We hear all the time from Democrat politicians, liberal pundits, mainstream media commentators, woke corporate CEOs, and just about everyone except outspoken conservatives that discrimination is bad. But is it really? We discriminate all the time. We discriminate when choosing clothes to wear. Which foods to eat. Which movies to watch. Which college to attend.
Employers discriminate when choosing employees. Sports teams discriminate when choosing players. Medical schools discriminate when graduating doctors. In those cases, discrimination is actually very good. I’d argue that discrimination is essential for a functioning society. No one thinks that’s wrong. Except possibly the irrational woke.
In today’s society, discrimination in all respects has become taboo. People are told to be indiscriminate about discrimination. But practically, when is discrimination acceptable and when is it unacceptable?
We discriminate when choosing friends. We want those with kindness and empathy. Or maybe those who share our interests, for example in stamp collecting and hiking. We choose a life partner who has a pleasant personality or perhaps certain skills in the kitchen, in the workplace, for taking on certain family obligations, or in the bedroom. Or ones that act according to similar religious beliefs, whether those beliefs are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Climate Change, or Social Justice.
In fact, society has discriminated since... well... since the beginning of civilization. And these discriminations are not just good practices, they’re also essential for the functioning of civilization. In fact, they are the entire basis for a successful society.
Discrimination based on behaviors is not just good, but necessary. So which discriminations are wrong?
In the last half-century at least, discrimination based on inherent characteristics has been considered bad. And that makes sense. I can’t change my skin color, so it seems unfair to bar me from a restaurant or force me to occupy the rear of a bus because of my skin color. My skin color has no relationship to my behaviors. It says nothing about how I act, what things I enjoy or dislike, which religion I practice. It seems clearly wrong to discriminate based on innate characteristics like skin color, ethnicity, or race. It hurts society to do so.
But in the last few decades, the woke progressives have expanded the taboos of discrimination to include behaviors. Bakers must be required to bake cakes to promote behaviors they abhor. Employers must hire employees who are not the most qualified for the job to fill some quotas or signal their virtues. Religious groups must pay for medical procedures that they consider sinful. The final holdout industry is sports where fans simply don’t want a team to hire players without the best skills available, but with men now competing in women’s competitions, that holdout will be forced to give in soon too.
But for society to work, I shouldn’t be forced to accept a person’s behavior if I find it repugnant or even annoying. I don’t like people who constantly tell bad jokes or use obscenities in everyday conversation. I don’t like people who are boorish, loud, obnoxious, rude, or hateful. I don’t even like people who are mindlessly cheerful. I shouldn’t be forced to accept or tolerate these behaviors.
Similarly, a person shouldn’t be forced to be tolerant of, say, public homosexual displays of affection any more than they should be tolerant of public heterosexual displays of affection. I don’t like either. When someone argues that I should be tolerant of gays, bisexuals, pansexuals, protosexuals, metasexuals, and every other kind of sexual behavior, my question is always: how would I know? I could only know by their behavior in public. What they do privately, if it doesn’t hurt anyone, is their own business, not mine. But I should be free to object to their behaviors in public. Because that does affect me. Nowadays, all kinds of sexual behavior are not just tolerated, but encouraged publicly, whether it’s on TV, in the media, or even in our schools.
If we allow people to be intolerant of behaviors, some people will discriminate in the opposite direction to me. They will encourage behaviors that I dislike. That’s their prerogative. If that group of people composes the majority, then those behaviors will become accepted in society, for better or worse, and I will be in the minority. I will still choose my friends, acquaintances, and partners based on the behaviors that I prefer. Regardless of whether I’m in the majority or the minority, I shouldn’t have the ability to force others to support my preferences. And I shouldn’t be forced to accept theirs.
Discrimination based on immutable characteristics is often immoral. Discrimination based on behaviors is a keystone of civilization, and yet the woke are destroying it. You know what happens when a keystone crumbles.
