Affirmative Failure

Success is not the rainbow; it’s the pot of gold - a safe, lawful, productive, functioning society - at its end

The purpose of Affirmative Action was to remove race from decisions about hiring or entry to school, the public arena - retail stores, clubs, etc. By removing the barrier of racism - judging people by “the color of their skin rather than the content of their character,” it was thought, equality could be achieved in the public square.

This was predicated on a couple of unstated assumptions: One, that the underlying intellectual capacity existed and would be revealed by removing race from the decision-making process; Two, that the will and desire to achieve and succeed also existed. In short, that “All men are created equal.”

Employment tests demonstrating the probable capability of an applicant to succeed were replaced by a college degree on the assumption that achieving a degree demonstrated both the capacity and the desire to work hard over an extended period to succeed, and that the GPA, along with the degree, could substitute for the now-discarded pre-employment testing.

This drove into college and, ultimately, the workplace, millions of unqualified applicants who would not have been admitted, and into high-status colleges those who would have succeeded at less-elite institutions. These unqualified applicants failed at high rates. Those at elite institutions likely would not have failed at colleges for which they were better-prepared. In both instances the failures were deleterious to their futures, often indebted them beyond their ability to pay, and consumed a seat for a non-AA applicant who would have used those resources more productively for themselves and society.

In order to get these new cohorts a college degree, grades had to be inflated, antisocial behaviors (crime, cheating) had to be ignored and we had to pretend that various ‘Victims’ Studies’ majors had been “educated.” In order to get these new cohorts into college, HS grades had to be inflated and, again, social failures ignored.

Had Affirmative Action been used as intended, to remove race from the equation, but not to lower standards; had it been accepted by these cohorts as the opportunity to achieve, and had they busted their ass to do so, it would have demonstrated its value and fulfilled its purpose.

Over the three generations of its existence, AA would have seen these cohorts rise to the opportunities provided, study hard, stop the social failures, achieve and then demonstrate their achievement to their children, who would have imitated their successful parents, a positive feedback loop would have been created, and society would be better-off.

This did not happen.

Either the underlying assumptions were wrong, or the reducing of standards as excuses for the failure to achieve became a negative feedback loop, or both.

DEI simply is AA on steroids. The logical result will be failures on steroids. If people are given opportunities and fail or refuse to take advantage of them, those opportunities - finite resources - are wasted. Those who could have profited from those opportunities - individuals and society - are the losers.

The only proof anyone needs that Affirmative Action has failed is that, after almost three generations, we still have it.

Why we want to perpetuate societal devolution, ever-worse education, continued waste of human resources, and ever-more societal disfunction is an unknown. Yes, it benefits an elected government increasingly rejecting its duties and responsibilities. But it does not benefit - in fact, it harms, those this government was designed to serve.

And maybe that’s why we still have it…