Oxymoron DuJour

They call it “Positive Discrimination”. It’s another Orwellian catch phrase that amounts to nothing more than bureaucrats trying to look like they’re doing something, and messing up society with their social engineering nonsense.

White men could be legally blocked from jobs or promotions under controversial government plans to help women and black employees achieve equality.

Employers would be allowed to give jobs to qualified minority candidates in preference to other candidates under a change in discrimination law being drawn up by the Equalities Minister, Harriet Harman. The ‘positive action’ tactic, already used in the United States, has been a legal minefield in the UK and Harman’s plans are likely to upset MPs who believe that merit alone should determine who is hired.

However, she believes radical changes are needed to help talented black and female candidates break through barriers in business and public life. The positive discrimination plan would apply only in cases where two equally qualified candidates were after the same post, allowing the employer to tip the balance in favour of the minority candidate on grounds of race or gender.

The proposals could also let universities select more female students in traditionally male-dominated subjects, such as the sciences.

Affirmative action was basically a useful tool for helping integrate American society in the 60s and 70s. But it should have ended decades ago. It has become a crutch for identity politics clowns. And it is still discrimination. Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable. Government sanctioned discrimination is just plain wrong.

England doesn’t have the history America does, so their version of affirmative action is even more absurd. At least we had a good reason to try it as an experiemnet. The problem is, when governments start “experiments” they can run on indefinitely and become institutions. Because the people who run these boondoggles do their best to make sure they can keep their jobs indefinitely. 

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