Recognizing privilege and dismantling oppression

I've been tricked, played, pawned, scammed, misled, used, and manipulated by the very people and organizations that I once believed would save this country from its inherent oppression. I could not have been more wrong about these things...yes things.

It has become very clear to me that the only way the United States will ever begin to transform into a free and just society is when we stop re-enforcing and perpetuating the system of democracy, capitalism, and patriarchy under the slogan of "non-profit organizing." These institutions are, in reality, founded on hierarchical models that reflect the authoritative characteristics of capitalism. Following such a model is not progressive nor trans formative. Spending millions $$ on marriage equality is not going to save the downtrodden of our society. At the very least it will increase the privileged community while simultaneously shifting the oppression and exploitation of one group of people onto another. And that is how patriarchy and capitalism flourish.

Everyone needs to recognize their privileges and stop using them to disadvantage others. Every single person is privileged in one way or another (some more than others) and in order to have justice we can not aim for equality. The goal of equality is to strive to become the dominant and hence oppressive class. We need to strive for liberation, freedom, and justice. This must begin not with legalizing marriage for same-sex couples, but with dismantling historically oppressive institutions, such as marriage.

My privileges as follows:
White
College-educated
Wealth
Non-disabled

Next post I will discuss why the above are privileges, how they can disadvantage others, and how I will use such privileges to empower my fellow human beings rather than oppress them.