tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post8482931156528119854..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: The Problem of Affirmative ActionStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-8409502971182477442011-04-28T10:50:10.052-07:002011-04-28T10:50:10.052-07:00Isn't that the most amazing irony of the whole...Isn't that the most amazing irony of the whole business? A policy that was designed to overcome discrimination, thus, that assumed that some people were not being judged on their merits, turns into a policy that reinforces the idea that some people do not have enough merit to compete on their own.<br /><br />Beware of government policies that involve social engineering.Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-10014583609329902672011-04-28T09:38:00.821-07:002011-04-28T09:38:00.821-07:00In almost everyone of us is the desire to prove to...In almost everyone of us is the desire to prove to ourselves that we can succeed on our own merit. Life's challenges are there to help us take the measure of who we are and to demonstrate that we have within us the wherewithal to do great things. Challenges are goo and the harder the better.<br />Anything that takes away from that weakens us as human beings. Once we demonstrate that this race or that sex needs the aid of Affirmative Action we are in essence telling them they have not the capacity to reach their potential using their own abilities.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-38126863890406121972011-04-28T08:23:22.471-07:002011-04-28T08:23:22.471-07:00Thank you, Malcolm, for the link to the Shelby Ste...Thank you, Malcolm, for the link to the Shelby Steele essay. I was trying to find something by him that I could link and did not have the time. The essay you link is excellent; I hope everyone takes the time to read it.<br /><br />And thanks to Dennis for offering some evidence of the phenomenon along with a very cogent analysis.<br /><br />I do think that it's time that the nation took a look at the downside of affirmative action. Not just the fact that it necessarily discriminates against those who do very well, but because it taints the accomplishments of those it is trying to help.Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-62365977345074400872011-04-28T08:10:53.699-07:002011-04-28T08:10:53.699-07:00The real problem with the "Race" card is...The real problem with the "Race" card is that it has been maxed out. Is there anyone who does not see it as a STFU ploy?<br />There is only a small slice of history where one can use these sorts of pejoratives before they lose credibility. It has been played so much and so indiscriminately in the past that it has become the modern version of crying Wolf.<br />I have meet and worked with a number of people who were the beneficiary of Affirmative Action programs and most who have any scruples at all know that it hurts them.<br />The sad part here is that the vast majority have/had the capability to succeed on their own, but suffered the bigotry of soft expectations.<br />Their real need was to be ensure access and to be treated exactly the same. One of the first thing thrown at Clarence Thomas was that he benefited from Affirmative Action programs.<br />If one does not face challenges then one does not learn to handle them. Obama suffers mightily from this lack of facing real challenges. It shows in everything he does.<br />One of the reasons I went to college was that an NCO friend of mine (Black) was showing me his work at a local college. He was so proud of the grades he was getting.<br />Suffice it to say that I found out very quickly that I would not be able to do the kind of work and get the kind of grades he was getting.<br />It also works in the gender arena. A woman I know was taking a woman's studies class and had to write a paper that took a look at the future of feminism. Extrapolation was not one of her strengths so I wrote it and she made a few changes. Needless to say I essentially got an A. I can guarantee that if I had written the same paper as a white male I would not have done anywhere as well.<br />This kind of bigotry only serves to cheat the beneficiaries of them.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-84384242309474613742011-04-28T07:59:44.228-07:002011-04-28T07:59:44.228-07:00Did you ever read Shelby Steele's essay?
&quo...Did you ever read Shelby Steele's essay?<br /><br />"The age of white guilt: and the disappearance of the black individual"<br /><br />http://www.cir-usa.org/articles/156.html<br /><br />Excellent essay in my opinion.Malcolmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05478747589100326721noreply@blogger.com