You remind me of a Chinese friend who shared with me an adage from his region that said something like: People don't hate privileges, they hate not having those privileges.
And it also makes me think about the problem that inequality can be due in many cases to a desire to establish a higher 'status' rather than a real question of production or rational economy. Sometimes, groups in power prefer to let other groups of people die so as not to give them the 'privilege' of using the resources they have available. It sounds cruel, but it is a human reality that has been repeated throughout history in too many places in the world.
By the way, on a lighter note, that part about 'if everyone is special, then no one is special anymore', made me remember a line of dialogue that was very key in an animated film from years ago, it was The Incredibles (2004).
