I'm fine with affirmative action. But I like to keep the debate on topic. You need to remember that aa is not a goal in itself (I think so, anyway). On the contrary, it is damaging in itself. It may justify the ends, but in itself it's bad.
Just like having a 99% white male University is not bad in itself, it's a consequence of bad - Inequality in society. The goal of aa (should be) is to deal with that.
There is an inherent problem. We tend to gauge gender equality by things like the male/female exec ratio. That's fine. But then we try to improve equality by artificially equalising that. Ok..but we are getting into murky waters? How do we know if the underlying problem is solved now. The goal of such a program is not to be needed at some point in the future. When you're talking about minorities in schools etc. that can take a long time, but aa is not acceptable (to me) indefinitely.
There's also another type of aa*. EG the organisation believes certain staff ratios are good for corporate culture, good for morale, good to give an impression of equability etc. etc. That's a different kettle of fish. Completely different. The company/school may have rational economic reasons for this decision, but that is discrimination for utilitarian reasons. How would you feel if for the same reasons, the decision was made to hire all white males?
Comments
I'm fine with affirmative action. But I like to keep the debate on topic. You need to remember that aa is not a goal in itself (I think so, anyway). On the contrary, it is damaging in itself. It may justify the ends, but in itself it's bad.
Just like having a 99% white male University is not bad in itself, it's a consequence of bad - Inequality in society. The goal of aa (should be) is to deal with that.
There is an inherent problem. We tend to gauge gender equality by things like the male/female exec ratio. That's fine. But then we try to improve equality by artificially equalising that. Ok..but we are getting into murky waters? How do we know if the underlying problem is solved now. The goal of such a program is not to be needed at some point in the future. When you're talking about minorities in schools etc. that can take a long time, but aa is not acceptable (to me) indefinitely.
There's also another type of aa*. EG the organisation believes certain staff ratios are good for corporate culture, good for morale, good to give an impression of equability etc. etc. That's a different kettle of fish. Completely different. The company/school may have rational economic reasons for this decision, but that is discrimination for utilitarian reasons. How would you feel if for the same reasons, the decision was made to hire all white males?