American Privilege

American Privilege

By Caitlin Johnstone
Information Clearing House
September 23, 2019  

American liberals and progressives talk a bit about white privilege,
male privilege, straight privilege etc, but one thing I never hear
them talk about is American privilege: the ability their nationality
gives them to have a relationship with this world that the rest of
us do not have.

American privilege is reassuring yourself that there are problems
enough at home without worrying about the trillions your
government’s war machine is spending terrorizing the world and
encircling the planet with military bases.

American privilege is reluctantly allowing the potential
Commanders-in-Chief have an eight-minute conversation about
foreign policy in your presidential primary debates, when your
country’s military policy functionally dictates the affairs of rest
of the world.

American privilege is arguing against the legality of assault weapons
on the basis that they are, “weapons of war” implying that they’re
fine as long as they’re used to kill some foreigner’s kids.

American privilege is being able to masturbate your outrage
addiction over a racist joke while ignoring the way your military
murders black and brown people by the tens of thousands every
year.

American privilege is being able to lose your mind over someone
using the wrong pronouns while paying no attention to the fact
that your government pours your tax money and resources into
governments and groups who hang gay people in the town square.

American privilege is believing your propaganda is the truth,
and everyone else’s understanding of the world is fake news.

American privilege is assuming your prudish Puritanical brand of
sexuality is healthy and normal so it’s no big deal that you insist
that all English-speaking social media adheres to your creepy
nipple-hating norms.

American privilege is telling foreigners to butt out of your politics,
when your politics are literally killing them.

American privilege is having a shit fit over election meddling in one
social media post, while cheerleading regime change in the next.

American privilege is starting a war on a lie without being charged
with a war crime.

American privilege is committing war crimes with impunity while
jailing the whistleblowers and journalists who reveal them and still
getting to call yourselves the good guys.

American privilege is being able to spend all day arguing online
about domestic policy while the rest of the world, completely
incapable of influencing your government’s behavior, prays you
don’t get us all killed.

American privilege is only having a robust antiwar movement when
your own citizens are at risk of being drafted, then completely
forgetting about peace for decades while an increasingly robotic
military force gives you even more peace of mind.

American privilege is being able to relax about war because
your soldiers are being replaced with drones and proxy militias
in US-driven conflicts, even though those kill people just as
dead as manually operated killing machines.

American privilege is being hush-hush about the egregious
imperialist stances of progressive candidates like Bernie
Sanders because they have some decent domestic policies.

American privilege is black bloc protests against public appearances
by figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and the Proud Boys while
murderous war pigs like Bill Kristol, Henry Kissinger, John Bolton,
David Frum and arms industry executives go from appearance to
appearance completely unbothered.

American privilege is benefiting from cheap goods and oil and a
strong dollar and never wondering how many innocent foreigners
lost their lives and homes in the wars your government starts to
make that so.

American privilege is living in a nation whose government can
murder an entire family one day with explosives dropped from
the sky, and yet you never hearing about it because that isn’t
considered a newsworthy occurrence.

American privilege is being one of the worst-travelled populations
in the world while having military bases in countries that most
Americans wouldn’t recognize the name of, let alone have been
to.

American privilege is having your insane culture normalized around
the world via Hollywood and other media so that nobody stops and
wonders why we’re letting this bat shit crazy nation rule our planet
and so no one makes you feel bad about your American privilege.

American privilege is living in a nation that uses its military
and economic might to terrorize, murder, imprison, starve
and impoverish anyone who doesn’t go along with its interests,
and feeling no urgent need to bring a stop to this.

American privilege is being fine with being the world leader,
but not being too bothered about what exactly that means.

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