With Great Responsibility Once Came Great Privilege

We’ve all heard the saying that “with great privilege comes great responsibility”, and it’s undoubtedly true, or at least it should be. But, isn’t the reverse also true? Shouldn’t those who bear great responsibility also enjoy privilege? Or at least respect and gratitude?

Apparently not. “Privilege” has become a bad word among Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) and feminists of late. Privilege isn’t something to be enjoyed in peace as a consequence of shouldering a disproportionate share of some burden but rather is something about which we should be...well..if not outright ashamed at least a little embarrassed and remorseful. For the SJW, privilege is something about which others should be taunted.

Nowhere is this more true than with so-called “male privilege”. It’s undeniable that men have historically born a disproportionate share of certain responsibilities (the reverse is also true, btw, but that’s a story for another day). For instance, males in most cultures have generally been responsible for working outside the home, defending the home and homeland, inventing and innovating, building structures, laboring in the fields, hunting, exploring, etc., all functions essential to human survival and progress.

And while the responsibilities shouldered by men and women have changed some over the last century, men still bear disproportionate responsibility for many important things (again, the reverse is also true, but that’s a story for another day). Men are today still far more responsible for defending the home and homeland, and the overwhelming majority of war casualties are consequently male. Yes, women now work outside the home far more often, but men still do nearly all of the most dangerous jobs (with the possible exception of prostitution). Men comprise nearly all linemen, oil rig workers, miners, loggers, fisherman, construction workers, etc. And the vast majority of modern innovations and discoveries still originate with males.

Shouldering these responsibilities comes at a significant physical, emotional and financial cost for men on average, a cost that feminist and SJWs tend to ignore when they focus on “privilege”.

For instance, labor of the type traditionally done by men is quickly being replaced by machines. For this reason and others, the unemployment rate for men has averaged two to three full percentage points higher than for women since the Great Recession. Men commit suicide at rates four to five times that of women. Men are physically assaulted far more often than women. More than 75 percent of the homeless, and more than 90 percent of prisoners, are men. Men are actually raped more often than women (when prison rapes are counted). Women live an average of five years longer than men. Twice as many men as women become drug addicts each year, and three times as many men as women become alcoholics. Females who work outside the home do so on average for two and a half weeks less per year than their male peers. Women own or control more than three-quarters of the nation's financial wealth. Women make more than 95 percent of all household purchasing decisions. Middle aged white males are presently the ONLY demographic group with a declining life expectancy over the last five years. Life expectancies for all other demographic groups has actually increased dramatically over that time. (All the stats above are accurate and easily verified).

I could go on an on, but my point is simply this: The disproportionate responsibilities born by men come at a considerable physical, emotional and financial cost that simply can’t be denied and shouldn’t be ignored. Were women “subjected” to these same costs, the outcry would be positively enormous.

So, at a minimum, men deserve some respect for shouldering these burdens, no? They may even deserve some privileges—for instance, the “privilege” of getting paid more on average than women partly because they do far more dangerous jobs on average and because, partly as a consequence, they die five years sooner.

But they don’t get respect today. Instead, they are shamed for the remaining “privileges” they may enjoy, and they are admonished to “lay them down” or “check” them at the door.

Is it any wonder that the physical and psychological health of men has deteriorated so remarkably over the last ten years? Is it any wonder that silly men’s rights activists are gaining so much traction? Is it any wonder that some disenchanted gamma males, who bear much of the burden and enjoy few or none of the remaining privileges, all while being relentlessly criticized for being male, are “going postal”? I’m not saying its justified, just that it’s understandable under the circumstances. When we demand extraordinary sacrifice from others and not only deny them basic gratitude in return, but actually heap condemnation on them instead, what else should we expect? If you abuse the dog, don’t be surprised when you are bit.