Re: BAMN Debate
Kevin Dempsey Peterson (peterson@ocf.Berkeley.EDU)
Mon, 30 Mar 1998 15:10:41 -0800
On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Nesim Sisa wrote:
> The debate over affirmative action could get very sloppy and may not
>even be very useful. Does the LP stand philosophically against all
>affirmative action? I assume the speakers dislike government sponsored
>affirmative action. But what about the affirmative action at Stanford or a
>private company. I think it is important that we make clear what type of
>affirmative action is defensible. A possible argument would be that the
>SAT does not accurately predict college performance for certain
>individuals.
I don't know about the LP, but in my opinion, judging people by any
grounds other than ability is immoral. Since I think that government
sponsered affirmative action is morally equivalent to government
sponsered segregation, I oppose it. About the only place I would agree
with BAMN would be if there were a bill to deny government contracts to
companies that had affirmative action I would oppose it on the grounds
that its none of the government's business.
Additionally, affirmative action for minorities, just like affirmative
action for majorities ("racism") is economically inefficient. Those
corporation which engage in it will tend to not be as successful as
companies which judge prospective employees soley on their ability to do
the job.
--Kevin