Above is the title of a column in the New York Times (really) by Jesse Singal, who has been labeled a “woke-skeptical progressive” by the editor of The American Conservative who published another of Mr. Singal’s articles, DEI Training: Harmful, Phony and Expensive.
In the two articles (sorry I cannot provide a link to the NYT article at this time), the author points out that there are no studies that show such “training” (otherwise known as propaganda) is of any value. In effect, businesses are spending billions on useless classes while hoping to starve off lawsuits from activist and wishing that such dollars might buy them some good will. Such classes have spawned lawsuits against the companies by some of the forced participants.
The problem with DEI is that it comes decades too late and is hardly equitable. Firstly, by the time any rational human being enters the workspace, his/her family, educational, and social experiences have set them up with a certain mind set. They may think of themselves as fair individuals or as victims, as openminded or as having a firm set of opinions on any given topic. Individuals may or may not change as they progress in life, as they interact with individuals with different backgrounds, religions, political views, etc. but few respond well to forced self-examination. It use to be called “brain-washing”.
Secondly, such courses do not foster equity for they are one sided. They act as a gun aimed at one group of participants and any attempt by one of those participants to object or offer a counter opinion only leads for further accusations. In effect that individual is singled out as an example of someone who does not even realize how incorrect is their outlook on life. No one wants to be a poster boy for the negative whether deserved or not.
In effect, one group of people who have their lives guided by such ideals or rules like importance of being on time, or good spelling, believing one plus one always equals two, etc., are seen as the worse kind of individuals. By respecting the yes, “rules” of a successful society, they are labeled as the worse type of person. Is there any wonder that they sit there, put in their required time, and then walk away perhaps being harder in their attitude than before?
Please right click on the block below and click on “open link in new window” for access to the article in The American Conservative. Here is a rational voice in the wilderness but let us hope they are only the first in what shall be a growing tide.
