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PaperclipPerfector  14d ago (text post)   28438 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 6, 2025

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As these companies continue to move away from DEI, and if it becomes increasingly apparent to the general public that it didn't work, how will the vocal proponents, like Mark Cuban, attempt to shift the narrative to avoid admitting they were wrong? The most surprising outcome is someone like him admitting fault, or that he was mistaken. My guess is that it will be some combination of "It wasn't properly implemented." or "It works perfectly fine where I invested." or "People didn't give it the chance it deserved."

Whatever the case, I suspect the Mea Culpas will be few and far between, and the deflections will be many. These people are masters of self-preservation.

Look at what happened after COVID: influential people who get things wrong don't admit they were wrong. They instead avoid the whole subject, act confused when you bring it up, and pivot to the next serious person thing.

That is --- unless the law. I imagine that thousands of white male tech workers will have good cases for suing FAANG companies for a decade of bigotry.

Indeed, I suspect that this is the real reason for the pivot. A Harris appointed AG wouldn't allow such cases to go forward but a Trump appointec one...

There are a lot things (DEI programs among them) that are deeply unpopular and in some cases blantanly illegal based on a plain reading of the law that only persist because they are fashionable amongst the priestly class. The priestly class looks after its own, which is how Alvin Bragg is able to talk on national TV about how his office absolutely considers a potential defendants' political leanings and racial identity when deciding which cases to pursue without getting charged under title 18 section 241.

Indeed, one of the old Trump admin's final policies was to try to pursue discrimination complaints against anti-white discrimination.

That is --- unless the law. I imagine that thousands of white male tech workers will have good cases for suing FAANG companies for a decade of bigotry.

No. The rule is you don't have standing to sue unless you can demonstrate "but-for" discrimination. That is, you have to demonstrate that you, personally, would have been hired if it weren't for the discriminatory practice. This is a very high bar and the courts tend to require it before discovery. Both right-leaning and lefty courts apply this to discrimination against white males. Lefty courts are in effect far laxer when it comes to discrimination against minorities and women, and often the EEOC will help there as well.

"It wasn't working just because companies were doing it cynically for profit."

I wouldn't call Mark Cuban a true believer, but someone that panders to them. To the true believers their worldview implicitly or explicitly imagine capitalism as tainting ideals or progress as soon as it comes in contact with them, so it's easy to dismiss any negative result. It's not a proof through competition that their idea doesn't work, it's proof number 473935 that capitalism needs to go because it gets in the way of their ideas.

  1. Bunch of companies eliminate DEI

  2. Inevitably, some executive or employee will say or do something boneheaded, costing the company money

  3. Attribute that boneheadedness to the elimination of DEI

  4. Watch that anecdote spread like wildfire through media

I'm sure there will be infinite variations on "true communism DEI has never been tried".

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