Privilege: a discussion

TLDR: This month’s conversation is about Privilege. Show up and be ready to own it!

Long Version:
In mid February I was deep in the throes of a book(let) called “Packing it in: The Hipster’s Guide to hitting the road with two wheels and a dream” Basically it’s an illustrated list of toys one packs up when one wants to go on a bike tour, comprising supplies and accoutrements to accord the modern cyclist a whole lotta freedom and comfort on a two-wheeled road trip.

Then war broke out in the Ukraine and gave me pause. There I was doodling and describing the merits of a Swiss army knife and a windbreaker on a long-distance bike trip while people two countries over were (and are) frantically packing their entire lives into whatever they can carry to flee their homes, possibly forever. As I finish up the project, I’m still struggling with the difficult thoughts that come from confronting what a state of privilege I’m in, by virtue of some existential roll of the dice that landed me here and not at the wrong end of Russian politics.

So many of us are generally all too ready to look up at those who have more than us, and to complain about what we have yet to acquire, instead of to confront our entitlement head-on. Or we compare ourselves to those who have less than us instead of pondering how equilibrium might be re-established without fobbing the task off on faulty political systems and the selfish and impenetrable world of the 1%.

This discussion will be opportunity to acknowledge our own good luck and to try to unpack what responsibility might come along with it.

(Humboldt Forum has two entrances: our venue is Bistro Lebenswelten, whose entrance is on the ground floor, ACROSS from the central Hof entrance to the Humboldt Forum, when approaching the building from the south side.)