By Walter Williams
This week begins my 34th year serving on George Mason University’s distinguished economics faculty. You might imagine my surprise when I received a letter from its Office of Equity and Diversity Services notifying me that I was required to “complete the in-person Equal Opportunity and Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policies and Procedures training.” This is a leftist agenda for indoctrination, thought control and free speech suppression to which I shall refuse to submit. Let’s look at it.
Ideas such as equity and equal opportunity, while having high emotional value, are vacuous analytical concepts. For example, I’ve asked students whether they plan to give every employer an equal opportunity to hire them when they graduate. To a person, they always answer no. If they aren’t going to give every employer an equal opportunity to hire them, what’s fair about forcing employers to give them an equal opportunity to be hired?
I’m guilty of gross violation of equality of opportunity, racism and possibly sexism. Back in 1960, when interviewing people to establish a marital contract, every woman wasn’t given an equal opportunity. I discriminated against not only white, Indian, Asian, Mexican and handicapped women but men of any race. My choices were confined to good-looking black women. You say, “Williams, that kind of discrimination doesn’t harm anyone!” Nonsense!
Read the rest here.
I used to love Walter Williams. He was my first exposure to libertarian idea. Too bad he went full neocon after 9/11.
ReplyDeleteDear Dr. Williams, how about applying that brilliant mind of yours to the biggest government program of them all, the U.S. military?
I share your concerns on Walter Williams (add Thomas Sowell to the mostly libertarian, but part-time neocon club), but check your facts. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and the entitlement state dwarf the military bureaucracy by any measure. Social Security . spending currently for Social Security alone eclipses DoD by a couple of percentage points.
ReplyDeleteIn short, entitlements are a much greater threat long term than the military. At least in financial terms.
True but the military is a MUCH bigger problem for civil liberties.
DeleteStill doesn't give Williams and Sowell a pass though and I respect both of them. Look at Lawrence Vance (who writes for Lew Rockwell) for example he constantly goes after the military establishment. He sometimes has posted on the site examples of the hate mail he gets from conservatives. He's not afraid to go after conservative sacred cows such as (in Adam Kokesh's words) jock sniffing of the military and neither should Williams and Sowell.
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