Those that have must bear the moral responsibility for those who have not. Whether it be food, shelter or equality. We are our brother’s keeper. The survival of a Democracy depends on staying involved in politics.The privileged have a responsibility to help those who are less fortunate, for whatever reason, to get the tools they need to be aware of what goes on “in politics.” I think the general electorate is very capable of understanding what’s going on politically but they sometimes need a leg-up to get the impetus to vote. That’s what privilege is about.

We need to understand that “staying out of politics” or being “sick of politics” is privilege in action. Privilege allows you to live a non-political existence. Your wealth, your race, your abilities, or your gender allows you to live a life in which you’ll likely not be a target of bigotry, attacks, deportation, or genocide. You don’t want to get political, you don’t want to fight, because your life and safety are not at stake.

Yes, it’s hard and it’s exhausting to bring up issues of oppression (a.k.a. “get political”). Yes, the fighting is tiring. I get it. But if you find politics to be annoying and just want everyone to “be nice”, please remember that there are people who are literally fighting for their safety and their lives. You may not see it, but that’s what privilege does.

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. -Plato

Peggy McIntosh wrote in her now famous essay, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack  “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks.”