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From: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.social,net.women,net.flame
Subject: Re: Discrimination and Affirmative Action
Message-ID: <500@unc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 26-Jun-85 13:02:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.500
Posted: Wed Jun 26 13:02:13 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 01:32:09 EDT
References: <566@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>  <449@unc.UUCP> <2973@cca.UUCP> <493@ttidcc.UUCP> 
Reply-To: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 26
Xref: watmath net.politics:9619 net.social:751 net.women:6122 net.flame:10846
Summary: 


[Anectdote about blatant anti-women discrimination in government]
>> If this goes on in the Civil  Service,  imagine  what  happens  in  private
>> business.

In article  cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
>Why do you assume that Civil Service is less prone to discrimination than
>the private sector?  From what I've read, the private sector has a better
>track record over the last 50 years than the public sector.

This is one of the reasons Milton Friedman, a conservative economist,
favors the private sector, rather than one that is government-controlled.
In his youth, anti-Jewish discrimination was much greater than it is today.
When working in the private sector, Dr. Friedman discovered that he could
overcome his boss's anti-semitism by being twice as qualified as the
other workers.  In other words, even an antisemitic boss would prefer
to hire and promote an excellent Jewish worker rather than a non-Jew
that was only mediocre.  The boss was looking after his own self-interest.

On the other hand, when working in the public sector Dr. Friedman discovered
that the boss's prosperity was not so directly determined.  The boss
had job security and a pay scale that did not take into account his group's
performance.  The boss was free to indulge all his petty prejudices.
He had no incentive to do otherwise.

	Frank Silbermann