Diversity Thursday is the reason why I started to routinely follow you over 5 yrs ago. We are taught this BS while the PLAN are taught how to actually fight.
Does any sane person believe that when we execute a "Security Cooperation" engagement with some African Country where 95% of their force is male (plus 3 nurses and 2 cooks helpers), that shifting the gender balance of our trainers to 50% women is going to increase knowledge transfer?
Marx believed that whoever controlled the economy would control the nation and its culture. His modern day followers - sometime referred to as the Frankfurt School - believe that whoever controlled the culture would control the nation and its economy. These modern day Marxists marched through the institutions beginning with churches, education, media and entertainment to the point they now control the military, government, financial institutions, courts and corporations. Ask your self how the nation of Ike became an Obama nation in one lifetime?
Obama, Trump, and Biden? Even then our erudite VP might be the peak achievement.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
"to each according to his needs" No, not so much that anymore. It's "to each according to his wants, his demands, what he is entitled to, what is rightfully his, as it used to be before it was stolen from him by the man." This is Gramsci's Marxism.
Mine too. I hate it when I dig into a well-written article and find my eyes starting to gloss over from emotional & spiritual fatigue and then find my self guiltily skimming instead reading to absorb every morsel and nugget as I should. I'm no expert, but I think I am getting PTSD from Woke War on Sanity. You can be sure this PTSD variant will never get cataloged in the next iteration of the DSM. I just hope when my own personal freefall ends, that I hit something worthy of my body mass. Got plenty of kinetic energy potential at an eighth of ton. Yeah, I'll go out with a whimper and a bang.
I believe it was always so, we just did not have 24/7/365 coverage everywhere in our hands to bring the situation to light.
FDR was a polio victim Propped up in braces for the TV, Reagan was at the end suffering from Dementia, Bush was a Texas RINO, Obama Half and half but claimed only one half.
Carter was way out of his depth.
Jackson was a racist genocidal killer, Lincoln was a fool and Jefferson Davis was a democrat Traitor.
This is the type of super-heated rhetoric which is destroying liberty. Exactly, what Washington and Hamilton warned us would happen if we fell into partisanship.
Commies, as you should know, believe in the confiscation of all private property. The handful of communists in the US are subject to universal mocking and derision. It is possible to have differences of opinion about policy, without being insulted. Some of us on the left gave up a considerable portion of their youth in violent opposition to communism. "Commie" is an epithet that will get you punched in the face when said within striking distance of the wrong person. Is it really a proper term for the President of the United States?
Yes, it is rhetoric, Tom. Super-heated? Not so much. Standing by idly while the sappers are destroying liberty is far worse. Commies are good at re-branding, stealth and obfuscation, but I think at their core their values have remained steadfast. Subvert, take power, keep power...by any means necessary. "Commie" is a catch-all label when I use it. Those who ignore our Constitution, are willing to fudge elections, line their pockets at the expense of our country, lie, cheat & steal, stir up racial and political hatreds...yup, commies. There are many things that could get me punched in the face. Being White, Christian, Pro-Life, being a registered Independent (former Republican), being middle class with a decent old age nest egg, being a Boomer, ex-military, short haircut, being pro-2A, wanting Law & Order that doesn't pander to low-lifes, calling out someone who jumps line at Popeye's Chicken, wearing a MAGA hat (I don't). Using the catch-all "commie" is small potatoes. Nah, I think "commie scoundrel" was pretty specific. Doesn't take a sharp eye to spot one in 2023. IMO those who get triggered by the word either have just gotten their gong accurately rang or are, perhaps, the victims of collateral damage owing to poor marksmanship. If I ever slander someone with that label, I'll apologize. I don't know you well enough to slap that label on you, Tom, and I wouldn't because I respect the Commander's substack and the decorum herein. And I seldom slap labels on people unless a D-Bag jumps ahead of me for fried chicken. Peace.
There is so much to be sad about in both of these papers, but one quote stood out for me:
"In addition, does the partner nation have the capacity to absorb an influx of women? Are there barracks? How would uniforms be adjusted to accommodate physical differences between men and women? How robust is the sexual assault prevention program? What type of policies does the partner nation have regarding pregnancy and childbirth? Without serious considerations of these types of issues, any program focused on gender balancing will fail in the long run."
Every bit of this Adds COST and NO VALUE to the military goals of killing people, breaking things, and then keeping everyone secure in place. Only spoiled rich countries with no active (and recognized) threats will entertain wasting money on this crap.
We are no longer a serious nation, and we are likely to be bloodied badly by the army that has crossed our Southern boarder over the past 15 years
Makes me wish the draft was back and that I could jimmy who gets selected and who doesn't get an exemption. At this point I am pretty sure that if I were to wrestle with my conscience, I could win. I fiddled with the draft in 1965 by dodging it. Joined at 17 to confound my draft board. Figure I owe them. Draft me too. Make me a Senior Chief again. Give me Swalwell, Shumer, Nadler, Pelosi, Occasional-Cortex, Joy Behar and that guy who effed up Bud Lite.
The Draft board sent me and my Mom a stern letter informing us that I was forcibly inducted into the Military for not registering for the draft at 18, I was 19 at the time and in Vietnam after joining the Marines at 17.
Mom didn't want to sign the permission papers for me to join at 17. But she finally relented after extracting two promises from me. 1. That I would never get a tattoo. Never did. Thank you, mom. She passed away in 2020 at 97 still holding me to my word. 2. That I get a high school diploma. Got a GED in 1966 while attending Radarman Class "A" School. In 1979 when mom was attending my graduation from Chaminade University in Hawaii she said that a BGS in Humanities was better than a high school diploma. That reminded me that I hadn't yet fulfilled that promise. I applied for and got a high school diploma from Hawaii. Glad to see some fellow draft dodgers here. (USN 138-68-18)
"Diversity is our strength" has to die. You can't end discrimination with more discrimination.
This is a great article and much needed. Women (properly defined) CAN do much of what men can do. But why waste them and and their time on things that men can do. Women are too valuable to society to not employ them in the most useful way. I recall one of the Scandinavian countries trying to balance gender roles and they were not able because people wanted to do what they wanted to do. Our Military should not be a socialogical experiment for people who are mentally ill. We need to be able to efficiently break things and kill people. This just another example of the DEI crap that has affected our society.
Diversity is our strength. Our polyglot nation is blessed with a diversity of human capital, capable of engaging in trade and commerce with anyone in the world. Our free market system allows anyone to participate in the economic life of the nation. Our system of free market economics has lead to flourishing in the arts and sciences the likes of which the world has never seen. Americans are diverse in our languages. We are diverse in the religions we practice. And, we are diverse in the way we raise our families. Our system encourages diversity by prohibiting government interference in our lives.
" Our system encourages diversity by prohibiting government interference in our lives."
I had to laugh at that...pure fantasy. I will forward you a few hundred of the job applications I fill out every year that make CRYSTAL clear color of your skin and
Gender are ABSOLUTELY what the state and corporate elites obsessed over and
make sure you are NOT white or admit you are male....
“Diversity is our strength”. Gee Tom, you sound like a 20 something year old white girl who attended all white boarding schools. But good to see you weigh in on Diversity Thursday. You’re kind, whether it be socialist, communist, or Democrat, owns this topic.
Your comment is everything wrong with the United States. You put "socialist, communist, or Democrat" together, like they are the same thing. You've been brainwashed to think that your fellow citizens, your neighbors, are bent on the destruction of the country we both love because they have slightly different political views.
Here's why it is so destructive. Many of us on the left think exactly as our host does on this subject. If the right is for order, and a strong government, the left is for freedom, and a strong individual. If you are an egalitarian leftist, as millions of us are, the idea of a quota is anathema. To the egalitarian, equal opportunity is the key, not equal outcomes. Instead of taking a moment, and trying to figure out what you have in common with folks, you want to call people who should be your allies, "communists."
What's the response to that? Obviously, "F.U., racist." And, the mud wrestling begins.
Meanwhile, the progressives, the real enemy of the egalitarian, is stealing a march on us both. Or as the seer put it, "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
I thought lazy white people were the problem with the United States? At least that is what you posted a year or two ago. I’d have too much fun treating your bullshit with the mocking it deserves, but even though Sal does a good job shining the light on the left’s bullshit every Thursday, he does seem to enforce a “hands off” policy on his token liberals here.
We have more than our share of lazy white people here in the United States. If you look at the rolls of whose sucking off the government teat, my folks lead the way.
You folks never bother to distinguish between liberals and progressives; much in the same way we lump the MAGA crowd in with the small government, free enterprise loving conservatives. Where Progressives and liberals walk the same path is in the idea that the US is a diverse, multi-cultural republic, where historically, and presently, some racial groups have unfairly treated others. Where we differ is what to do about it.
To a liberal, who believes in the primacy of the individual, having the central federal government deny worthy individuals opportunities because of their racial or religious background is not a legitimate goal. You are not going to end racial discrimination by engaging in racial discrimination.
Equal opportunity is the key. Our constitution demands it. Everybody should get a fair shot, without resort to "isms."
Quotas are not equal. They are discriminatory. You don't make up for two centuries of kicking folks in the teeth by kicking somebody else in the teeth. Just stop kicking people in the mouth.
The Darwinian nature of battle argues against these types of affirmative action quota based systems...when the bullets are flying downrange, they really don't care about your gender or politics, they care how you execute your battle plan (small unit to large) and how well you shoot back. It does matter, however, if you've ignored learning to shoot to take seminars on the correct pronoun or have recruited a bunch of people who aren't ready to run a few hundred yards under fire from cover to cover to bring defilade fire down on a position. Then...then...you get people killed.
Just a moment for Afghanistan. I did not, and do not, feel the same way about it that I did Saigon. We abandoned a lot of things on the Embassy roof in Saigon - and it was done not by us, but a portion of our government, making a waste and mockery of our blood and treasure. I can see how some might feel the same about Afghanistan, BUT they have never and will never have an advanced centralized authority or society - it will always be tribal. We weren't going to change that. To the extent we had done what we could do, hunted who we could hunt - or would hunt, based on limitations in attacking the tribal areas in Pakistan - and achieved whatever objectives we had beyond just endlessly sending raids and patrols into the countryside forever...it was time to come home.
So it was time to leave as there was no purpose without a much larger effort encompassing an entire region - which should have been done long ago, in a short time, at greater cost and energy - but it would have been over. Water under the bridge. But the decision to leave Afghanistan to itself was correct. The shame was in HOW IT WAS DONE, not the decision to leave. I attach THAT shame not to us, our nation, even our politics - but the nincompoops in charge of executing the operation. Anybody with half a brain, and an appreciation for disengaging from the enemy while in contact, knows how to collapse a perimeter to keep that kind of stuff from happening and executing an orderly withdrawal...not even under fire. That they so totally messed it up...didn't even really seem to care....is the shame of it. But it is THEIR shame, not ours.
Perhaps our doctoral level elite should spend a few years in the weeds of the environment they're trying to influence. No one should be working to influence a field that is only a mere set of abstract gender percentages. Ms. Bogacz for example? Pure academic. She needs to be sent to observe a staff that's dealing with a hot shooting environment. Give these people a few weeks in high stress, sleep deprived planning environment where they work the same hours.
It's time to temper abstract feel good policies with real world experience. Perhaps a few weeks on the frontlines of Ukraine.
Oh good gracious NO. Government is already borderline unrecognizable it is so filled with people like this.
I spent the first half of my career after the Corps on the Dark Side, the IC. I've been in self-imposed exile on the non nat-sec side for over a decade.
Both sides are riddled with senior managers who belong in the faculty lounge at Marxist liberal arts colleges.
Outside of pure-mission roles, EVERY federal agencies is dominated by SES level personnel who are 100% in lockstep with these ideals. HR, finance, general council, Inspector general, IT, 'business innovation', diversity, security, facilities, logistics, travel.
Most agencies have created so many "divisions" for administrivia, that 'mission' leaders are outnumbered 3-1 by equal position SES from the BS side.
And all those senior leaders need positions to get promoted to, and need formal training, so the pipeline is producing massive numbers of bureaucrat specialists in diversity lingo, and ignoring mission.
And eventually, mission gets run by the same people, since they hold all the top spots.
Look at all the Flag officers who never spent 1 day on the firing line. We were in some form of conflict every day for the last 22 years. How does one spend a career and reach flag without a combat command of some kind? Or without multiple ship command tours?
Read a few pages Sal. Looked at how long the piece is and decided from what you wrote that she is just another Karen who thinks every place with a few more men than women is discriminatory. Guess I missed if she had ever been deployed. Got no time for considering such nonsense. They could have all the military jobs for all I care as long as we stay safe. Go for it. We who’ve been there know the vast majority that do serve get out. Got recruiting?
It's a belief. You can't argue belief. You can't convince a Catholic to become a Buddhist or vice versa. No matter how many Communist regimes have failed and how many dead bodies are left in the wake, people still believe. Supposedly people sent to the Gulags by Comrade Stalin would say "if only Stalin knew..." He did know, he sent them there, they still believed.
People like the above will always put belief over reality. Very rarely do they have epiphanies and it's almost always self generated. The best you can hope for is to give them a nice desk or a corner office and ignore them. Very hard to do in modern times.
In an ideal world that would be the solution but in reality? Not so much. It's like when the boss's relative comes to work at the company. If they can do the job? Great! If not, well they aren't going anywhere so you have to find a minimal place. In a Fed Government job even worse. Difficult to fire if they aren't physically or mentally capable. Been there, seen it.
"Cassandra Benson teaches economics at the Air Force Academy. During a lecture given in January 2023, the Friday before Martin Luther King Day, she addressed minority cadets by their proper names but declared she would refer to white cadets by a number, since in her opinion, all white people look alike.
...The experience of White Boy #2 is not an isolated event; he has had to bear the brunt of other CRT related character attacks from superior officers. In a leadership class taught by Colonel Melissa Youderian, White Boy #2 was asked to explain his white privilege. In this version of a perp walk, what did the colonel expect him to say about a situation over which he has no control? To the young man’s credit, he explained that he, like all the other cadets in the room, was privileged to attend the Air Force Academy and have the opportunity to serve his country. The colonel remained unresponsive and incredulous but extracted vengeance by awarding his courage and forthrightness with a “C” grade in a class where performance is measured not by test scores but by whim."
Diversity Thursday is the reason why I started to routinely follow you over 5 yrs ago. We are taught this BS while the PLAN are taught how to actually fight.
Virtuoso performance here, Sal.
Does any sane person believe that when we execute a "Security Cooperation" engagement with some African Country where 95% of their force is male (plus 3 nurses and 2 cooks helpers), that shifting the gender balance of our trainers to 50% women is going to increase knowledge transfer?
Equity - six letter English word for "jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen".
Marx believed that whoever controlled the economy would control the nation and its culture. His modern day followers - sometime referred to as the Frankfurt School - believe that whoever controlled the culture would control the nation and its economy. These modern day Marxists marched through the institutions beginning with churches, education, media and entertainment to the point they now control the military, government, financial institutions, courts and corporations. Ask your self how the nation of Ike became an Obama nation in one lifetime?
Obama, Trump, and Biden? Even then our erudite VP might be the peak achievement.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
H.L. Mencken
"Democracy is the belief that the people know what's best for themselves, and deserve to get it good and hard".
I agree with Mencken.
BTW, equity means payback not equality.
"to each according to his needs" No, not so much that anymore. It's "to each according to his wants, his demands, what he is entitled to, what is rightfully his, as it used to be before it was stolen from him by the man." This is Gramsci's Marxism.
My heading is spinning after reading today's column. America sounds like a nation in freefall.
Mine too. I hate it when I dig into a well-written article and find my eyes starting to gloss over from emotional & spiritual fatigue and then find my self guiltily skimming instead reading to absorb every morsel and nugget as I should. I'm no expert, but I think I am getting PTSD from Woke War on Sanity. You can be sure this PTSD variant will never get cataloged in the next iteration of the DSM. I just hope when my own personal freefall ends, that I hit something worthy of my body mass. Got plenty of kinetic energy potential at an eighth of ton. Yeah, I'll go out with a whimper and a bang.
America is now run by the worst and the dimmest.
I believe it was always so, we just did not have 24/7/365 coverage everywhere in our hands to bring the situation to light.
FDR was a polio victim Propped up in braces for the TV, Reagan was at the end suffering from Dementia, Bush was a Texas RINO, Obama Half and half but claimed only one half.
Carter was way out of his depth.
Jackson was a racist genocidal killer, Lincoln was a fool and Jefferson Davis was a democrat Traitor.
The list is large.
I dunno. If we are going to be plagued by scoundrels, give me a straight ticket of old school scoundrels rather than a commie scoundrel.
I agree.
A "commie?" Really?
This is the type of super-heated rhetoric which is destroying liberty. Exactly, what Washington and Hamilton warned us would happen if we fell into partisanship.
Commies, as you should know, believe in the confiscation of all private property. The handful of communists in the US are subject to universal mocking and derision. It is possible to have differences of opinion about policy, without being insulted. Some of us on the left gave up a considerable portion of their youth in violent opposition to communism. "Commie" is an epithet that will get you punched in the face when said within striking distance of the wrong person. Is it really a proper term for the President of the United States?
Yes, it is rhetoric, Tom. Super-heated? Not so much. Standing by idly while the sappers are destroying liberty is far worse. Commies are good at re-branding, stealth and obfuscation, but I think at their core their values have remained steadfast. Subvert, take power, keep power...by any means necessary. "Commie" is a catch-all label when I use it. Those who ignore our Constitution, are willing to fudge elections, line their pockets at the expense of our country, lie, cheat & steal, stir up racial and political hatreds...yup, commies. There are many things that could get me punched in the face. Being White, Christian, Pro-Life, being a registered Independent (former Republican), being middle class with a decent old age nest egg, being a Boomer, ex-military, short haircut, being pro-2A, wanting Law & Order that doesn't pander to low-lifes, calling out someone who jumps line at Popeye's Chicken, wearing a MAGA hat (I don't). Using the catch-all "commie" is small potatoes. Nah, I think "commie scoundrel" was pretty specific. Doesn't take a sharp eye to spot one in 2023. IMO those who get triggered by the word either have just gotten their gong accurately rang or are, perhaps, the victims of collateral damage owing to poor marksmanship. If I ever slander someone with that label, I'll apologize. I don't know you well enough to slap that label on you, Tom, and I wouldn't because I respect the Commander's substack and the decorum herein. And I seldom slap labels on people unless a D-Bag jumps ahead of me for fried chicken. Peace.
We do have parachutes, The Constitution and if that one doesn't open wide we have a little one by our side.
We all know what that one is.
[reaches for the Fourth Box of liberty]
There is so much to be sad about in both of these papers, but one quote stood out for me:
"In addition, does the partner nation have the capacity to absorb an influx of women? Are there barracks? How would uniforms be adjusted to accommodate physical differences between men and women? How robust is the sexual assault prevention program? What type of policies does the partner nation have regarding pregnancy and childbirth? Without serious considerations of these types of issues, any program focused on gender balancing will fail in the long run."
Every bit of this Adds COST and NO VALUE to the military goals of killing people, breaking things, and then keeping everyone secure in place. Only spoiled rich countries with no active (and recognized) threats will entertain wasting money on this crap.
We are no longer a serious nation, and we are likely to be bloodied badly by the army that has crossed our Southern boarder over the past 15 years
Send these folks to the Frontline in Ukraine. The shift from the office environment might do them some good.
Concur!
Makes me wish the draft was back and that I could jimmy who gets selected and who doesn't get an exemption. At this point I am pretty sure that if I were to wrestle with my conscience, I could win. I fiddled with the draft in 1965 by dodging it. Joined at 17 to confound my draft board. Figure I owe them. Draft me too. Make me a Senior Chief again. Give me Swalwell, Shumer, Nadler, Pelosi, Occasional-Cortex, Joy Behar and that guy who effed up Bud Lite.
The Draft board sent me and my Mom a stern letter informing us that I was forcibly inducted into the Military for not registering for the draft at 18, I was 19 at the time and in Vietnam after joining the Marines at 17.
We LOL at that.
I got my notice when I was at Camp Severn.
Mom told them Her son would be glad to come home and join their Army LOL.
Excellent!
Mom didn't want to sign the permission papers for me to join at 17. But she finally relented after extracting two promises from me. 1. That I would never get a tattoo. Never did. Thank you, mom. She passed away in 2020 at 97 still holding me to my word. 2. That I get a high school diploma. Got a GED in 1966 while attending Radarman Class "A" School. In 1979 when mom was attending my graduation from Chaminade University in Hawaii she said that a BGS in Humanities was better than a high school diploma. That reminded me that I hadn't yet fulfilled that promise. I applied for and got a high school diploma from Hawaii. Glad to see some fellow draft dodgers here. (USN 138-68-18)
"I fiddled with the draft in 1965 by dodging it. Joined at 17 to confound my draft board."
Excellent!
I got my notice when I was at Camp Severn.
Universal military service would be good for the youth of this nation. Soft, weak, iron becomes sharpened steel in the blast furnace.
This: https://mises.org/wire/us-military-laying-groundwork-reinstitute-draft
"How robust is the sexual assault prevention program?"
Short of "you get handsy, you get shot", what would be acceptable?
So you've read Tom Kratman?
Possibly......
WOW, and if it's a LGBTQP who assaults you and you are a man?
I can hear the screaming now LOL
I almost cut that sentence from the quote, as it is a more valid point than the rest.
I'm actually OK with that solution except for the number of false accusations of which I am personally aware.
"Diversity is our strength" has to die. You can't end discrimination with more discrimination.
This is a great article and much needed. Women (properly defined) CAN do much of what men can do. But why waste them and and their time on things that men can do. Women are too valuable to society to not employ them in the most useful way. I recall one of the Scandinavian countries trying to balance gender roles and they were not able because people wanted to do what they wanted to do. Our Military should not be a socialogical experiment for people who are mentally ill. We need to be able to efficiently break things and kill people. This just another example of the DEI crap that has affected our society.
David,
Diversity is our strength. Our polyglot nation is blessed with a diversity of human capital, capable of engaging in trade and commerce with anyone in the world. Our free market system allows anyone to participate in the economic life of the nation. Our system of free market economics has lead to flourishing in the arts and sciences the likes of which the world has never seen. Americans are diverse in our languages. We are diverse in the religions we practice. And, we are diverse in the way we raise our families. Our system encourages diversity by prohibiting government interference in our lives.
Discrimination is the opposite of diversity.
Tom . How do we measure diversity? Color of skin? Gender?
PLEASE provide two examples of where "Diversity has been a strength" in an organization.
Basketball. Or any sport team. Fighting Force? University?
Merit, and competence should be what matters
as well as opportunity on a level playing field.
Diversity is discrimination.
" Our system encourages diversity by prohibiting government interference in our lives."
I had to laugh at that...pure fantasy. I will forward you a few hundred of the job applications I fill out every year that make CRYSTAL clear color of your skin and
Gender are ABSOLUTELY what the state and corporate elites obsessed over and
make sure you are NOT white or admit you are male....
“Diversity is our strength”. Gee Tom, you sound like a 20 something year old white girl who attended all white boarding schools. But good to see you weigh in on Diversity Thursday. You’re kind, whether it be socialist, communist, or Democrat, owns this topic.
You are right. We do. If folks would practice equality, instead of demanding equity, there would be no Diversity Thursdays.
Your comment is everything wrong with the United States. You put "socialist, communist, or Democrat" together, like they are the same thing. You've been brainwashed to think that your fellow citizens, your neighbors, are bent on the destruction of the country we both love because they have slightly different political views.
Here's why it is so destructive. Many of us on the left think exactly as our host does on this subject. If the right is for order, and a strong government, the left is for freedom, and a strong individual. If you are an egalitarian leftist, as millions of us are, the idea of a quota is anathema. To the egalitarian, equal opportunity is the key, not equal outcomes. Instead of taking a moment, and trying to figure out what you have in common with folks, you want to call people who should be your allies, "communists."
What's the response to that? Obviously, "F.U., racist." And, the mud wrestling begins.
Meanwhile, the progressives, the real enemy of the egalitarian, is stealing a march on us both. Or as the seer put it, "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
I thought lazy white people were the problem with the United States? At least that is what you posted a year or two ago. I’d have too much fun treating your bullshit with the mocking it deserves, but even though Sal does a good job shining the light on the left’s bullshit every Thursday, he does seem to enforce a “hands off” policy on his token liberals here.
We have more than our share of lazy white people here in the United States. If you look at the rolls of whose sucking off the government teat, my folks lead the way.
You folks never bother to distinguish between liberals and progressives; much in the same way we lump the MAGA crowd in with the small government, free enterprise loving conservatives. Where Progressives and liberals walk the same path is in the idea that the US is a diverse, multi-cultural republic, where historically, and presently, some racial groups have unfairly treated others. Where we differ is what to do about it.
To a liberal, who believes in the primacy of the individual, having the central federal government deny worthy individuals opportunities because of their racial or religious background is not a legitimate goal. You are not going to end racial discrimination by engaging in racial discrimination.
Equal opportunity is the key. Our constitution demands it. Everybody should get a fair shot, without resort to "isms."
Quotas are not equal. They are discriminatory. You don't make up for two centuries of kicking folks in the teeth by kicking somebody else in the teeth. Just stop kicking people in the mouth.
PLEASE provide two examples of where "Diversity has been a strength" in an organization.
The Darwinian nature of battle argues against these types of affirmative action quota based systems...when the bullets are flying downrange, they really don't care about your gender or politics, they care how you execute your battle plan (small unit to large) and how well you shoot back. It does matter, however, if you've ignored learning to shoot to take seminars on the correct pronoun or have recruited a bunch of people who aren't ready to run a few hundred yards under fire from cover to cover to bring defilade fire down on a position. Then...then...you get people killed.
Just a moment for Afghanistan. I did not, and do not, feel the same way about it that I did Saigon. We abandoned a lot of things on the Embassy roof in Saigon - and it was done not by us, but a portion of our government, making a waste and mockery of our blood and treasure. I can see how some might feel the same about Afghanistan, BUT they have never and will never have an advanced centralized authority or society - it will always be tribal. We weren't going to change that. To the extent we had done what we could do, hunted who we could hunt - or would hunt, based on limitations in attacking the tribal areas in Pakistan - and achieved whatever objectives we had beyond just endlessly sending raids and patrols into the countryside forever...it was time to come home.
So it was time to leave as there was no purpose without a much larger effort encompassing an entire region - which should have been done long ago, in a short time, at greater cost and energy - but it would have been over. Water under the bridge. But the decision to leave Afghanistan to itself was correct. The shame was in HOW IT WAS DONE, not the decision to leave. I attach THAT shame not to us, our nation, even our politics - but the nincompoops in charge of executing the operation. Anybody with half a brain, and an appreciation for disengaging from the enemy while in contact, knows how to collapse a perimeter to keep that kind of stuff from happening and executing an orderly withdrawal...not even under fire. That they so totally messed it up...didn't even really seem to care....is the shame of it. But it is THEIR shame, not ours.
Without quoting at length, I concur "The shame was in HOW IT WAS DONE."
Perhaps our doctoral level elite should spend a few years in the weeds of the environment they're trying to influence. No one should be working to influence a field that is only a mere set of abstract gender percentages. Ms. Bogacz for example? Pure academic. She needs to be sent to observe a staff that's dealing with a hot shooting environment. Give these people a few weeks in high stress, sleep deprived planning environment where they work the same hours.
It's time to temper abstract feel good policies with real world experience. Perhaps a few weeks on the frontlines of Ukraine.
She needs to be sent to observe a hot shooting environment
Oh good gracious NO. Government is already borderline unrecognizable it is so filled with people like this.
I spent the first half of my career after the Corps on the Dark Side, the IC. I've been in self-imposed exile on the non nat-sec side for over a decade.
Both sides are riddled with senior managers who belong in the faculty lounge at Marxist liberal arts colleges.
Outside of pure-mission roles, EVERY federal agencies is dominated by SES level personnel who are 100% in lockstep with these ideals. HR, finance, general council, Inspector general, IT, 'business innovation', diversity, security, facilities, logistics, travel.
Most agencies have created so many "divisions" for administrivia, that 'mission' leaders are outnumbered 3-1 by equal position SES from the BS side.
And all those senior leaders need positions to get promoted to, and need formal training, so the pipeline is producing massive numbers of bureaucrat specialists in diversity lingo, and ignoring mission.
And eventually, mission gets run by the same people, since they hold all the top spots.
Look at all the Flag officers who never spent 1 day on the firing line. We were in some form of conflict every day for the last 22 years. How does one spend a career and reach flag without a combat command of some kind? Or without multiple ship command tours?
No we promote the worst, and sideline the best.
Party apparatchik. And like cockroaches they will survive the current trends by identifying and riding the next flavor of the day.
Read a few pages Sal. Looked at how long the piece is and decided from what you wrote that she is just another Karen who thinks every place with a few more men than women is discriminatory. Guess I missed if she had ever been deployed. Got no time for considering such nonsense. They could have all the military jobs for all I care as long as we stay safe. Go for it. We who’ve been there know the vast majority that do serve get out. Got recruiting?
She is just another kook from the faculty lounge.
An interesting piece.
However, I disagree that a person like that is well-meaning. At no point do these people clearly articulate the benefits of gender parity.
She’s an activist, and should be called out as such.
Called out?
Keelhauled.
Well, I wouldn’t argue.
It's a belief. You can't argue belief. You can't convince a Catholic to become a Buddhist or vice versa. No matter how many Communist regimes have failed and how many dead bodies are left in the wake, people still believe. Supposedly people sent to the Gulags by Comrade Stalin would say "if only Stalin knew..." He did know, he sent them there, they still believed.
People like the above will always put belief over reality. Very rarely do they have epiphanies and it's almost always self generated. The best you can hope for is to give them a nice desk or a corner office and ignore them. Very hard to do in modern times.
We could stop employing them
Geez. You never got the Equality of Outcomes memo? Have a heart. These folks have massive student loans to pay off.
LOLOL
In an ideal world that would be the solution but in reality? Not so much. It's like when the boss's relative comes to work at the company. If they can do the job? Great! If not, well they aren't going anywhere so you have to find a minimal place. In a Fed Government job even worse. Difficult to fire if they aren't physically or mentally capable. Been there, seen it.
Agreed on a difference between present reality and ideal:) Still, one can try over time
We are 2 years and 3 months past the findings of this report. The beat goes on….
https://news.usni.org/2021/07/12/lawmakers-survey-94-of-sailors-say-damaging-operational-failures-related-to-navy-culture-leadership-problems
"Cassandra Benson teaches economics at the Air Force Academy. During a lecture given in January 2023, the Friday before Martin Luther King Day, she addressed minority cadets by their proper names but declared she would refer to white cadets by a number, since in her opinion, all white people look alike.
...The experience of White Boy #2 is not an isolated event; he has had to bear the brunt of other CRT related character attacks from superior officers. In a leadership class taught by Colonel Melissa Youderian, White Boy #2 was asked to explain his white privilege. In this version of a perp walk, what did the colonel expect him to say about a situation over which he has no control? To the young man’s credit, he explained that he, like all the other cadets in the room, was privileged to attend the Air Force Academy and have the opportunity to serve his country. The colonel remained unresponsive and incredulous but extracted vengeance by awarding his courage and forthrightness with a “C” grade in a class where performance is measured not by test scores but by whim."
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/09/25/the_united_states_air_force_academys_white_boy_2_981680.html?mc_cid=31f608e5b8&mc_eid=e51bf416d0&fbclid=IwAR0uo0k1dpfe41aH6worNb-pHdLnqGNfobsomW05ehGvawP49ieHRXWsBKA
I like putting a face to a name. Comes in handy when deciding who to help in changing a flat tire on a lo-o-ong stretch of desolate roadway. Col. Youderian: https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/03/2002490937/-1/-1/0/200903-F-XX999-9876.JPG
The USAFA started going downhill when their motto "Give Me Men" was removed from the arch. Erasing the past is never a good idea.
And then suddenly, for no reason at all, I realized Boko Harum had a point.
Had a pithy reply re "A Whiter Shade of Pale" but then realized you were talking about a different Harum. Never mind.
Really, 1 in 4 engineers are women? Where are they hiding out? As an engineer myself, I'd call it about 1 in 20.
We got a bunch of female technical security candidates last round of hiring. Like 3/5, and they were all the good ones. Don't know why.