Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action has been in the news a lot lately. Some states are continuing the practice, some are not.  I understood the historical need for giving negros some extra help considering how much they were abused.  Perhaps only native Americans have more abuse in their history to embrace.

But, doesn't basing Affirmative Action on race at all, miss the point completely.  The point of the assistance should be to help those that are capable but do not have the means to go to college or get a job without some help.  For example,  providing child care to a single mom to enable her to get an education or job training would be a type of affirmative action.  Does the mom's race even matter? Yes, I know that we define affirmative action more narrowly than this example, but I don't know why.

Considering the growing wealth inequality in this country and the growing student debt of a trillion dollars pulling down our economy, not to mention the students, perhaps a hundred million Americans could use affirmative action. Affirmative action is like a family arguing on who gets the last coke in the refrigerator when their house is burning down. And guess what, the only reason there is a coke in the refrigerator is because we borrowed it from our Chinese neighbors.

Our form of Capitalism is no longer working for 9 out of 10 Americans. One third are unemployed or under employed,  the next generation is broken before they get out of school to find few jobs that justify the debt,  while American corporation profits are at a thirty year high and worker income is at a twenty year low. Our democracy works for the Oligarchs while the will of the people is incresingly irrelevant and even consider irreverent.  Our news casts are filled with illusions that are effective in brainwashing the 40% of Americans that either can't or don't read much any more.  The balance are either too stressed out to notice the ship is sinking or in prison and going down with the ship.  Yes, its an exaggeration,  but painfully close to reality. 

Who is helped most by affirmative action: white women.  Who are hurt the most, Asian and Asian Males.  Asians typically enroll in college at much higher percentages than their percentage in the population.  One third of Latinos don't graduate high school so the war is lost before college is ever an issue.   What ever happened to the idea of public college education, that anyone who was capable of getting a college education should have a chance to go?  If we have given up on that dream, what else is worth fighting for?  Isn't public education an essential part of the American Dream?  Who the xxxx cares about affirmative action, let's remember the American Dream before it is too late. 

So, who wants to argue about who gets the last coke?