This is why you can...

As we grow up, we hear that "will is equal to power" and that things such as learning a new language, moving to another country, having a good job or buying a Lamborghini is something achievable, just by wanting to do it. However, going out into the world, we realize that reality precedes desire and that the path to follow is, for some, impossible.

Why do some people have it so hard? Simple. Due to the conditions that were given to them at the time of their birth.

Characteristics such as your nationality, gender and skin color are determining factors to diagnose, from the outset, how easy or difficult the rest of your life will be.

If we add to this the socioeconomic level of the family in which you will be raised, your destiny is practically set in stone. And although this may be great news for very few people, for many others (millions, actually), it is a condemnation of precariousness, marginalization and the lack of access to a dignified life.

You may buy the house of you dreams just by commiting to it, but here's some real life scenarios:

In countries like Mexico, 49 out of 100 people born in households from the lowest group on the social ladder do not leave this group in their lifetime.

In fact, of the 51 remaining persons who do manage to climb, 25 still fail to cross the poverty line. (source)

So, what is the secret formula that allows the other 26 to climb the ladder? -as long as they survive the issues of violence that these countries face, of course- Also very simple. In most of the cases, it'll depend on where they are positioned in the circle of privilege.

In general, society set up was made for people with characteristics at the extreme end of the spectrum, that is, the biggest priviledges will be available for people with those attributes.

As a result, even if they are not aware of it, they are treated as valued and experience 'privilege' while people with attributes at the other extreme experience disadvantage or oppression.

Of course, someone can simultaneously be on the privileged end of the spectrum for one attribute and on the downtrodden end of the spectrum for another, and this intersection means the lived experience of all of us.

In countries of Latin America, social interaction is also is eroded by the persistence of group privileges that perpetuate class gaps in access to assets, cultural capital, relationship networks, appropriation of natural resources, influence in institutions and low tax commitment, among others.

Privilege is a symbolic order that interacts with established practices in which it is considered acceptable that a group of the population, hierarchically characterized either by their ethnic, racial, gender affiliation, or by their socioeconomic position, have advantages over the rest of society with respect to networks of relationships that reproduce their privileged positions in the world of business and finance; power in instances of deliberation or decision; predominant voice in the communication circuits where ideas, ideologies and political agendas are imposed; access to public resources for use for private benefit; impunity or special facilities in the face of justice for acts related to economic crimes, damages to third parties, illegal forms of power and discrimination against others; influence peddling; ability to pressure, negotiate, manipulate and veto against government or state policies and estates; use of relationship networks to obtain contracts and do business, access better jobs, higher wages and financing facilities, and better conditions for the development of skills and the formation of cultural capital.

This is perpetuated intergenerationally through a culture of privilege that has naturalized such asymmetries and that today, faced with a greater awareness of social rights, is strongly contested. Full equality of social rights, especially access to social benefits, working and employment conditions, minimum welfare, political participation, faces the classic gap between de jure and de facto.

E pour si move...

We are currently at a historical turning point where the advance in the democratic culture puts the culture of privilege in tension. At the same time it raises a question regarding the consistency between the symbolic advance and the material advance against it. In other words, for the democratic culture to operate effectively in mitigating or confronting the culture of privilege, this complementarity must occur between the symbolic dimension (a democratic culture that inscribes in the collective imagination a community of equals in citizen rights) and the material dimension (effective instruments that translate said awareness into actions to promote equality and sanction or put an end to privileges).

In which the crisis of political systems, or their legitimacy, is associated with the perceived gap between discourse and materiality, between de jure and de facto rights of citizenship, and in the perception of flawed overlaps between institutions and resource gaps. We don't know if liberal democracy has an expiration date, but it's clear that the story is far from over. True, the compass of political preferences moves in different directions, as if it lacks a stable center of gravity, but this volatility of preferences suggests that society is questioning politics by demanding greater consistency with opposing values.

What happens next may not be entirely in our hands. What we can do for now is make a self-analysis regarding where we are today and to what extent our discourse promotes the invisibility of disadvantaged classes or even more, promotes the idea that "some people are poor just because they want to": knowing that for millions of people will and talent are not enough to progress is important.