While we'd like to think our world is one of freedom but it's not. The world is only free for some while others live under rules made by people who want to strip their freedom. These rules are made by others, often rich white people, as a way to suppress the freedom of others and support the freedom of the right white people and those like them.
Louise Perry notes this with her comments on freedom and capitalism.
Critics of free market capitalism have correctly observed that within a society riven by gross inequalities of wealth and power, the pleasures of freedom are not equally available to all. - The Case Against the Sexual Revolution Pg 47
Here Perry is talking about how the sexual culture today encourages hookups over meaningful sex with a committed partner and how that prioritizes the sexual needs of people high on the sociosexuality scale1. Typically these people are biological males2 and since they need someone to fulfill these desires women, who are typically lower on the sociosexuality scale, are pressured to conform to male sexual needs.
While Perry doesn't make this connection, Black males are also unable to participate in this type of hookup culture in the same way that males of other races are. They have to deal with the highly sexualized predatorial view that African American men have associated with their race. They need to expend more effort on consent than someone with white skin would or else they will be more likely to suffer accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct3, especially if they're with a white woman. For Asian men it's almost opposite due to "Yellow Peril"4 and the discriminatory thought that Asian men are less desirable than men from other racial backgrounds5. Asian men have a hard time finding partners.
Adding to this, women have the added burden of child bearing if an accident happens and pregnancy occurs. Society is better currently at ensuring that men tax responsibility for their children, even out of marriage, but the bulk of the work of child rearing still normally falls on women6.
After making note of the quote above I spent some time writing out the privileges I'm able to enjoy in society that aren't shared by all.
Biological Freedom
I'm a white middle-aged male which means I have possibly the most freedom of any group on earth. I can walk into any store and it's unlikely someone will think I'm up to no good. It's unlikely I'll be followed by store security, in fact they'll likely glance right past me due to my clothing and skin colour.
I can exist in pretty much any space without anyone worrying about what I'm doing. As I started to think about these things I was sitting at the edge of a playground. My kids had run over a few minutes before me so I simply walked up and sat down. At 9 and 11 my kids had found other kids to play with and hadn't acknowledged my presence at all. So I was sitting down in a decent part of town next to a playground with no apparent children in sight that were in my care, and I wasn't worried about what anyone would think.
As a male I'm granted more physical space in most places in life. It's far more likely that others will move out of my way, specifically women, and let me proceed as if I'm more worthy of taking priority.
Most things are also designed for me because of my biology. Average room temperature is designed for men with many women finding it just a bit too cold. The protocol for heart attacks is designed around men, because women are too hard to test. Transit patterns are designed for the typical male workday, which costs women hours of their time as they use a system that doesn't care about their time.
My Wealth
The wealth I'm able to earn due to my job as a well paid programmer means that I have freedom of time. I get to set my hours and have the opportunity to head out in the middle of a nice day to ride my bike.
My position means that I don't have to work two jobs. I can spend part of my Saturday sitting in a local bookstore eating a muffin and writing. I get to have the freedom from scarcity that helps me be the best father and husband I'm capable of being.
The financial freedom I have means I can own multiple nice bicycles and get plenty of opportunity to ride them. I have the freedom to take vacations that don't cause debt to accrue. I can just save and afford them.
My kids get to go to the park and have me sit around for a few hours reading because I don't need to work a second job.
While I made choices to train into programming, I also met other white dudes that recommended me for jobs when they were too full. My successful career is due at least in part to those chance meetings that brought me many good paying clients.
Geographical Freedom
My grandparents and great-grandparents picked Canada as a spot they wanted to live their lives. I benefit from them choosing to leave lives of poverty behind in Europe7 and come to Canada where I have a huge country to explore and migrate around as it suits my life.
My geography means I'm not near any wars. Sure the US is beating its sabre to threaten the Canadian economy and possibly our freedom to continue as a country of our own, but the reality of that war happening is very distant.
Canada's historically close ties to the US mean that I've had easy access to a job market where Canadian labour has been seen as interchangeable with US labour. Canadians even come a bit cheaper due to the weakness of our dollar compared to the US dollar. Many of my first clients were billed in Canadian funds because it was a discount for them and that won me work I wouldn't have won otherwise.
Living in Canada means that I have access to health care for free, or for a very nominal cost I pay because I earn enough to contribute to the system. Because I can go to the hospital without paying, I'm more likely to go and have more money to spend and save due to a lack of extra medical bills that I'd incur in the US.
Schooling is free for my children, and we live in a safe enough spot that they can walk the 600m to school without worry. Some days this saves me time because I don't need to walk to school to get them to ensure their safety.
I'm Not Self-Made
Very few of these things I benefit from are a direct result of choices I've made and many of the same things apply to most of my readers. I recognize that I'm not self-made. That my location and my biology have contributed greatly to the success I get to enjoy.
We should all spend some time thinking about the freedoms we get to benefit from that have nothing to do with our own choices. Instead of focusing on all the challenges that come into our lives, what benefits do you have that you can leverage?
