Father went to college?
No
Father finished college?
No
Mother went to college?
Yes.
Mother finished college?
Yes.
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor?
No
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers?
Yes.
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home?
Yes.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home?
Possibly, I've never counted.
Were read children's books by a parent?
Yes.
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18?
Yes.
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18?
Yes.
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively?
Yes (This is my biggest privilege)
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18?
No
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs?
Yes.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs?
Yes.
Went to a private high school?
No
Went to summer camp?
No
Had a private tutor before you turned 18?
No
Family vacations involved staying at hotels?
Yes.
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18?
Yes absolutely, my mother spent way too much on my clothes, in retrospect. JNCOS? seriously? wtf
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them?
Yes
There was original art in your house when you were a child?
Yes
You and your family lived in a single-family house?
Yes.
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home?
I believe so.
You had your own room as a child?
Yes.
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18?
No
Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course?
No, I didn't want to.
Had your own TV in your room in high school?
Yes
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college?
No.
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16?
At 16, yes.
Went on a cruise with your family?
No
Went on more than one cruise with your family?
No.
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up?
Yes.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family?
Very much so.
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This is actually a very good question, and a pretty good demonstrator of the "unearned privilege" that people talk about. Two years ago, before meeting my current girlfriend, I would've dismissed this list as a pandering excuse for poor people and women to complain about how bad their lives were. Now I see it as a very serious indictment of privilege in America.
And actually, despite my answers being nearly identical to yours, spinelust, I must admit that because of my "media" answer, and the fact that I'm a straight white male, my 'unearned privilege' is much greater than yours. I've become more and more aware of how media really shapes 'privilege.' I don't think these questions are all equal, and certain answers weight much more strongly on the end result.
In college I remember doing a similar exercise, but you all lined up and stepped back if No, forward if Yes. It was really sobering at the end to see the physical distance between members of the same class, and this was in a college. Random people off the street would've been far more disparate.
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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel
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