My own kids grew up largely privileged like Richard in the cartoon, but not within any kind of bubble.
I grew up in a 99.44% affluent white community and I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone. (My parents were privileged and white, but usually less than affluent. They are artists who had day jobs. We lived where they could find work. Me and all my siblings fled this community as soon as we were able, as did my parents when they retired.)
It seems to me that too many of my childhood acquaintances, the ones who stayed and were "successful," have attitudes like Richard. They think they pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps and hard work. A few consider Ronald Reagan a saint. They don't understand why Paula doesn't do the same.
My children grew up in neighborhoods where white people like their dad were not the majority. The majority of our neighbors are first, second, and third generation Mexican American like their mom, and bilingual. The rest of us are white, black, and Asian, in fairly equal numbers. It pleases me immensely my kids are very cognoscente of the racism, sexism, and homophobia of straight white U.S. tradition. It pleases me that they have an entire rainbow of close friends.
It's possible to be progressive and liberal in affluent white U.S. communities, but it takes some work to understand the barriers those without white privilege must overcome. An easy empathy is not enough.
There is also the class issue. Wealthy people, no matter their sex or their color, seem disconnected from the rest of us. They've never struggled to pay for groceries and the rent, they buy their automobiles with cash, they've never had their electricity, water, or phones shut off for non-payment, they've never suffered a bad tooth because they can't afford a dentist. Many people privileged with wealth are blissfully unaware of the problems many Americans deal with daily.
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