at the cost of even harming others. It's only time some of us decide to balance the scales to bring forth the kindness we are capable of as well.

Perhaps no one, including this author, always thinks or acts in ways aligning with the aforementioned ideals. But that's the importance of posts like these. They promote introspection and gradual progression. They promote conversations that make us collectively realise that the society is very much built of us, of every single individual here. And only when we actually start talking of what a righteous just society is or should be like, can we perhaps start making a conscious effort towards achieving that.

The interesting thing is that the path towards such idealistic goals is very pragmatic that all of us can do. The more privileged can even do them more easily, and that's what the message of this essay is. This author doesn't intend to patronise people on what and how to think or act. Consider this post a friendly almanac on realising one's own importance, loving the self, and understanding the immense capabilities of our own righteous minds if we just decide on it.

We all must realise that when we uplift ourselves in our own eyes and conscience, only then they can we truly emerge with the completeness of our personality and manifestation - how we were meant to be like. When we become like this, we allow the world to become like that as well. An upright and fulfilled individual is the secret to a society replete with human flourishing.

This author's last point is to convey the readers to not think or act any certain way just because they read this post. Don't do this just because you think you owe it to someone, do these because you owe it to yourself. You owe it to yourself to become your best self. Moreover, you owe it to yourself to become a conscientious member of this society. And the society owes to itself to become its best version - egalitarian, compassionate and just. Self-growth after all is possibly the only universal mainspring of all human action. Only then it is possible for us to reach our highest dharmic selves.

This author doesn't claim to have the ultimate solution to fix all problems with India. In fact, many of the suggestions here have the author's own biases. Irrespective of that, one thing that this post aims to establish as a certainty is this - only centred around the fulcrum of dharma can the Indian society emerge as righteous and just. That is the message of this post.

 

Feel free to contact Yours Truly at thinksoc97@gmail.com. Much obliged!