You're suggesting that the public sector is incapable of racial/ethnic/gender discrimination?

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That information is classified and to be given only on a need-to-know basis...

And I do not need to know.

I'm suggesting it's much easier to police for racial/ethnic/gender discrimination.

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What's this i hear bed? Word has it you and Pam are sleeping together.

Well, that would be true if we could always trust the government to enforce equal opportunity. However, the government could just as easily enforce bigotry and there would be nothing private individuals who were not bigoted could do about it.

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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)

The government could enforce racism but that's democracy for you. If however a government wants to get rid of racism then it makes a lot of sense for them to directly get involved with hiring practice. Of course it being easier to police relies on government being local and accountable to the people, meaning a complaint about racism will a complaint that's heard.

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What's this i hear bed? Word has it you and Pam are sleeping together.

Well, the problem with that would be that if private citizens became, on average, less prejudiced than government officials, they would be powerless to make further social progress because of the government, and in practice government officials don't always carry out the will of the people.

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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)

Your forgetting that citizens can decide who makes up there government, the people cannot decide who owns a racist corporation. If the government ever was more racist than the society it represented then the community could kick the current government out a put a new and less racist one in place.

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What's this i hear bed? Word has it you and Pam are sleeping together.

True, but government officials don't always do what the people want them to do because they are swayed by special interest groups. Eventually, such groups (which include corporations) control both major parties such that the people have no real voice on some of the most important issues. Perhaps if elections were reformed, then more direct government solutions could be considered.

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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)

Local government. It stops two major parties taking over as local elections are always far more split and fought on some issues that a party line alone just doesn't cut. You nationalize so corporations don't exist to try and sway anyone and you keep government accountable to the people so they have to listen.

Everythings fixed by decentralizing away from the government and the corporations.

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What's this i hear bed? Word has it you and Pam are sleeping together.

Use a discrimination program like Affirmative Action to fix a discrimination problem. Yeah right! Just read what Martin Luther King said. He wanted a day that no man would be judged because of the color of his skin.

Who will decide when the goal is reached? Answer no one. Once a federal program starts no one wants to say it has done it's job and end it. What the hell will you do with all those white do-gooders that are employed by the government administering this program?

I am for affirmative action as a short-term success plan. I believe women and minorities need to have the same proportion of jobs. This if simply enacted as a principal would be grand if it were in a utopian society. However, some men are more qualified than some women and visa-versa. That is where the road gets tricky. Obviously, women need an equal playing field yet they needn't be discriminated against by AA by simply shoeing them in. Overall, I support affirmative action until racial equality is met. Women and minorities need a boost in today's society of hatred yet it is increasingly difficult to apply AA.

The government could give some tax breaks for companies that follow the book. However, there also need to be higher opprotunities for women and minorities. Luckily, many women and minorities already are making gains in the white-collar business sector. AA has many valued principles but it needs to be upheld to ensure some degree of equality.

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"There is nothing wrong with America that can't be cured by what's right with America" William Jefferson Clinton