What’s So Great About Diversity?
‘Diversity is our strength.’ One hears this, or myriad variants of the same idea, unrelentingly. Certainly I work in an Australian university where the extent of higher-ups pushing this notion does indeed qualify as unrelenting, even matching totalitarian state levels of propaganda. But even outside the hallowed halls of impartial, politically balanced academia (did I write that with a straight face?) the mantra or cliché that diversity somehow delivers a stronger balance sheet or a more cohesive society or just better outcomes is pervasive in today’s democracies that have committed themselves to multiculturalism and to the various neo-Marxist versions of feminism. Sure, those spouting these ‘diversity is a panacea’ nostrums never cash out the claim. They never tell us precisely how ‘diversity’ is making society better or wealthier or more unified. We are all just supposed to take it on faith, as it were. We’re just to believe the bureaucratic, political and various professional bodies’ elites who push this line, and believe it simply because they are the ones telling us it’s so.
But you and I both know there isn’t a lot of evidence to support this cliché. Worse, if you’re like me you’re thinking that these are the same elites who massively failed us by imposing thuggish, illiberal lockdowns that weaponised the police, closed schools, infringed all sorts of free speech criticisms and also transferred huge wealth from poor to rich and from young to old (think asset inflation after steroidal money printing and unchecked government spending). You’re remembering these are the same elites who likewise failed us by not being willing to stand up to a transgender lunacy lobby that makes those with IQs over 130 unable to say what a woman is. The same elites, too, who failed us by abandoning all scepticism and critical thinking around our changing weather, willingly impoverishing us in the patent untruth that renewables are cheaper all-up. Like me you’re wondering what the odds are that these same people are likely to be right about anything. Hint: Not bloody high. And certainly not very high that they are right about some motherhood-type slogan meant to silence debate about large-scale immigration and about their efforts to take merit out of any and all hiring and ‘who gets into university’ decisions. This looks a lot like one of those Mark Twain situations of being quietly coerced to ‘believe what you know ain’t so’.
But let’s resist the temptation to mock this cliché that ‘diversity is our strength’ and consider it a bit more carefully. We all know, for instance, that a bit of genetic diversity in parents is better for the offspring of that match. All things considered we’d prefer to avoid siblings or even first cousins mating. Not for most people the inbreeding of some of the former European royal families, where disappearing chins was the norm. Yet the amount of genetic diversity needed to produce healthy kids is pretty tiny. Just anyone outside the immediate family will do. Same culture? Tick. Same commitment to Western civilisation? Tick. Same belief in free speech and the role of women? Tick again. Just don’t sleep with your sister. So if that’s what was meant by all the propaganda on behalf of the joys of diversity, I think we could all get on board. (Well, I hesitate to speak for Tasmanians, those hailing from Arkansas, or any readers from the Catlins south of Dunedin in New Zealand, but readers get the general point.)
On the other side of the equation we know that the best fighting units are often drawn from the same geographical area. Just look at how the British army used to recruit soldiers. Closer bonds mean a greater willingness to put your life on the line for someone else. Or ask yourself whether you believe hiring ‘in the name of diversity’ has lowered physical standards when it comes to combat troops, firefighters going in to rescue people in burning homes or cops on the beat. It sure seems to be the case that whenever physical strength is a core component of the job, advocates of hiring women start by promising that not a single standard will be lowered but we end up with – you guessed it – lower standards for women. Is that really a strength? Who do you want carrying you out of a burning house or getting into a fight on the street with the thug attacking you? (By the way, the biggest lie told by Hollywood in its movies is that some 55 kilo woman can beat up a 90 kilo robber or rapist. It’s a complete lie.)
It gets worse because the whole ‘diversity’ (often thrown in with ‘equity’ and ‘inclusion’) edifice is chock full of contradictions. We are sold the idea that proponents of diversity welcome everyone into their fold. It matters not what you bring to the table. But if you doubt the worth of diversity itself? You are out. Just look at the huge push for ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ in universities. You know which people have disappeared from our universities? Conservatives. The people who are sceptical about this anti-merit, ‘equality of outcome’ worldview. They aren’t hired. Promotions are harder. The data on this are astounding. A recent report looking at the political donations and survey answers to academics’ political views reported that there was not a single Trump Republican academic working at Yale. Not one! And remember the Voice campaign here? We have some 38 law schools. There were four legal academics in the entire country who publicly opposed the Voice and myriad numbers in favour.
Diversity always and everywhere boils down to a diversity of skin pigmentation or type of reproductive organs, or other favoured inherited group characteristic. But it never, ever involves pushing for a diversity of political or worldview opinions. And if you are opposed to, say, any affirmative action type programmes for women, Aborigines, non-heterosexuals, anyone thinking he was born in the wrong body (an incoherent claim, by the way), well, you are not welcome. Full stop. And the facts in terms of who is employed and gets to the top show that to be blatantly true.
When some people now claim that working class white boys are the most discriminated-against group, that sure looks true to me if we’re talking about who gets special scholarships, who gets special support, who gets quiet, unspoken hiring help. Hint: Australian unis don’t have explicit quotas. Nope. Rather they look at a dean’s department, measure the percentage of favoured – only favoured – groups in society at large and then in the department, and then make the dean’s performance review’s success depend on getting a match. The incentives are brutal but indirect. And all of this existed and got worse under nine years of Coalition governments. It’s hard to claim with a straight face that the Libs ever fight for anything, take on any vested interests, or repeal any disliked statutes. Hence, mes amis, the rise of One Nation.
That is the truth of the matter. Diversity divas are divisive. They shun and exclude non-believers in the name of the insipid faith they are proselytising. Deep down they don’t believe in merit (save, ironically, their own because those imposing implicit quotas all, remarkably, believe that they themselves got there on merit). This whole diversity (and equity and inclusion) mantra is a disaster.
Dr James Allan is the Garrick Professor of Law at Queensland University. This article was first published in Spectator Australia.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Absolutely nothing. After all, we’re all completely equal.
Diversity is great for the ruling elites, divide et impera and all that.
It is deliberately destructive of the lives and livelihoods of the rest of us, without whom by the way, the whole rotten structure collapses.
Spot on! Divide and rule.
yup, the answer is in the name. The words diverse and divide come from the same origin.
“Diversity” = selection by race, sex, religion, sexuality, physical/mental disability, some other peculiar characteristic.
Since it is inclusion of those with physical/emotional characteristics, by exclusion of those with capability, ability, talent, experience, skill, it is unlikely to return best results other than to complete the Woke check-list.
The DEI weapon of choice is intimidation and this is easily proved by the way a person becomes fearful and refuses to discuss or admit to something they know to be true. It is utterly reprehensible that society has been reduced to living in a state of justified paranoia and the bullies must be confronted at every opportunity.
The way “diversity” is used is utterly absurd, fraudulent, dishonest, misleading. If anyone uses the word, just ask “Diversity of what?”. They may or may not list some arbitrary ways to categorise people. However many they list, there will always be infinitely more categories that can be enumerated. You can list a few for them and ask them why didn’t mention those kinds of diversity and ask them to explain why the characteristics they have mentioned are the main ones they want to measure by – is there some logical reason for them choosing what they choose? Why do they want to pigeonhole people? This will reveal that they have a political agenda.
Yes, and isn’t it strange how no one ever castigates China, Japan, Nigeria, Mexico or Saudi Arabia about being insufficiently “diverse”?
I don’t think they want to pigeonhole people. I think that motivates them is really favoritism. They want to be able to get people into certain positions based on their entirely discretionary decisions without being bound by any objective criteria and they want the people who benfitted from this to know it: You’re here (whereever that is) because I chose you and you better make sure that my support for you continues because I could choose someone else whenever I want. That is, they want to be in an autocratic (used figuratively) position of power over others because they believe that’s good for them.
Yes, it’s a means to various ends, none of which seem to me to be good for “society”
If diversity really was our strength, the madleft would oppose it.
This is pretty much it, the diversity the Leftwaffe like is bad for the historical situation and the country.
I will believe diversity is our strength when they place a flat earther in charge of NASA.
You mean the NASA that faked the Moon Landings?
NASA knows the Earth is Flat, like the lens of an eye, just as they know we are headed into another Little Ice Age, as Professor Valentina Zharkova has been warning for decades, and that all the extreme measures to prevent “Global Warming” will hasten our demise when the coldest time on earth comes in 2030 and thereafter. Professor Zharkova said the extreme cold and low carbon dioxide levels will kill off the vegetation and cause mass food shortages.
The safest places then will be the very same Third World countries whose scrounging inhabitants are now swarming into the West, at the urging of the Globalists, who want to kill them off… and us… faster.
Robert Felix said in his book “Not by Fire, but by Ice” that the dinosaurs were killed not by meteorites, but by extremely heavy, deep, sudden snowfalls that left them unable to move, and covered all the vegetation they fed upon. Such sudden, extremely deep snowfalls have already begun around the northern regions of the world, as well as some tropical ones, but are ignored by our own media. See the photos on the Electroverse website.
When they say “diverse” they mean “not white” or “not native”.
I read some corporation’s DEI report and it said their board was something like 27% diverse, and 73% “non-diverse”. They literally used that phrase.
If everyone on the boards was Nigerian, they would by their own logic class that as a 100% diverse board, even though there would be no actual diversity at all in that situation.
Likewise saying an area is “highly diverse” when it is in fact nearly entirely populated by Pakistani moslems from Mirpur.
It’s a bit like the orange juice bottle that says its 100% pure. If it was only 90% pure it wouldn’t be pure at all, would it? So 27% diverse makes zero sense at all.
The article fails to see the plus points. Restaurants. Lots of diversity of foods and did not El Starmeri say that in defence of the immigrant scum? Women and schoolgirls benefit by being raped by men from diverse cultures. We can put our lives on hold for things like Ramalamadingdong and IED, or whatever it is, and for a first time we have had a football match called off on Friday because of this.
Brilliant, refreshingly honest assessment by Professor Allan. I especially liked this:
“On the other side of the equation we know that the best fighting units are often drawn from the same geographical area. Just look at how the British army used to recruit soldiers. Closer bonds mean a greater willingness to put your life on the line for someone else.”
It’s absolutely true, and it also meant that troops could TRUST each other more, TRUST their fellow “tribesmen”, unlike now, when they never know if some Muslim or African is going to shoot them in the back and call it an accident. Tribalism is healthy and natural, and helped mankind to survive for thousands of years. That’s also where the word “king” came from: “kin” as in your own “kith and kin”, the bonds of shared kinship, your own Tribe, your own Race = Ethnic Group, which is precisely what the Globalists want to destroy, creating Rootless Global Slaves. That’s why “The Commonwealth” is a ludicrous notion, and should be abolished.
As the Bible said, “Never let the Enemy into the Camp.”
Diversity is NOT your strength. It lowers wages, marginalizes your culture, increases your crime, dilutes your language, occupies your housing, ruins your schools, consumes your taxes, tightens your laws, restricts your freedoms, endangers your women, endangers your children and calls you racist.
Import the third world, become the third world.
Well said!
With regard to “diversity”, such as visiting Trafalgar Square to see the statue of Admiral Nelson, only to be regaled with the sight of hundreds of alien backsides pointed heavenward, and alien heads bowing hellward, it’s important to know that NOWHERE does the Koran tell Muslims to pray 5 times a day, or 3 times a day, or plunk themselves down in the street to pray while blocking traffic, or listen to loudspeakers blasting out Muslim clerics caterwauling 5 times a day!!! The Koran only suggests that Muslims pray at night and in the morning. Remember that, the next time they try their aggressive mass domination displays in public. Also, NOWHERE does the Koran say that women must be veiled and secluded… only that they should “dress modestly”. All the rules and regulations about veils & seclusions & praying 5 times a day & washing out all your various disgusting orifices & feet in a ritual way before praying are ALL MADE UP BY THE MULLAHS! Mohammed never said any of those things. Do these people really think Almighty God and his angels want to look down from Heaven and see millions of Muslim BACKSIDES pointing up at them while… Read more »
Unarguable, obviously. Great piece.
Captain Pedantic adds:
“got their”?? (penultimate sentence)
MODERATOR HERE
Thanks for picking up the error, noted and changed
As the saying goes:- if you would control a populace, first make them afraid
Tolerating diversity is our downfall.
Great article by Professor Garrick, as usual. We need to start saying to the zombies, “No, meritocracy is our strength, diversity our weakness.” Who wants a diversity hire to remove their brain tumour? The truth is that you can only have ‘diversity’ where the job doesn’t matter.
Tell the heavily protected indigenous people of many countries that diversity is strength.
In a world of global business, where people from different countries trade with each other, and companies are all global, we cannot expect to say that a person from Africa or Asia cannot do business here or even live here. That would be absurd. But that is not what is happening with Mass Immigration. People are arriving here in their hundreds of thousands expecting to be housed and fed, and we indulge them in their desire for a better life. People are to be convinced that this is ok because “Diversity” is a good thing. In a sense this is true. No one would object to a a ten piece jazz funk outfit having 3 white musicians, 4 black musicians, a white woman and a black woman and a Japanese drummer. But these are likely professional musicians that probably tour all over Europe and maybe the world. They are not loading their gear into the back of a van from a Hotel paid for by the UK taxpayer and going to play a gig. —But this idea that “diversity is our strength” is really just a political slogan, that tries to justify the huge levels of immigration to the country… Read more »