DEI IN THE WORKPLACE

The Risks Are Huge

Professional standards matter, to our lives, our health and our safety.  But are there any standards anymore?  I saw a drop in standards often in my career in IT.  Though one hoped that didn’t lead to disasters, it did always mean more work for the competent of any race (typically ones not hired through DEI). 

Aviation

Hey @united

On July 29, a United plane was nearly totaled after a hard landing. 

Who was flying that aircraft?  Was the co-pilot a former flight attendant who was FIRED and then rehired through United’s DEI program despite being on a list to not return to United?

Am I correct…Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 5, 2024

In an additional tweet, she accused the co-pilot of also having possibly been a DEI hire. 

Look:  Was the #2 at the Denver hiring center also onboarded through DEI? Did she or did she not change fail grades for DEI hires because “it makes the numbers look bad”?

Did the instructor who failed this co-pilot ask corporate why they passed him?  — Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 5, 2024

Jan 5, 2024

@elonmusk Replying to @stclairashley and @united

If true, this put a lot of lives at risk

Ashley St. Clair

@stclairashley

Wish it wasn’t & far from the only instance. Lots of very concerning corners being cut with DEI at United…

Starting to get scared yet?  As the wife of a pilot, I’m very aware of the rigorous training and testing pilots get, not just when they’re hired, but every year.  They also (captains) get medically-certified twice a year.  But what if you can’t trust that?  Feel like getting in airplane in a few years, where the senior, non-DEI-hires start retiring? 

Medicine

We think only the best and brightest achieve an MD, but is that true anymore?  There is always a risk that existing doctors may no longer be competent, due to drug or alcohol use or failing health.  But now, given rampant grade inflation and other cut corners, are our med school graduates coming out less qualified? 

The demand for new doctors is rising, as many older doctors retire due to age (of course), but also because the demands of the regulatory state and the costs of malpractice insurance rise.  Those we count on for our very lives were told to follow Fauci’s insane orders during Covid and are now being told they must “transition” children, abort late-stage pregnancies and no longer offer off-label or older medicines, even when they work far better than any new compound. 

Law

There are good attorneys and bad ones.  We know this.  But what if your attorney is a DEI-hire AND they do a bad job?  How do you ask for an appeal without being accused of racism?  The demand to support proportionality in professions has led to defiance in keeping the less competent or incompetent from being dismissed. 

Especially if you are poor, you may not have a choice in lawyers, even as your life and liberty are at stake.  Can we afford to lower standards simply to increase proportionality?

Car & Home Repair

When we get appliances or cars fixed, we assume that the people working know what they are doing.  (Same for those fixing airplanes, right?)  But what if they don’t?  Rewiring badly can burn your house down.  Making other mistakes could lead to poisoned air.  Bad brake job – you’ll lose your life in a crash, possibly killing others. 

Solution

Having equal standards for all ensures us the quality we pay for and deserve.  While people who aren’t able to meet those standards for some professions may not damage us as profoundly as the above-mentioned cases, let’s not forget that one group of people ARE damaged: the more competent, able ones who didn’t get the job to balance the numbers.  All of this posturing is as stupid as deciding that short people should have a heightened chance of playing for the NBA. 

The way to increase opportunity (not outcomes) is to focus on completely revamping our school system.  First, we need to hold teachers and school districts to standards.  Kids will learn, but they need to be held to high standards and not told that any solution to a math problem is fine.  They shine under challenges.  Increase competition and give vouchers to EVERY student so that parents choose the schools. Either our public schools will improve or they will be driven out by the excellent competition (and more) that already exists.

Shrink class size only for kids that are struggling.  I did fine in classes of 30-35. Save the best teachers for these kids, to get them up to grade level.  And never consider anything less than a 95% at grade level statistic acceptable.

Next, stop pretending every child needs a college education.  Not every child (whatever color, sex, etc.) belongs there and many jobs now requiring a degree can’t actually defend that requirement.  Also, the fast track to success can be achieved in the trades, a great place for many…and much needed. 

Don’t try to fill in the gaps in learning by lowering standards.  Remember—people do usually know.  It does them no favor (and is, in fact, racist) to hold people to a lower standard.  Doing so doesn’t really help them, diversity per se without competence hurts everyone else and, in the end, we all lose.