tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post7556556363043831201..comments2024-03-25T15:17:04.488-07:00Comments on Captain Capitalism: Amelia "Affirmative Action" EarhartCaptain Capitalismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-30503702358101917322011-01-01T13:37:45.994-08:002011-01-01T13:37:45.994-08:00Great post! Thanks for making me aware of it. I ad...Great post! Thanks for making me aware of it. I added it to my must read links list.Elspeth https://www.blogger.com/profile/17495546895657214080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-84950665218112214652010-12-27T10:16:04.620-08:002010-12-27T10:16:04.620-08:00Or, to quote the late Charlotte Whitton: "Wh...Or, to quote the late Charlotte Whitton: "Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." <br /><br />It's not fun being the token whatever and knowing that, however hard you work and well you do, there will always be those who dismiss your accomplishments as overblown and any promotions as being solely determined by your 'special' status.Franceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277713882450290045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-8007252327383241172010-12-27T07:40:48.896-08:002010-12-27T07:40:48.896-08:00"I think Affirmative Action is just fine as a..."I think Affirmative Action is just fine as a concept. Essentially, it says not to discriminate, to get rid of prejudices."<br />Not to flame you, but no, it says to discriminate <b>now</b> in favour of a once-disfavoured group to compensate for the (alleged) wrongs <b>of the past</b>. This includes giving/awarding positions and promotions etc. to candidates who <b>aren't</b> as qualified as those of the (once) favoured group. Its proponents even literally call it "positive discrimination". <br />/Andrew in TorontoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-38040860975043549812010-12-26T22:21:28.183-08:002010-12-26T22:21:28.183-08:00The thing about Affirmative Action was that it was...The thing about Affirmative Action was that it was never intended to be more than a *temporary* measure. (Like the income tax, of course.)<br /><br />Because of their skin, sex, faith or whatever, good people were being relegated to second-tier jobs and opportunities and given no chance to acquire the skills and experience that would have let them compete. The playing field was not level.<br /><br />The answer conceived by well-meaning progressives (the tragedy is that so many of them really are): Tilt the playing field *temporarily* in the opposite direction by requiring educators and employers to give opportunities to those previously denied them. With enough time, the skill, knowledge and experience would percolate throughout the community until affirmative action was no longer required.<br /><br />That enough people would become invested in the power-politics of AA-regulations that this "temporary" requirement would endure indefinitely never occurred to anyone at the time. And it has never been satisfactorily answered by any progressive I know of now; I've never heard any single social-justice advocate answer the question, "OK, when do you consider we've 'succeeded' and can discontinue the AA programs? If you're a feminist, does every career in every part of the West have to be as evenly distributed between men and women as possible? If not, what *are* your acceptable targets? And if you're willing to articulate a specific, identifiable target, how likely do you think it is that it will *ever* be achieved, and could it ever be conceivable that it might require costs that would be greater than the benefit?"<br /><br />But no progressive can ever hear these questions without paranoiacally suspecting that they are driven by nothing more than fear of being the next person in line for the termination squad.Stephen J.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-77027704769185805982010-12-26T21:49:50.232-08:002010-12-26T21:49:50.232-08:00Shirley Muldowney. Affirmative traction.
By the ...Shirley Muldowney. Affirmative traction.<br /><br />By the way Captain, if I might be so bold as to boil down your post a bit, don't you basically mean "STOP YER LYIN'!!!"?<br /><br />I concur.The Phantomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159748429049446398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-9838019727396688122010-12-24T17:35:58.109-08:002010-12-24T17:35:58.109-08:00I've always wondered what kind of uproar would...I've always wondered what kind of uproar would occur if offer letters highlighted affirmative action choices.<br /><br />For example:<br /><br />Congratulations Mr. Smith, as the leading Black candidate we are pleased to offer you employment...<br /><br />or<br /><br />Congratulations Ms. Chi, as the leading Oriental and homosexual candidate we are pleased to offer you employment...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-33475233910328047692010-12-21T18:58:00.602-08:002010-12-21T18:58:00.602-08:00When I was studying to become an electrical engine...When I was studying to become an electrical engineer in the UK, we had 120 students on the first year. 7 of them were women, 4 of them from the P.R.C.; 50% of the students were from P.R.C. (I am not kidding or exaggerating), and 25% of them were from the sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, some Malaysians and Singaporeans); the next biggest group was (surprisingly) Scandinavians (about 10%-12% of the class)... I believe out of 120 people 10-12 were British... and we wonder why the UK has declined as an industrial powerhouse? (meanwhile, Sociology was 95% white -and 2/3 female-).<br /><br />When I eventually graduated, I discovered that small, independent companies were 99%-100% male in the engineering department, whereas large corporations and government corporations were about 30% female... go figure, just my anecdotal observations...exiled_spaniardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-5811114446793009102010-12-21T15:39:19.533-08:002010-12-21T15:39:19.533-08:00If women ran the world....
http://www.smalldeadan...If women ran the world....<br /><br />http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/008558.htmlKatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-86613486948695794092010-12-20T13:21:33.773-08:002010-12-20T13:21:33.773-08:00OK, going to say this, despite the fact that I wil...OK, going to say this, despite the fact that I will probably get flamed for it.<br /><br />I think Affirmative Action is just fine as a concept. Essentially, it says not to discriminate, to get rid of prejudices.<br /><br />It is the application of AA that I have a gross problem with.<br /><br />Will use the following to illustrate:<br />Take engineering for example.<br />When I went to engineering school, there were about 2 women in the electrical engineering program. There were something like 60 men. In the graduating class, there was one woman. (the other one had changed major to computer science, I think)<br />Given that, I would hazard a guess that approx 2% of the electrical engineers in the US are women.<br />Yet, AA states that 50% of the US population is women (approx), therefore, if you use AA rules, then 50% of the electrical engineers you hire, must be female.<br /><br />Now, had AA been structured to take into account the number of "minorities" seeking the position, based on surveys, college enrollments, existing employment, etc... then there would be nothing wrong with AA, because it would reflect national demographics.<br /><br />Or, we could just toss out AA and let real life dictate the situation.CBMTTekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07408004987103862573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-24960221672816383152010-12-20T08:59:37.964-08:002010-12-20T08:59:37.964-08:00Amen.
And I'm totally with the commenters on ...Amen.<br /><br />And I'm totally with the commenters on the women thing. I truly believe it's the rise of more women pretending to be independent that has caused this huge growth in government (they can "work" in public office).<br /><br />I wasn't brought up that way. I got where I am by working hard and depending on myself.<br /><br />If I found out I was hired because I was a woman and not just because I'm damn good at what I do (engineering), I'd be heartbroken.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-91000214825111307902010-12-20T01:25:40.231-08:002010-12-20T01:25:40.231-08:00I would add Florence Nightingale to your list.
A...I would add Florence Nightingale to your list. <br /><br />Aside from that, you have hit on the reason why I don't like AA. Its about pity and degarding others through what is essentially backhanded compliments. In fact, AA is the best example of institutional racism there is. <br />I have a friend who is part Aboriginal and refuses to identify as such because he is ashamed of his cousins who live off welfare etc. <br /><br />- BreezeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-36797791503565969002010-12-19T18:03:56.627-08:002010-12-19T18:03:56.627-08:00Agree totally with the rant.
With AA in place, ...Agree totally with the rant. <br /><br />With AA in place, only a white male truly knows if he's the best. Everyone else has to wonder.<br /><br />When you get around to it, go ahead with a rant on the secondary impact of AA.<br /><br />BTW, I wonder when AA will be expanded to a new minority suffering severe employment bias due to the recession - the age 50+ male employee.<br /><br />One more difference between a liberal and a conservative - <br /><br />liberals expend effort to appear better - they're pretenders<br /><br />conservatives expend effort to be better - they're producersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-77087502059018654852010-12-19T14:04:49.507-08:002010-12-19T14:04:49.507-08:00Yeah, amazing how truth is becoming outlawed.Yeah, amazing how truth is becoming outlawed.Captain Capitalismhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-64622533416686178722010-12-19T11:43:31.867-08:002010-12-19T11:43:31.867-08:00You dared write and post this - I'm most appre...You dared write and post this - I'm most appreciative of your honest observation. It is consistent with what I've witnessed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-27772697039613271112010-12-19T09:26:20.491-08:002010-12-19T09:26:20.491-08:00Plenty of blacks and women are perfectly happy to ...Plenty of blacks and women are perfectly happy to abandon "pride" if it means freebies for them taken from others (especially the hated "whitey" and "patriarch"). Heck, millions of women claim without any sense of irony that they're "independent women" while receiving alimony and child support (which in most cases is grossly in excess of the actual needs of said child, let alone half those needs).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-10767581135325711312010-12-19T08:43:42.313-08:002010-12-19T08:43:42.313-08:00Just as everything else from the Leftists, they se...Just as everything else from the Leftists, they seem to always get exactly the opposite of what they say they want. Which, given time and repeated examples of such, does lead an honest person to the conclusion that they, the Leftists (which every party labels they give themselves), are primarily liars who are trying to further the very evils they say they are against.<br />It really is sad, that as time goes on the facade that has been "America as we've known it", is falling off, nothing seems real anymore. One feels compelled to preface a retelling of history with "if this is to be believed". Heck it doesn't even need to be history, simply getting the true facts about a event that occurs today is sometimes impossible.Tonynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-61867225152506498282010-12-19T07:59:38.467-08:002010-12-19T07:59:38.467-08:00Frankly there's nothing in there that I could ...Frankly there's nothing in there that I could disagree with.<br />Reading your entry this morning immediately brought to mind the Kara Hultgreen story from a few years ago; back in the day when PBS's "Frontline" did a half decent job on getting to the bottom of matters. <br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLSnlZSPsOs<br /> A stunning reminder of what happens when political correctness meets reality.<br />Well worth watching Cap'nbotchohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762686366359752018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-91285712313492892382010-12-19T02:43:26.094-08:002010-12-19T02:43:26.094-08:00Ug, OK, duly noted. Marie Curie and Carly Fiorina...Ug, OK, duly noted. Marie Curie and Carly Fiorina are included. Though I think they came from much upper bringings than Empress Theodora.Captain Capitalismhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-73908212357593355202010-12-19T02:25:47.875-08:002010-12-19T02:25:47.875-08:00I noticed that all famous women you mentioned were...I noticed that all famous women you mentioned were politicians, certainly not the top-job from an economic point of view.<br /><br />How about Marie Curie or Carly Fiorina. They actually produced something, as you would say ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com