The Pecking Disorder: Social Justice Warriors Gone Wild
12th June 2015
Privilege rhetoric offers an absurdly simplistic view of complex social dynamics. A widely cited essay by pro-“social justice” sci-fi writer John Scalzi seeks to explain privilege to geeks by arguing that being a straight white male is akin to playing a videogame on “the lowest difficulty setting.” Does the white son of a poor single mother have it easier than the daughter of a wealthy black couple? As a minor afterthought, Scalzi mentions that “players” in other groups may be better off if they start with more “points” in areas such as wealth. But generally, the “social justice” left strenuously avoids the issue of socioeconomic background, which, despite upward mobility, is surely the most tangible and entrenched form of actual privilege in modern American society. Rather, the focus is on racial, sexual, and cultural identities.
Writers are by their natures socialist because few of them would have the opportunity to ‘pursue their passion’ unless funded by somebody else. The preferred Santa Claus is, of course, a government, however construed, although parents and spouses also get their pockets picked in this Noble Cause.