Inherited privilege is both actual status and curious state of mind. Some men and women accumulate wealth, influence and stature. They feel entitled and deserving, disdain those below them. Donald Trump is the latest icon of this social Darwinism as is the Tory throwback, Jacob Rees Mogg. There will be plenty more after them. Are such human behaviours and inequalities an unavoidable part of all social configurations? Or should they be thought of as by-products of certain economic systems, histories, beliefs, distortions and competitiveness? Privilege is all that and imperceptibly more.

As humans we have consciousness, the ability to absorb information, analyse and assess situations, to deliberate. Yet most of the secure and fortunate remain oblivious of their positions. Privilege is never consciously recognised or defined. It is normalised, internalised, maintained, diffuse. Facts, figures and challenges provoke vehement denial. Think of it as a collective mental block.

Bequeathed advantages are found in every nation, among almost all ethnic and racial types. In East Africa, where I was born, Asians were richer and thought they were genetically superior to black Africans. That is still the case today, long after independence. Meanwhile, in oil-rich Middle Eastern states, Arabs see themselves as the permanently blessed and South Asians as lowly, dispensable inferiors.

However, from the age of exploration, when Europeans set off in search of new lands and profits, to the post-communist era of aggressive Western capitalism, white privilege has been dominant across the globe. Furthermore, through the centuries, relentless Caucasian expansionism and hubris persuaded large numbers of non-white peoples of their own unworthiness. You see ‘native’ humbleness in almost every developing country. Aid agencies, tourist companies, big Western businesses and Christian missions in the 21st century all perpetuate the pernicious notion that white men and women are more evolved and of a higher order than the rest of humanity. The good news is that we may be coming to the end of this long period of settled racial omnipotence. The bad news is that a cataclysmic culture war has only just begun.

White people, from the most to the least powerful, feel beleaguered. The ground beneath their feet trembles. India and China are becoming stupendously productive and assertive. In 2018, the Indian economy is expected to grow by 7.5 per cent and China’s by even more.