Merit is important and Diversity Isn’t

As California continues to burn because of the incompetence of the people running that state, a mind-blowing video has begun circulating that starkly lays out where the Left’s thinking on diversity in America is today. It features LA Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson on the show 9-1-1 and… well, why not let her explain it herself?

You want to see somebody that responds to your house -- your emergency -- whether it's a medical call or a fire call -- that looks like you. It gives that person a bit more ease, knowing that somebody might understand their situation better. "Is she strong enough to do this?" Or "You couldn't carry my husband out of a fire." Which my response is, he got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.

Very clearly, what she’s saying here is that diversity is MORE IMPORTANT than merit. Because after all, part of a fireman’s job is carrying people who need help out of a fire and if she’s too weak to do it, her response is basically too bad, that’s not as important as seeing someone who “looks like you” doing the job.

This mentality is widespread on the Left and it’s why despite California’s absolutely disastrously incompetent response to the fires that are burning Los Angeles, you see this headline:

Yes, not only is she a lesbian, but she has previously noted, DEI is her highest priority.

Not saving lives. Not fighting fires. DEI.

She’s literally presiding over one of the most disastrously mismanaged fires of the last 100 years, but she’s, “proving lesbians get it done.”

So, you might ask how exactly is she, “proving lesbians get it done?”

There is an answer to that.

It’s by being diverse, because to an awful lot of people on the Left, diversity is an end unto itself and it’s more important than merit.

Unfortunately, there are consequences to thinking that way.

Los Angeles burning down for one.

As my friend, California resident Kira Davis, noted in a video, they put diversity above competence in California, and look how it turned out:

“I have just noticed that for the last two weeks, every emergency or law enforcement chief I’ve seen on TV is a woman. And they are presiding over the worst disasters that this country has seen in decades at least. Every single one of them looks and sounds incompetent. Looks and sounds like a DEI hire. Looks and sounds like the least inspiring leader you’ve ever seen.”

On the other hand, the advantage of forgetting about diversity and picking the best people for the job is that you get the best people for the job. Isn’t that what we should want in every important position?

Imagine you’re a white guy and in three days, you have a tricky heart surgery coming up. Either it works and you’re home free or it doesn’t, and you die on the table. You ask who’s doing the surgery and you’re told you have two choices. One of them is a white guy – LIKE YOU! You’ll be his first heart surgery or, there’s a world-famous heart surgeon visiting from South Korea and he said he’d be happy to do it, but he’s Asian. So, he’s not like you!

Well, we opened with LA Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson basically opining that it’s more important to have someone that looks like you doing the surgery than having the best person for the job. So, do you agree? Which surgeon do you want to do your heart surgery? Well, unless you’re stupid or liberal, you want the best person for the job, whether they look like you or not.

Guess what? It’s the same for any critical job. If you need them, you want the BEST firefighter, cop, doctor, investment adviser, pilot, or bodyguard you can find. Only when you lose the plot and stop caring so much about the outcome do you put diversity first because putting diversity first inevitably means sacrificing merit. If DEI hires could make it based on merit, they wouldn’t need DEI to get hired.

It’s also worth noting that if a particular group can’t make it based on merit, then the solution isn’t to hire them anyway for diversity’s sake, it’s for them to GET BETTER. But, what if they can’t or won’t get better? For example, what if there are never as many female cops, firemen, or soldiers as men because they can’t handle the physical demands of the job as well? Why is that supposed to be a problem any more than say the lack of white rappers or basketball players or the small percentage of Italian Americans who are sushi chefs?

Ideally, we want everyone to reach their full potential, but if that happened, why would anyone think that means every group will perform exactly the same in every area? As the great Thomas Sowell said:

Although we should strive to give everyone an equal chance to prove themselves worthy, no organization or group should strive for diversity as an end goal. Even more importantly, nobody should ever prioritize diversity over merit. Earning it is everything and having it handed to you because of your skin color, gender or sexuality should be a non-starter in America.

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