A lot of the flavors of libertarianism that are so common in hacker circles seem to be premised on a notion that everyone else has the kinds of power that we do to dictate the terms of our labor, and that's just not true.
EDIT: phrasing.
The former is an easy way to dismiss an argument without actually reading it. The latter requires careful thought and runs the risk that you might realize you are incorrect.
Consider my original comment in this thread: is it not the case that the kinds of labor leverage that software people have aren't shared by everyone else? Is it not therefore the case that the kinds of libertarianism espoused by so many software people, premised at least in part on that leverage, don't apply to everyone else as much as they seem to think?
I submit that if the developers espousing those fallaciously premised flavors of libertarianism were (able) to "check their privilege", they'd arrive at different conclusions.
What exactly do you mean? Is it same as 'count your blessings' or shorthand for 'be aware that not everybody has it as sweet as you'?
Reminding yourself of that on a regular basis helps keep you sympathetic to folks who don't have it, as you say, "as sweet as you."
In that case I just think it's a wrong choice of words. My understanding is that privilege is that few are born with (see this humorous commercial from the UK about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn0hFnOGnq4). This usage turns it on its head - uses the word privilege to describe what majority have but a minority do not.
Ie I'd say being born the son of a billionaire is privilege - but having a dentist for a dad (even one who can pay for your college education) is not.
Relative to the vast majority of people on the planet, however — probably even to the vast majority of people you come into contact with in daily life — even "merely" being the child of a dentist is most emphatically being privileged. If you go to university, knowing your education is paid for, and that you won't graduate facing the next couple decades of your life shackled to productive, gainful employment, because student loan debt is one that can't be discharged, then relative to nearly all of your classmates, you are incredibly privileged.
"Privilege", as the term is used in critical theory, isn't an absolute state; it's a relative one.
On the topic at hand - again, while it's a matter of personal choice - I think that growing up in a two parent household with caring parents who provide for their children is normal.
Just like it's normal to be able-bodied as opposed to having some kind of physical or mental deficiency. We don't label healthy people 'privileged' - even though they probably constitute a minority of the population.
I guess the difference is whether something can be reasonably expected (desired) for most of the population within one generation - assuming one puts in the work. So while someone from the bottom of society (heck, any part of society) can't expect to become a billionaire - they can attain middle-class status.
Not from the perspective of the person who lives below the baseline, for whichever arbitrary baseline we happen to be talking about at the moment. A significant part of the entire point of critical theory is the attempt to understand the world from that person's perspective, in order to better seek the justice they deserve.
That's why the choice of the word "privilege" is as relevant as it is here: because these discussions are almost always to be had — or attempted to be had, given the actual impossibility of "walking a mile in their moccasins" — from the perspective of the party to whom the thing in question is, in fact, a privilege — and more importantly, one that they don't enjoy.
It's not about what's "normal"; it's about what's normal for the person for whose justice, or about whose injustice, we're talking.
EDIT: Thank you, by the way, for allowing me the opportunity to sharpen my thoughts on these issues. It's something that's only recently become an item of interest and value to me, so being able to engage with someone in the manner we've been enjoying is immensely helpful for me.