We rule the world. We have everything. We’re safe. Yay!

When we are honest with ourselves, this is the narrative of a lot of people in our society. This is what pushes their hate and exclusion. Before we get into that though, let’s define what I mean by the “privilege lottery“.

Country lottery

Congratulations, you were born in the UK or USA or some safe, rich European country! Lucky you. How nice! Free healthcare (or advanced healthcare at least), plenty of jobs, a global superpower, education beyond our wildest dreams, and the heart of entertainment across the world.

You did absolutely nothing, you were just lucky to be born here instead of there.

Language lottery

Congratulations, you were born in an English-speaking country! A language that has colonised the world. The global Lingua Franca (a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different). You have the privilege of making non-English speakers speak your language instead of you having to speak theirs. You can go anywhere in the world and you are likely to find someone who speaks your language. What a dream! How easy for you!

Dominant social group lottery

Congratulations, you were born white, in the body that feels right for you (biological sex and Western gender norms align for you), you’re able-bodied, straight, and perhaps even a man! Lucky you, everyone around the world assumes you have more power than them. They see you as either wealthy or a threat. You are the global image of authority and power. You have more power in any room than any other outside your social group. How euphoric that must be! To have so much control. To see the world part to make space for you, always.

Definition of privilege and why you should care

I’m being hyperbole and satirical but this is true. People in the UK are now thinking enough is enough, get rid of the immigrants/foreigners, stop helping all the refugees who seek help, stop sending our money abroad, stop giving aid, stop giving welfare to those in need, and stop allowing everybody to be whoever they want to be, instead make them be “normal” and stop them having a voice.

This is a privileged thing to say and think. Fact.

People scoff at the word privilege. They think that means wealth. It doesn’t. If you are wealthy, then yes, you have more privileges than those who aren’t, but that’s not what it means.

Definition of privilege “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.”

Therefore, this applies to what I’ve been saying. We have the privilege of not worrying about certain social and political issues because they don’t directly impact us. Simple.

Alongside our privilege is now a rhetoric of “taking back what is ours“. That we don’t want to lose resources to help those people or groups in need because we think what is ours by birthright (convenience, luck, whatever) should remain ours.

It’s a scarcity mindset. A fear of there not being enough resources for everyone. When this isn’t true. Or it doesn’t have to be. It’s not us versus them. That if people access our welfare system then there’s nothing left for us. If this were true, it would be a fault with our government, the system, not with people who need the help.

And I keep saying lottery but this isn’t even a good comparison because at least people who win the lottery had to play the game! They actively make a choice that leads to their winnings. We didn’t! We were just lucky. We just happened to be born in the right place and in the right body to suit the powers that rule our society.

Yippee for us!

Imagine if you didn’t have the right to love and live with whoever you choose.

Imagine your name wasn’t something simple like Emily Brown or John Smith, and so when you apply for jobs or housing, people turn you away.

Imagine you were born into poverty or war or without access to education or healthcare like free vaccines or fresh food and the like.

You would seek help, right? You would protest against a government that stripped you of these rights, wouldn’t you?

So just because you won the lottery, doesn’t mean you should neglect to share your privileges (which are really human rights).

A Brief History Lesson on the Origin of Our Privilege

You might be thinking, though not in so many words, that it’s not our country’s duty to help people in need from other countries. That we can’t afford to do so because there’s not enough room or resources (though this has been disproven, see the link above). I hear you. What you’re saying is, we have the luxury of being safe and having access to education, modern healthcare and wealth here in the UK, and we don’t want to share it.

But where did our wealth and our privilege come from? Why are we safe and rich and dominant?

It came from the British Empire colonising and devastating other nations. Other nations which NATURALLY won the country lottery before we went and stole from them. We stole all their “winnings”, all their wealth:

Their goldTheir diamondsTheir oilTheir ancient artefacts Their history Their language Their culture Their labour (slavery) Their lives

By nature, by God, whatever you want to call it, we the British did not win any lottery. We stole the winnings of other countries. And now we don’t want to give it back.

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What if these countries and these people decided to “take back what is ours” just like we are saying? We stole from them hundreds of years ago. What if they came to take back what is theirs by birthright? Would that be okay in your eyes? Is that fair? Yet we go around saying we need to make Britain British again, get rid of the people stealing our culture, and take back what is ours.

But what is actually ours? What is ours by nature? What was our natural gift? I don’t even know anymore…

You may say that we won, fair and square. We were stronger. Mightier. We were a great force. And if we want to be heartless, then yes, sure, this is objectively true. But there’s further nuance and repercussions to this “fair” victory.

Without the tyranny, genocide, and cleansing of cultures by the British and other European powers, the West would not be the wealthiest countries. We would lean on other countries to survive. And we still kind of do! We need trade from other countries. We needed immigrants to help rebuild after the World Wars. We needed immigrants to fight for our country in said wars. We need immigrant to pay taxes and elevate our economy and take jobs that sadly a lot of British people won’t do for the same wages.

During Covid, doctors and nurses on the frontline saving British lives were many people of colour and migrants from other countries. And sadly, they were disproportionately impacted by Covid, too. If they weren’t here at that time, a lot of British lives wouldn’t have been spared.

What I’m saying is, we want migrants when it’s convenient to us. When it helps us. But when they need help, we turn our backs. The British Empire went out to destroy and control other countries, yet we are now surprised they have come to us for wealth and a better life? When the British reached out with propaganda welcoming people from the Caribbean to come and live in the gold streets of the UK, we now strip them of citizenship and tell them they are not British after spending 60-70 years here building our economy and building a life.

It is cruel, selfish, and downright hypocritical.

We already won. We won! By unjust means, we continued to keep winning after the downfall of the British Empire and the rise of the commonwealth. We fixed the odds, and won the lottery.

Now stop fighting those who need our help. Our problems aren’t in direct correlation with these people’s presence or granting them access to basic human rights. We already stripped them of it. Let them live. Let them thrive. Help them after decades (perhaps centuries) of struggle caused by us (and other powers).

Look to your government. Look to the wealthy and the greedy corporations benefiting from our in-fighting.

Some links for our further education because education should always come before taking a firm stance on anything:

Crash Course Geography on ColonialismCrash Course World History on ImperialismCrash Course on European ExpansionCrash Course on Decolonisation

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

S. xx