From the Latin privi, private, and lege, law. An advantage granted by the State and protected by its powers of coercion. A law for private benefit.
[celine]
A right that is assumed contrary to just principles is privilege; it's absurd to agitate for the rights of the under-privileged unless you first renounce privilege in favor of justice. While you support the rights of one under-privileged group, you plant the seeds of another. Defend Justice, or uphold the right of Privilege to wreak havoc among peaceful people. Privilege is the political opposite of the hot potato: Once someone has it, he'll hold on to it. Privilege is political power, and political power has one object: shedding darkness into the light.
[catfarmer]