Saturday, April 19, 2008
Expelled
I was fortunate last night to be able to see Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". It is exciting that the issue of Intelligent Design in higher education is now in the national spotlight. Granted, as Stein points out in the movie, the media is slanted toward the Darwinist side, so this probably will not get as much coverage as a Michael Moore film. I read some reviews on it already, and almost all of them said the film was poorly made, created poor arguments, and wasn't that funny. This behavior from reviewers is exactly the point that Stein made in "Expelled". There is a wall in the middle of society that is trying to keep people from seeing (just seeing, not believing) the theory of intelligent design. I thought Stein did a great, not perfect, job on this film and applaud him for taking on the establishment of the scientific community that has excommunicated anyone who even mentions that intelligent design is worth discussing.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Salmon Days
My accountancy professor told us about "Salmon Days":
"It's when you swim upstream all day only to get screwed and die."
"It's when you swim upstream all day only to get screwed and die."
Friday, April 11, 2008
I Was Semi-Featured in a Newspaper Article!!!
Last night I was invited to a pro-Affirmative Action forum after I posted a piece supporting the abolition of AA on a pro-AA Facebook page. I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak out against the AA cause, or rather, support Ward Connerly's initiative to get the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) on the ballot this fall. Unfortunately I was one of only two people who said ANYTHING against affirmative action. It would have made for better discussion had more supporters of Connerly been there, but I'm glad I was there to voice a dissenting opinion. You can look at the MoCRI initiative here. Here's a bit of the article from the Columbia Missourian:
The discussion Thursday in the Life Sciences building, organized by the Missing Minority Campaign, was designed to open dialogue between those for and opposed to the initiative. In a crowd of over 50 people, however, only two supporters of the initiative may have been the only ones to attend. Michael Alexander, an MU student, said he didn’t feel overwhelmed about stating his position in a room full of opposition. He said he wants to reach the same goal of equality, but has a different strategy.
Alexander said he doesn’t believe a race-based scholarship can fix some social disadvantages minorities face, such as inadequate schools. Additionally, whites shouldn’t be overlooked because they lack the color to be considered for a certain scholarship.
“It should have nothing to do with the color of your skin,” he said.
Antonio Williams of By Any Means Necessary said he believes minorities need affirmative action for the same reason Alexander opposes it.
Williams said that minorities need additional help because they are often given inferior education. He is a high school student with a 3.5 grade point average, but scored a 15 on the ACT. (The rest of the article is here
I quoted Martin Luther King Jr. to the group to show how twisted their view is on this issue. MLK said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Needless to say, that ticked off quite a few people that I used MLK's words against the AA cause. But, would MLK REALLY want blacks to get preferential treatment because of their skin color? No way! He was opposing the use of skin color to be used for ANY decision, whether it be a cause for discrimination or promotion.
The discussion Thursday in the Life Sciences building, organized by the Missing Minority Campaign, was designed to open dialogue between those for and opposed to the initiative. In a crowd of over 50 people, however, only two supporters of the initiative may have been the only ones to attend. Michael Alexander, an MU student, said he didn’t feel overwhelmed about stating his position in a room full of opposition. He said he wants to reach the same goal of equality, but has a different strategy.
Alexander said he doesn’t believe a race-based scholarship can fix some social disadvantages minorities face, such as inadequate schools. Additionally, whites shouldn’t be overlooked because they lack the color to be considered for a certain scholarship.
“It should have nothing to do with the color of your skin,” he said.
Antonio Williams of By Any Means Necessary said he believes minorities need affirmative action for the same reason Alexander opposes it.
Williams said that minorities need additional help because they are often given inferior education. He is a high school student with a 3.5 grade point average, but scored a 15 on the ACT. (The rest of the article is here
I quoted Martin Luther King Jr. to the group to show how twisted their view is on this issue. MLK said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Needless to say, that ticked off quite a few people that I used MLK's words against the AA cause. But, would MLK REALLY want blacks to get preferential treatment because of their skin color? No way! He was opposing the use of skin color to be used for ANY decision, whether it be a cause for discrimination or promotion.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
In Response to Missing Minority Campaign Rallies
I'm pretty sure that the reason everyone likes the idea of affirmative action is that it "creates equality" among races. This is an honorable goal. However, how do we best get "equality" among races? The only way this happens is if we become metaphorically colorblind and DO NOT take into consideration skin tone.
Thus, by affirmatively acting in favor of one person over another only because of skin color is only furthering the problem. Racial utopia will exist the day that whoever is MOST QUALIFIED for any position/scholarship/etc receives that position/scholarship/etc...REGARDLESS of race.
But, it is true that there is a disproportionate amount of unqualified minorities compared to qualified whites (the American majority). To fix this problem, it would be silly to put unqualified minorities in a position to fail, when someone qualified (regardless of race) could succeed. What needs to happen is that we need to fix the ROOT of the problem. Affirmative action is simply a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
The permanent solution would be to fix the K-12 education of minorities. One of the most fundamental rules of economics is that people respond to incentives; this is how America got where it is. If you tell someone that if they work hard, they can reap rewards, they will work much harder. Thus, if minority schools were offered greater funding in reward for higher standardized test grades, then I guarantee that the education and well-being of minorities would rise drastically. If we took this approach, affirmative action would be unnecessary because minorities would be just as prepared as whites for positions that they are applying for.
So, Ward Connerly (who is trying to eliminate affirmative action in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Missouri) might just be on your side and you don’t even know it. His intention is probably to HELP minorities by eliminating affirmative action. It’s not just to beat minorities down. I just think everyone needs to think this through before they decide affirmative action is the way to fix racial issues.
Thus, by affirmatively acting in favor of one person over another only because of skin color is only furthering the problem. Racial utopia will exist the day that whoever is MOST QUALIFIED for any position/scholarship/etc receives that position/scholarship/etc...REGARDLESS of race.
But, it is true that there is a disproportionate amount of unqualified minorities compared to qualified whites (the American majority). To fix this problem, it would be silly to put unqualified minorities in a position to fail, when someone qualified (regardless of race) could succeed. What needs to happen is that we need to fix the ROOT of the problem. Affirmative action is simply a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
The permanent solution would be to fix the K-12 education of minorities. One of the most fundamental rules of economics is that people respond to incentives; this is how America got where it is. If you tell someone that if they work hard, they can reap rewards, they will work much harder. Thus, if minority schools were offered greater funding in reward for higher standardized test grades, then I guarantee that the education and well-being of minorities would rise drastically. If we took this approach, affirmative action would be unnecessary because minorities would be just as prepared as whites for positions that they are applying for.
So, Ward Connerly (who is trying to eliminate affirmative action in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Missouri) might just be on your side and you don’t even know it. His intention is probably to HELP minorities by eliminating affirmative action. It’s not just to beat minorities down. I just think everyone needs to think this through before they decide affirmative action is the way to fix racial issues.
In Response to Missing Minority Campaign Rallies
I'm pretty sure that the reason everyone likes the idea of affirmative action is that it "creates equality" among races. This is an honorable goal. However, how do we best get "equality" among races? The only way this happens is if we become metaphorically colorblind and DO NOT take into consideration skin tone.
Thus, by affirmatively acting in favor of one person over another only because of skin color is only furthering the problem. Racial utopia will exist the day that whoever is MOST QUALIFIED for any position/scholarship/etc receives that position/scholarship/etc...REGARDLESS of race.
But, it is true that there is a disproportionate amount of unqualified minorities compared to qualified whites (the American majority). To fix this problem, it would be silly to put unqualified minorities in a position to fail, when someone qualified (regardless of race) could succeed. What needs to happen is that we need to fix the ROOT of the problem. Affirmative action is simply a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
The permanent solution would be to fix the K-12 education of minorities. One of the most fundamental rules of economics is that people respond to incentives; this is how America got where it is. If you tell someone that if they work hard, they can reap rewards, they will work much harder. Thus, if minority schools were offered greater funding in reward for higher standardized test grades, then I guarantee that the education and well-being of minorities would rise drastically. If we took this approach, affirmative action would be unnecessary because minorities would be just as prepared as whites for positions that they are applying for.
So, Ward Connerly (who is trying to eliminate affirmative action in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Missouri) might just be on your side and you don’t even know it. His intention is probably to HELP minorities by eliminating affirmative action. It’s not just to beat minorities down. I just think everyone needs to think this through before they decide affirmative action is the way to fix racial issues.
Thus, by affirmatively acting in favor of one person over another only because of skin color is only furthering the problem. Racial utopia will exist the day that whoever is MOST QUALIFIED for any position/scholarship/etc receives that position/scholarship/etc...REGARDLESS of race.
But, it is true that there is a disproportionate amount of unqualified minorities compared to qualified whites (the American majority). To fix this problem, it would be silly to put unqualified minorities in a position to fail, when someone qualified (regardless of race) could succeed. What needs to happen is that we need to fix the ROOT of the problem. Affirmative action is simply a temporary solution to a permanent problem.
The permanent solution would be to fix the K-12 education of minorities. One of the most fundamental rules of economics is that people respond to incentives; this is how America got where it is. If you tell someone that if they work hard, they can reap rewards, they will work much harder. Thus, if minority schools were offered greater funding in reward for higher standardized test grades, then I guarantee that the education and well-being of minorities would rise drastically. If we took this approach, affirmative action would be unnecessary because minorities would be just as prepared as whites for positions that they are applying for.
So, Ward Connerly (who is trying to eliminate affirmative action in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Missouri) might just be on your side and you don’t even know it. His intention is probably to HELP minorities by eliminating affirmative action. It’s not just to beat minorities down. I just think everyone needs to think this through before they decide affirmative action is the way to fix racial issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
