DEI vs Meritocracy
Racism rears its ugly head.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion - All positive values but they have become a basis for a new kind of racism. I don't really like it but, given the racist past of our society, I can't see any way around it.
DEI is a system that considers the demographic structure of a workplace with an eye to including all the demographic groups in the larger society. It's social engineering. It's consciously trying to manipulate social arrangements so that the old fashioned racism just disappeared.
I've read talk about how a DEI workplace is more productive and resilient at its tasks than a racist workplace, and I can believe that. But somehow that isn't a very good justification. After all, I can imagine a racist saying that an all white male workplace is more productive. The deeper justification is the social engineering part. In a DEI workplace everyone gets used to treating all sorts of different people as normal. If that sort of attitude spreads through society then DEI wouldn't be even noticed.
It's very ironic that the anti-DEI people insist that society should be color blind. After all, DEI is only needed because society was so racist in the past. I imagine the hiring process at a DEI organization involves setting up a shortlist of equally qualified candidates and then choosing from among them. At that point secondary characteristics come into play like was the candidate likeable or not. Then I'd guess that DEI concerns would be a tertiary concern.
The anti-DEI people accuse that selection process of being biased against white men. I see this as being a case of - the accusation is a confession of the way they would behave if they were in control - they'd be biased in favor of white males as they have been all along.
I have a friend whose daughter qualified to fly jet airliners last year. She was no "DEI hire". The course was rigorous both physically and mentally and only the best passed. But the training cost A LOT - an unseen barrier to entry into the field as it is for many fields. Perhaps the shortage of air traffic controllers could be alleviated if there were grants that would pay for the training.
Once I moved from the East Coast to Victoria on the West Coast. I looked like a hippie with long hair. I had been working in a camera store in the East. I walked into a store and asked for the manager and asked him for a job. I didn't even have a resume (had never heard the word). We chatted a bit and he hired me on the spot and I went to work the next day.
That's the sort of world everyone should live in. Now I guess it's different - each opportunity is precious because it's so rare and to lose an opportunity because of race is not a good experience. But hey! In a way that's the point.
What do you think?
I present regular philosophy discussions in a virtual reality called Second Life.
I set a topic and people come as avatars and sit around a virtual table to discuss it.
Each week I write a short essay to set the topic.
I show a selection of them here.