[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.85,0:00:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine, if you will, that a warrior named\NFirion is seeking vengeance for losses suffered
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.90,0:00:20.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the hands of an evil Emperor. But his friend\NLeon comes from a much wealthier family, can
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.42,0:00:25.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,afford much nicer weapons, and can hire out\Na large army to support his mission. If Leon
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.29,0:00:26.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brags about slaying the Emperor before Firion\Neven gets the chance to set out on his quest—Firion
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.75,0:00:30.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,might be tempted to tell Leon, ‘Dude, check\Nyour privilege.’
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.36,0:00:35.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all, Leon didn’t choose to be born\Ninto wealth, but he is choosing how he relates
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.54,0:00:37.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to it — in this case, with little grace.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.25,0:00:40.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to existentialist Jean Paul Sartre,\Nwho said people are like dice (in that) we’re
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.53,0:00:46.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,thrown into the world as part of a particular\Nculture, religion, language, and socio-economic
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.23,0:00:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,status without any say in the manner. These\Nare features of what Sartre calls our facticity—the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.62,0:00:55.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,individual parts of ourselves that we’re\Nborn with.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.51,0:01:01.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And although we have no control over our facticity—we\Nare always free to choose our relation to
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.94,0:01:07.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the world that we live in. This freedom is\Njust part of the human condition. We define
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.33,0:01:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our own existence by determining our purpose\Nin life—we make our life our own particular
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.99,0:01:19.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,project—things have value only in the frame\Nof the project that we freely create.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.58,0:01:25.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his colossal work Being and Nothingness\NSartre uses several examples to illustrate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.70,0:01:27.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,humanity’s radical freedom.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.72,0:01:33.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To Sartre, even a prisoner is radically free.\NHe can choose to attempt an escape, he can
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.05,0:01:37.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,choose to restructure his purpose in life\Ngiven his incarceration, or he can choose
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.63,0:01:42.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to end his life—the fact that he’s locked\Nup isn’t what restricts his freedom, rather
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.32,0:01:46.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s his choice to believe, given his situation,\Nthat he is un-free.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.45,0:01:51.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because the prisoner's own created goal in life resides outside the prison
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.37,0:01:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not the physical bars that cause him anguish. It's in his unwillingness to conform his goal in life to his current situation
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.48,0:02:04.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, freedom is only ever experienced\Nby each particular person in the context of
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.65,0:02:09.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their own project, their own ends, and their\Nown understanding of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.92,0:02:15.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Firion could compare his ragged armor and\Nmotley crew versus Leon’s disciplined battalion
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.66,0:02:20.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and shining plate mail but it has nothing\Nto do with Firion’s goal for himself. Each
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.77,0:02:27.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,person is their own free project with their\Nown situation—their own personal quest.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.79,0:02:32.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because Leon has more at his disposal than\NFirion doesn’t mean that Leon is freer—both
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.91,0:02:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are free to construct their own ends. As such\Nthere is no superior life situation because
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.00,0:02:43.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is no metric to decide who has the best\Nway to make meaning in their lives. There
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.49,0:02:47.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isn’t a way to determine who has the best\Nlife plan.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.06,0:02:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For Sartre, it means that facticity, or a\Nperson’s material situation doesn’t constitute
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.68,0:03:00.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,privilege—we are all radically free to create\Nmeaning. And that is what matters.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.13,0:03:04.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then again, should we really look to a\Nrich white man to be an authority on privilege?