Kate Makes A Horrible Mistake
She actually thinks that people are smart enough, and dedicated enough to fairness, to use basic math to understand a political problem.
Poor foolish woman.
Just wait my dear, soon you'll be barraged with, "my head always starts swimming when people use figures" and "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics." Which are almost always just another way for people to say either "I'm not very bright" or "I don't care about the facts," and thereby sidestep the issue.
Feh.
* Update * Whoops. Kate's buddy Jim posted that, not Kate herself. Well, poor foolish Jim then. ;-)
Just wait my dear, soon you'll be barraged with, "my head always starts swimming when people use figures" and "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics." The latter of which is, almost always, just another way for people to say either "I'm not very bright" or "I don't care about the truth," and thereby sidestep the issue.
And then, my dear, you'll meet people who constantly throw out statements like the above in attempts to goad those who disagree with them. Statements that are - by their very nature - not subject to statistical challenge. ;-)
The statement is not open to challenge? What, am I the only one who sees such spurious arguments on a regular basis?
I'm teasing Kate a little, but I have little doubt that she'll share my sentiments. Countless important issues of the day fly right past people because they can't or won't do a little basic math.
I thought they did use basic math...though the contractors may be acting far too hastily in bringing the threat of a lawsuit. what is the percentage of contractors that actually participate in the bid process (by race)?
Dean, read my sentence. I said the statement is not open to "statistical" challenge. It's like me saying "most people don't know what they're talking about." Do I have any *math* to back it up?
FWIW, even the math that Kate's friend proposes doing is not even adequate. I would rather see the number of minority contractors who actually got contracts on the things they bid for. What's the percentage there? Compare the percentage of contracts received divided by the number of minority bidders vs. the percentage of contracts received divided by the number of majority (?) bidders. Do you think that would give a better answer?
Of course, none of this factors in the lowest bid, or the fact that you should remove other "minorities" like hispanics and asians from the "majority" numbers.
I agree that basic math is very useful to show how stupid the argument is, but i also suspect that truth is not something that these people are really looking for. They want guaranteed contracts, seems to me.
Well, the numbers are provided there for anyone who wants to do more on it.
The important thing with numbers is to attempt to look at them honestly, which is all you're doing.
One minority that never seems to be included in these "affirmative action" programs is the most persecuted minority in history: the Jews