The Privileged Class

I strongly dislike how the privileged class seems to run every aspect of the decision-making process in Canada. What do I mean by the privileged class?

-rich students at prestigious universities: McGill, Queen's, University of Ottawa.
-lawyers, doctors, extremely wealthy people

This class of people take advantage of every opportunity, eat the whole cake, and leave nothing for the rest of us. What do I mean by the rest of us?

-wage workers: Bruce, Mary, Chuck. Those people who work for 10 dollars an hour at the Dollar Store or at a burger shop.
-low-income people
-single moms
-street youth
-minorities living in poverty

And I really don't want to hear the responses of my privileged class readers on this matter.
"Tell those street bums to go get a job!"
"Tell that single mom to start using contraception!"
"Tell those kids to smarten up and go back home!"

Because life isn't like that. As unlucky as some of these people in the "rest of us" category have been wrt their economic situations (perhaps some of them are quite happy "socially" and so I won't say "unlucky" in all aspects of their lives) others in the "privileged class" have been "lucky". Lucky to have parents who cared about their achievements. Lucky, to have parents who were doctors and lawyers and university professors.

One need only look at some of the other competitors in the CBC contest, "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister". A lot of them attend prestigious universities, study full-time and reap the benefits of full-time studies: participation in the FSWEP initiative, obtain their degrees faster, engage in student council and other campus clubs and sports (because often it's their parents who foot the bill), and don't really know a whole lot of the "real world".

Myself on the other hand, I work 30 hours a week at a meat shop for an hourly wage. I study part time at the cheaper Universite du Quebec. I can't afford to study full time. My health can't take it either. Being a diabetic I find it impossible to sit for too long - I need to be active. All classes at my university are 3 hours. I can't apply to the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) as I'm not full time. I can't join the student council or join clubs because when I'm not in class I'm at work.

Sure some of these privileged kids have been to Bangladesh and worked overseas for such and such a cause. But what do they know about Aboriginals living on impoverished reserves in northern Ontario? Or what it's like to be homeless in Vancouver? These kids/"adults" lead such sheltered lives that they are unaware of their ignorance as to these issues. And yet guess what? It will be them who one day make decisions for our country. It won't be Susan or John who works at McDonald's from 9 - 5. It won't be Bruce the single dad, or Kathy the young woman who divides her time between the homeless shelter and the streets of Vancouver's East side.

Common reactions of the privileged class, one that is meant to shoot down these sorts of comments that I'm making:
-those people made those choices
-it's not my fault they're poor/excluded from the decision-making process
-they aren't competent enough

Let's take the example of any successful person we know. How many of them are 'self-made'? I would easily guess that at least 75 percent are not. They inherited money, their parents/relatives were on the executive of the company that hired them, etc. Family support is an asset too. A lot of people don't have supportive parents. Don't fool yourselves thinking you would have made it to where you are had your mom not made your lunch all those years while you were in primary school.

Next, let's say Peter Mansbridge or Margaret Atwood or even Stephen Harper. Would these people be the people they are today without the upbringings they enjoyed? What if they had the same POTENTIAL but were unfortunate enough to be born with "the rest of us", on the peripheries of successful society?

UPDATE: Peter Mansbridge essentially self-made; got a bit of luck here and there. High school drop-out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mansbridge

I look at my successful friends/acquaintances and I look at my "lost" friends/acquaintances.

The ones who are successful came from the privileged class. The ones who were not, had other things going on in their lives. Lack of money, lack of support, alcoholic parents, abusive parents, etc.

There's nothing else to say on this matter. It's a hard reality for me to accept. There are of course the occasional bright spots that pop up out of the darkness, but in terms of numbers, what successful people the privileged class produces: easily 80%
and what successful, productive members of society the "rest" produce: perhaps as low as 5%, are stark.

Tupac was a huge advocate for equality and joe public. Some might denounce me for using him as an example as he certainly had things about him that were not good, but is that successful, tax-paying oil exec any better? What about the destruction of the environment? The successful stock broker? What about the missile companies he invests in? Those missiles eventually kill people. But these people's parents are still proud of their little Mikeys and Andrews. Cause they wear a nice white, freshly pressed shirt to work, and their office is in a big, tall glass building downtown.

Barack Obama is an example of the rest of us beating out the privileged class. But then even he had his Harvard education and strong parental support. It is rare, except in sports and music, where people from underprivileged backgrounds will become successful. Politicians and decision-makers are of the privileged class.

Tupac wrote a song: They Don't Give a %&$# About Us. It describes how the American government left low-income African-Americans behind and still does nothing about it.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ecCQ9w0qV8k&feature=related

We often reach a fork in the road. I'm at one. Economic success or social success. It's impossible to have both. Do I focus my energies into become the next Minister of Foreign Affairs or Warren Buffett?

Or do I help my community and my fellow co-workers/friends/acquaintaces/neighbours become happier, more fulfilled people through various business and social cooperatives?

I can't be bitter about any of this. I'm not. I'm just tellin' it like it is. How I love the boxing gym and my meat shop. Real blue-collar folk who come from backgrounds I can relate to.

Two weeks from now I'm holding a meeting at a local restaurant with some co-workers. People who make 10 dollars an hour and have rent to pay and groceries to buy. People who don't have 100,000 in the bank to start their own ice cream stand or accounting firm. We'll try and pool our money/ideas together.

My old landlord/roommate said that a "partnership is a sinking ship". I think a lot of Canadians feel the same way. That to work together is somehow to take a step back, to invite trouble. But you know what, unlike my old landlord E whose father taught him and coached him into how to start his own business, this is all I've got. Because unlike my privileged counterparts I'm in the "rest of us" category.