Politics
Politics is assuming command of the American economy in the form of pervasive "equal opportunity" enforcement. In today's society, everyone is supposed to be equal and have equal rights, but in employment, there is more discrimination than ever. American citizens need to do away with affirmative action so that America's job opportunities can once again be based on merit, not skin color or ethnicity. Laws have been passed, quotas have been established, and seemingly, everything has been done to prevent discrimination, but rather than ending discrimination, these new laws and quotas have begun to discriminate against a new group of people-the qualified white male. America is known as the land of opportunity. The general theory is that if you work hard enough and you are the most qualified person to receive a job, you get it, but that is no longer the case. Now, in order to be employed, qualifications do not always matter as much as the color of a person's skin or his ethnicity.In dealing with this subject, the first question that is always asked is, "What is wrong with quotas? What is wrong with companies hiring a variety of blacks, Hispanics, women, and white males?" The problem is not with hiring a variety of people from
Not only is affirmative action hurting white males, it is also causing problems among the protected classes that it is supposed to be helping. Many of these people feel that it is an insult that the government thinks they need special help to compete in the job market. Yet others would be extremely offended if this help was taken away from them. Black Police Chief Clarence Harmon was once in favor of affirmative action until he realized the affect that it has on his race. He has said that when he was going through school, he enjoyed competing and keeping up with his white counterparts, but he now realizes that many times in the police academy black students use affirmative action as a crutch. Black students have been found to score lower on tests than white students. Harmon believes that this is because they do not think that they have to work as hard which produces less qualified black officers. (Glastris 43) Brimelow, Peter. "Spiral of Silence." Forbes 25 May 1992: 76-77. Another way that quotas and affirmative action are very harmful is that they are very expensive. In 1991, the direct and indirect cost of quotas, of imposing them and complying with them, amounted to between 112 and 115 billion dollars. The "opportunity cost", which is what the economy might have achieved without the misallocative affect of quotas, amounted to at least 4% of the 1991 Gross National Product, an amount equal to the amount spent on public schools. (Spencer and Brimelow n. pag.) The revelation of these figures is needed to show the dangers of a politically motivated employment policy. Glastris, Paul. "Black and Blue." U.S. News and World Report. 13 February 1995: 43-46. Many companies are afraid of these laws, and the fear of political punishment makes quotas very hard to research. A Kmart executive told a researcher, "We're not letting you anywhere near our program." (Brimelow 77) Companies go beyond what is required just to avoid legal trouble. The manager of corporate employment status at Xerox, a company that uses quotas, states, "We have a process that we call 'balanced work force'. In Xerox, everyone understands that, and it is measurable by its goals and relat
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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