Ideal approach to solving society's problems

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Eduk
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Eduk »

It doesn't feel like that is destroying the world to me? Making the world a slightly worse place maybe.
The issue with quotas is that you are left with difficult choices if you are trying to legislate to make the world a better, fairer, more equitable place. No one wants to see bigotry (again this is something we can all agree on - it's trivially true) but how do you legislate against it. It's tricky. Quotas have clear and obvious problems but what is the solution? And how much harm have quotas actually done?
Personally I probably wouldn't introduce quotas but I'd be willing to listen to research. I would prefer to work hard to make the marketplace as equitable as possible. Companies with massive bigotry inherent in their structure will go bankrupt as they are out competed by those that aren't. Of course making the marketplace equitable is a nightmare/impossible task too :)
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Webplodder
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Webplodder »

Eduk wrote:It doesn't feel like that is destroying the world to me? Making the world a slightly worse place maybe.
The issue with quotas is that you are left with difficult choices if you are trying to legislate to make the world a better, fairer, more equitable place. No one wants to see bigotry (again this is something we can all agree on - it's trivially true) but how do you legislate against it. It's tricky. Quotas have clear and obvious problems but what is the solution? And how much harm have quotas actually done?
Personally I probably wouldn't introduce quotas but I'd be willing to listen to research. I would prefer to work hard to make the marketplace as equitable as possible. Companies with massive bigotry inherent in their structure will go bankrupt as they are out competed by those that aren't. Of course making the marketplace equitable is a nightmare/impossible task too :)
Well, 'the elephant in the room' it seems to me, is how is prejudice to be tackled? Is it ever really possible to eliminate it or does it just go underground when measures are brought in to ameliorate it?
Eduk
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Eduk »

Prejudice is by definition a bad thing. Tackling prejudice is by definition a good goal. Your method (and how well you execute that method) for attacking prejudice is going to define if you ultimately cause more harm than good. I kind of think a heartfelt, genuine, serious attempt to help stop prejudice is going to be a good thing pretty much all the time. Whereas a lazy, insincere, hypocritical attempt to stop prejudice is going to be a bad thing pretty much all the time.
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Webplodder
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Webplodder »

Eduk wrote:Prejudice is by definition a bad thing. Tackling prejudice is by definition a good goal. Your method (and how well you execute that method) for attacking prejudice is going to define if you ultimately cause more harm than good. I kind of think a heartfelt, genuine, serious attempt to help stop prejudice is going to be a good thing pretty much all the time. Whereas a lazy, insincere, hypocritical attempt to stop prejudice is going to be a bad thing pretty much all the time.
What bothers me is that people can be well-meaning about equality for everyone until it threatens their own interests. It is very easy to give lip service for change in society but when it comes to 'walking the walk' things can be very different.

I think it's probably true also that there are plenty of people who are in a minority group that are equally as prejudiced as those that are not. Humans beings - what can you do?
Eduk
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Eduk »

Absolutely, being told not to be prejudiced by someone who is prejudiced is never going to work out :)
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Eaglerising
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Re: Ideal approach to solving society's problems

Post by Eaglerising »

Judaka – You asked a very difficult question which is good because it causes us to examine it rather than automatically or mechanically respond to it.

Experience has allowed the “observant” to see that silence and constantly talking about it are counterproductive. “Observant” meaning non-judgmental observation. Not talking about it is denial. Constantly talking about it is a form of denial because it deflects our attention away from the problem. Both prevent us from seeing the problem is us, instead of something other than us.

Today, most people blame the gridlock in Washington on the politicians in Washington. In turn this prevents us from seeing they are no different than us and that we elected them because they reflected our values. We are unable to see they are a reflection of us because we don’t understand everyone serves as a mirror and we haven’t examined ourselves.

We need a mirror in order to see ourselves and we can only recognize what is contained within us. We are able to recognize anger in others because it resides within us. We are unaware of the anger within ourselves because we blame someone or something for making us angry when we become angry. We don’t understand their behavior demonstrates and/or stimulates the anger that is contained within us. Likewise, we don’t see it when we get angry for making a mistake or doing something dumb.

Mahatma Gandhi said and exemplified, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
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