Leftism is a religion. There’s no other word for it. How else can you describe a movement where people fail to see the logic that’s either staring them in the face, or brought about by their own, empirical evidence?
In the case of diversity, to the Left only outward appearances matter, never the outcome. For example, with forced quotas to bash universities, fire departments, and the military into submission, Leftists seek to create a Potemkin Village of their own perfection. Of course, race, gender, orientation, or [insert victim class here] diversity lowers quality at all levels. This is no more apparent than in the business world.
Uber, the ride sharing tech phenomenon, recently surfaced on the radar of the finger-waggers at Inc. Magazine. In an article by Salvador Rodriguez, you can almost hear his breathless indignation of *gasp* not hiring enough women, Hispanics (a name made up by the Nixon administration), and blacks. This article, such as it is, begins with the following (edits mine):
Over the last few years, as almost every major tech company in Silicon Valley has relented to public pressure to reveal the demographic makeup of its work force, Uber has been a notable holdout.
In the rare cases of companies that have avoided publishing their diversity numbers, the withholding generally means one thing: The numbers are bad (get that rolled up newspaper!) That’s been the suspicion with Uber, but now we have supporting evidence, thanks to former Uber engineer turned whistleblower Susan Fowler.
…
The entire report puts an individual, human face on a Silicon Valley issue more often revealed through data. It offers one of the first real glimpses into what the treatment of women is like inside Uber. Fowler estimates that at the time of her departure the representation of women in her engineering department at Uber was a mere 3 percent. A year earlier, it had been 25 percent.That number isn’t just bad–it’s bad even by the tech industry’s already depressingly low standards. And it helps explain why CEO Travis Kalanick and his team have been reluctant to talk about diversity–until spiraling events forced them to.
With Fowler’s story going viral over the weekend, Kalanick only waited a few hours before addressing it and promising “an urgent investigation.” Meanwhile, after years of foot-dragging, Uber is lifting the veil on its diversity figures. In a memo sent to Uber employees and shared with reporters, Kalanick revealed that, as expected, the representation of women in tech roles at his company is low. The figure stands at 15.1 percent (If only it had been at 15.7, this whole issue would be moot, right?).
Rodriguez goes on to shame Uber and the rest of Silicon Valley that they would “do well” to hire more of the victim class because it’s the “moral thing to do.” I love how they misappropriate morality.
First let me address the sexual harassment part of this story. Guess what: If the sexual harassment and assault allegations are true, these have nothing to do with diversity. It means there are dirtbags and their enablers working for Uber who are breaking the law, and whoever has been the victim of such acts can and should sue Uber so hard that their new logo looks like a homeless man on a two-week bender.
Regarding diversity, however, Rodriguez and his Leftist virtue-signaling mates fail in this argument every time. Let’s work this out logically. Does anyone really think, given a more talented woman, Hispanic, or black, that Uber would actively seek to hire a white man strictly out of spite? Companies like Uber get to pick from the cream of the talent crop. They don’t have to wring their hands about talent because people are beating down the door to work for them. Refusing to hire a qualified woman, Hispanic, or black because of their gender, ethnicity, or skin pigmentation is stupid business practice. Sal Rodriguez, your article is stupid journalism.
The truth is the hiring process is both subjective and objective. A resume or referral gets you in the door, the interview(s) get you the job. There are a host of reasons people don’t hired for a position they may seem qualified for, and the biases and preferences of human resources and hiring managers always come into play.
Oddly enough, I would like nothing more than these fake witch hunts to keep going. The louder and more pointless their screams, the less we hear them.
Image: By Elekes Andor – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46467863
