Not all …

So, whenever a post or meme pointing out a social justice problem is shared, there is a specific subset of replies that forms a recognizable pattern.

• "Not all men"
• "Not just white folks"
• "Don't lump all the Boomers together like that"

This immediate jump to defend a demographic from a stereotype usually used to describe a cultural phenomenon that is predominantly associated with said group is interesting for multiple reasons.

First of all, many of the people who shout the loudest to protect the "good name" of their own privileged demographic group(s), are the same ones who will stereotype an entire cultural subgroup using terms like, "the woke", "the rainbow brigade", "the alphabet people", or completing the dehumanization process, "sheep".

Secondly, we know it's not all members of a demographic who are problematic. We know there's problematic people in every demographic. Knowing that does not erase the fact that there are certain demographics that have historically held the highest privilege in our society, and instead of using that privilege to help others, have only worked tirelessly to reinforce their own positions of power.

So yeah, as a middle-aged, mostly-white man, I'm smack dab in the middle of the demographics which have been at the top of the social and political hierarchy. I guess being a neurodivegent, queer, non-monogamous, anarchist has given me a slight taste of the cultural imbalances in our society. But whatever I've sampled, it's tiny and insignificant compared to the oppression faced by women, POC, and other demographics which have been pushed down and shit upon by the privileged for the entirety of our recorded history.

So anyway, in summary, if you read something and your immediate thought is, "but I'm not like that, and my demographic is one of the ones being used as an example of problematic privilege", maybe instead of replying with "not all ....", you should instead start actually learning how to help work towards a world where such imbalances are relics mentioned in history books.

Just a thought.