Friday, July 10, 2009

Affirmative Action For Men?

Men are bearing the brunt of the recession. If one believes in affirmative action, why would it not apply to men if they are being disadvantaged - first in school and now in jobs?

I no longer think affirmative action is a good idea. I think it had a time and place, but now it's gotten to the point where the costs outweigh the benefits. Affirmative action is a system that helps those able to game it and does not substantially assist minority populations it is designed to assist. In short, it ends up helping individuals of certain minority-groups who don't need help.

This is not the same, however, as putting together a workplace team of a diverse skill set. Certainly, employers are entitled to hire whoever they want should they think they need a woman to balance out the office environment. Or a man for that matter.

But on an entirely different note, there is a potentially huge negative social cost to an abnormally large number of men out of work.

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