Privileged Child

The concept of being an over-privileged child is concurrently amusing and unsettling to me. To an outsider, being an over-privileged child may appear to be a life of advantages and comfort and a life that is free of the worry and concerns of "normal" everyday life. I have no need to worry if I can afford to buy the latest fashions, and in the future I know I will not need to worry about paying bills. There are certainly many benefits, but like any life condition, there are also disadvantages attached to the situation, which may only be considered when the full context of being over privileged is considered.

Writing about a genetic happenstance that many see as an unfair advantage due to being unearned has taken a great deal of thought. Writing about this subject will likely bring me ridicule and accusations of being self-pitying or insincere. After all, who wants to feel empathy for someone they think has it all. Given that, I will define why I refer to myself as over-privileged. The term is frequently used, associated with the very wealthy and comes with many assumptions regarding what it means. However, the term is a clumsy one. Indeed, to be privileged means that one has advantages and special rights. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as not being subject to usual rules or penalties due to some type of special circumstance. In my case, the special circumstances are a high level of social wealth and the social status that comes with that wealth.

High levels of wealth may be associated with privileges. For example, if I got into trouble with the law, I can afford the best lawyers to help to get me out of trouble. This gives the impression that I am not subject to the usual rules. In the same context, knowing other people who wield power may also be beneficial. Indeed, they may use influence to help me. This is influence that I can only access due to my social standing, which is also related to wealth. This creates privileges that may be seen by some as unfair. This has the potential to create a disparate outcome if comparing myself to someone that does not have the same wealth or social status. However, this is just the term privileged. I am certainly privileged and this cannot be denied. However, I refer to myself as over-privileged as I see myself as exceeding this level. I do have the same advantages as a normally privileged person. Indeed, I do not have to ask for the help because I have staff and helpers who would seek out the aid needed. Beyond that, those of social standing would volunteer the help without my asking. Likewise, I have many other opportunities offered by extreme wealth, which exempts me from many normal rules. For example, if I want to travel abroad, I do not need to comply with a scheduled airlines timetable. I can simple lease an aircraft and fly when I want to. In anyone's estimation, this power and influence are not needed, with arguments that it could be potentially misused. It is the influence and power that wealth and the associated social status gives me that I argue is extreme, and therefore goes beyond the normal aspects of privilege. This makes me over-privileged.

In defining the concept of being over-privileged, there has been an indication of the many advantages. The main one, of course, is a total lack of worry when it comes to affordability. I went to the best schools, had the best personal tutors as needed, the best medical care and I had travelled most of the world before I even left school before I left school. I enjoyed life and the privileges it brought. Many of those I went to school with had powerful parents. Some were politics and others work within legal field. However, those people were less affluent of my peer group. Many worked in areas such as finance and commerce. However, it is important to note that many of those people that work are doing so by choice and because of personal drive rather than out of necessity. The over-privilege I refer to also means I can look after my family and friends without concern for the cost.

Even with... My parents have used their wealth and exercised their freedoms facilitated by their over-privileged position. Their decisions and those of their peers has led them to employe and use nannies and other highly qualified childcare specialists. Some may consider this a great thing and a boon but it has led to a lesser connection than desired with my parents and the same can be said for many of my peers. This may lead to an impression that I feel sorry for myself . . . but I do not. I know and understand that there are also huge advantages to the way I was raised and who did the raising. Although I try to remedy the insufficiency with my parents, it is difficult to create a relationship when we did not have a strong foundation based on care and nurture at the onset of my life and developement. I also fear the impact this will have on myself as I mature and have a family of my own. Given that I was not the recipient of close parenting, I have to ask myself how I can provide it due to my lack of personal experience with such parenting style. I have to ask myself how I will know if I am doing it correctly or if I'm doing poorly. Of course, the answer is I cannot know that I am unless I bring in a childcare specialist. If I do that, I run the risk of doing the precise same thing as my parents.
Perhaps the most difficult thing about being over-privileged is the way in which everything becomes easy to get. This leaves me with a life in which there are limited motivations, I am not motivated by money in order to achieve specific goals and rewards which can be purchased through financial resources are unlikely to stimulate my thoughts. This leads to a type of boredom that is difficult to explain. Several of my peers that are in a similar position have moved towards drugs and alcohol as a way of creating excitement in the life. This leads to a life with little perceived meaning. I do worry about my friends' future as they are wasting their lives in a search for meaning and literally risking their health and lives in the process. These may be problems that appear superficial. However, they are real and defined issues nonetheless. While I may not take drugs and drink alcohol, I do feel the lack of presence of my parents and wonder what I will do to bring meaning to my life. As such, I clearly use, rather than misuse, my over-privileged status.

To further drive the point home that I am full aware of my over-privileged status and the good and bad things that come with the same, a brief review of my history and when and how I became self-aware of my privilege would be wise. The first time I realized I was privileged was when I was twelve years old. I had personal tutors who used to come directly to my home and teach me for all of the subjects that I was to learn and remember. My parents didn't have enough time to even spend a minute with me and my books. As I grew older, I started having conversations with my peers and the discussion eventually shifted to the subject of tutors. A good many of my peers noted that they did not have tutors and that cost was a likely reason why this was the case. The nearby and listening professor would pipe in and confirm that cost was indeed the issue and that the parents of my peers should be filling the role, entirely or at least mostly. It was then that I realized that I might be over-privileged and that my parents had simply decided that they could not or would not take time for me. However, I was still rather young at the time and I perhaps did not fully understand or know the context that was involved with what I was considering.

In my school days, I did not have many friends. Most kids seem to fear how I would respond if they were to approach and try to talk to me. The seemed to think I was arrogant or that I had an ego, which was really not true. However, that seems to have been the perception. My father was in the Board of Directors and the kids at the school knew this full well. My attendance was consistently in the fifty to…