I have heard about free market solutions, but while they work on many problems, race and gender discrimination aren't among them. If they did, workplace discrimination would be easily solved. In truth, people who discriminate, both consciously and unconsciously, put their prejudices ahead of money. The best example that I can think of is the segregation of baseball. I have studied a good deal about it. How much would it have benefited Major League teams financially to hire Josh Gibson, who once hit a 704-foot home run, or to have hired Satchel Paige in his prime? Obviously, discriminatory attitudes were put in front of profits.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

But the government never became involved in the MLB race issue. The free market did solve that problem, as well is it was going to be solved. Branch Rickey didn't love Black people. He brought Jackie Robinson in because he wanted to win. Whether it's baseball or IBM, if you exclude better talent long enough, your operation will falter or fail.

I tend to choose people to work for me based on how qualified they are, but also based on how well I believe they'll fit into my group and work with me. Two of the key people who assist me now are women. I inherited them from the previous manager, but they do a fine job. But the makeup of the workplace is not my problem. I have a stellar performance record over my career. Anyone who has enough time to pick employees based on race or gender these days is a failure waiting to happen. I can only put it this way, if I made a business decision (that was NOT discriminatory) and was forced to choose someone else (based on their race or gender), the person that "stole" the job would regret the day they got it - I would see to that. I don't have to overtly hurt you. All I have to do is not tell you something. Mentors are what help get you to the top in business. I had a good one years ago. The people you're describing would likely have to swim the shark infested waters all by their lonesome... and a great number of them would likely fail.

Just as I think Bush's foray into the Middle East has helped to create terrorists out of fence-sitters, I think this would help to create a class of resentful managers.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

Well, part of what lead me to this idea is the fact that rich white male Democrats have been failing miserably in ending workplace inequality. If the whole system were put in the hands of women and minorities in workplaces and colleges, I think that they would better be able to solve their problems than the people in Washington DC. Some women and minorities have such a strong sense of self-reliance that they would opt out of the program. While I respect that, I still think that there should be something in place to help women and minorities who have to work ten times as hard to get one tenth the recognition. If my ideas are impracticable, do you have a better solution? Part of being a "centrist", as I call myself, is being open to new ideas. Just as I'd support any economic plan that would achieve the principle of maximin, I'd support any idea that would significantly reduce discrimination.

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

My job is to gather & analyze data and propose solutions. At that point, I decide if there is a problem or just a perception of a problem - and the cost to the organization caused by that problem. A perception is not always a measureable problem. But that's what the data should tell us. As far as solutions, that all depends on the root cause of the problem. If we don't know what causes the problem, how can we develop a lasting solution(s)?

Is workplace job discrimination a problem? Maybe, but I have no data to make that call. We've debated back and forth, assuming that it is - but I don't know that it is. But assuming that it is, and assuming that some sort of root cause analysis has been done, I would never support turning a full management function over to interested employees. That would be akin to allowing employees to decide their own raises.

I have to admit to you, my faith in mankind is not very high. I don't trust females anymore than I do males. I don't trust Blacks anymore than I do Whites. I don't trust Jews anymore than I do Gentiles. I would simply let this follow its natural course, unless I found data to confirm that this was a measureable problem for the organization. It very well might be some sort of social issue. But I do not believe in social engineering, past the point of passing and enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

But again, before any further solution could be proposed, the root cause of the problem (if there is a problem) would have to be known. Otherwise, you're likely just treating a symptom.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

This highlights the problem for minorities:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104716.html

This highlights the problem for women:

Real median earnings of men age 15 and older who worked full-time, year-round declined 2.3 percent between 2003 and 2004, to $40,798. Women with similar work experience saw their earnings decline by 1.0 percent, to $31,223. Reflecting the larger fall in the earnings of men, the ratio of female-to-male earnings for full-time, year-round workers was 77 cents on the dollar, up from 76 cents in 2003.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/...th/005647.html

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"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)

why would one assume a simple answer to a complex question will work?

Albert Einstein