> The common usage is to describe an unfair inequality.

> The spirit of the accusation

Yes, this is indeed the common usage, which I find extremely puzzling. The word "privilege" has become somewhat of a pejorative term — an accusation rather than a statement of fact. It seems to have a stronger negative connotation than the word "luck", or the word "advantage", although it has a very similar semantics. I wonder how long this has been the case. Has this bundle of negative connotations come to be associated with this word during the latest culture wars (and if so, I would like to push back against this automatic "spirit of accusation" against those who happen to be in the privileged position), or is there a much longer tradition of such usage?

> It's possible for more people to have free speech, and due process, and clean water, without taking any of it away from anybody who currently has it already.

Of course it is. I am surprised that the presupposition is that a privileged person is necessarily taking something away from an unprivileged one.