There's a talking point going around that the "work for a boss or starve" dynamic doesn't create a real power imbalance because in America, you could just be a beggar. There's been one in libertarian circles for a long time now that it's not a problem if the big corporations with pay and prestige discriminate against white people because you can work for the small and irrelevant convenient store down the street.

If you claim to want to be treated better, people will find a way to dismiss you. They'll call you a communist, or they'll strawman you as "WAAAAHHHH I DON'T WANNA WORK WAAAAHHHHH", or they'll just totally ignore your argument and tell you that you chose it. The idea that these choices are terrible and no other group has to choose between such options falls flat on deaf ears.

People are used to the way that the world has always treated them. If the world treats them and their generation, or gender, or race with adoration, care and support, then they will believe that they are entitled to care and support. If they don't receive it then they will riot. If the world treats you like shit and tell you that you're lucky to be allowed to receive minimum wage in a grocery store then you will grow up thinking that you're entitled to nothing and you will be thankful for that pathetic lot you're allowed.

White men are not thinking to themselves that based on their capabilities, work ethic, and inherent value by virtue of being human, that they deserve better. Instead, they justify being treated like shit. They form their worldview around the fact that nobody should ever have to care about them. They think it's a great sin to not treat Apple Inc much more benevolently than Apple Inc treats them. They will just not see themselves as worth any sort of respect or dignity.