Which is better for business: DIVERSITY or COMPETANCE ?

There was a time when the USA was such a world leader in most fields that we could afford to give up some of our edge we lost through affirmative action. Those days are gone. While we daddled, the rest of the world has passed us up in most areas except weapons development. Either we just become bullies or get back to the business of concentrating on excellance. As bullies always eventually lose, I recommend trying for excellance.

I completely agree with you.

Certainly, I agree with what you say. That it is immoral for a publically held company or a company entrusted with other's money to hire anyone other than whoever is most competant for a given job is totally correct. That the institution mentioned at the link went bankrupt and was bought out is not an accident. Any organization in a competitive environment can not afford to lose its advantage by hiring other than the best. In the long term hiring based on race, religion, national orgin, gender, or sexuality is incredibly stupid. Even the current financial crises is largely based on this kind of short sided stupidity of striving for a theoritical subjective notion of 'fairness'. Is it 'fair' for companies to go broke and people to lose their jobs to satisfy someone's arbitrary notion of 'fairness'? 'Fair' is for whoever can do the job best, irregardless of 'special considerations' to get the job. This keeps the USA competitive and people get to keep their jobs. For the USA to solve its current difficulties, in all areas of endeavor, no favoritism on the basis of race, religion, national orgin, gender, or sexuality should be allowed whatsoever.

Hello Red, I agree that diversity's "quotas", as outlined by affirmative action is a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. And, that ANY law that requires a certain percentage of hires be based on any legally defined minority status is patently irresponsible, immoral, and unconstitutional. Irresponsible because the drafters of the law, despite any relevant experience, have interjected themselves into the entrepreneurs ability to choose the most qualified candidate, so as to maintain a commitment toward excellence. Immoral because the assertion of any mandate that prohibits an entrepreneur from conducting his or her business in the most ethical fashion possible is certainly a challenge to the moral fiber of our nation, and We The People, as we are inclined to become comfortable with moral relativity. And, unconstitutional because applying 'preferred status' to any one group of people, for any single purpose violates the "equal under the law" protections as conferred by our Constitution. Moreover, forcing an entrepreneur, under penalty of law, to conduct his or her business contrary to his or her own business plan and model most surely violates that entrepreneur's freedoms of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, I do not agree that there should be legal prohibitions against an entrepreneur considering race, sexuality, or specific personal experience when choosing a new hire. For example: If someone owns a business that specializes in African-American art, I believe that the entrepreneur should be free to consider a person of African lineage, or with first-hand experience living in Africa, before all other applicants, if that applicant is the most qualified for the job. Similarly, I believe that a Baptist Minister should be free to hire a Baptist individual to manage the church's bookstore. Would a Hindu, Catholic, or a Jewish person be as versed in Baptist teachings as say another Baptist? None can argue that if the emphasis of our great nation is never allowed to perpetuate racism by way of imposed laws, as Affirmative Action has; and if our institutions are thereby allowed to conduct themselves in the pursuit of excellence, without consideration for imposed diversity or racial restrictions or contrived expansions, then businesses should be able to redirect their focus toward that sense of greatness that forged our great society. Anything can be taken too far. In the case of Affirmative Action, which incidentally is largely a Republican achievement (see below for reference above the obvious Abraham Lincoln starting point), little question remains but that the commitment toward color-blindness has been skewed because of the implementation of short-sighted legislation. I believe that it's long past the time to consciously swing the pendulum back toward a center balance. "[i]In the Johnson Administration, the Labor Department Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) started pre-award compliance for federal contracts over $1 million. The Office began with construction contractors, who were required to set goals and timetables under a regulation issued to implement the Order in 1968. However, under pressure from unions and the General Accounting Office, which found the process too vague, OFCCP discontinued the effort. But in the most far-reaching federal expansion of affirmative action, the "goals and timetables" plan was revived by President Nixon and Labor Secretary George Shultz in 1969. In issuing the so-called "Philadelphia Order," Assistant Secretary Arthur Fletcher said: Equal employment opportunity in these [construction] trades in the Philadelphia area is still far from a reality. The unions in these trades still have only about 1.6 percent minority group membership and they continue to engage in practices, including the granting of referral priorities to union members and to persons who have work experience under union contracts, which result in few negroes being referred for employment. We find, therefore, that special measures are required to provide equal employment opportunity in these seven trades."[/i] http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa02.html

One would think that in a free country, what you are mentioning as to affirmative action would not be allowed. How can the government be telling private business who to hire if this is a free country? Oh well, you can not cheat the reality of what happens when hiring less than the best. The natural consequences of stupidity will eventually straighten this mess out.

I think eventually we will learn, it just takes longer than anyone would imagine.

The great thing about competition, particularily international competition is that wasteful ineficient practices have to be done away with. Diversity for its own sake is doomed.