Thread by @Noahpinion

Today's @bopinion post is about the college bribery scandal, but really it's about the changing demographics of America.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

2/The demographics of American talent have changed enormously.

Over the past 30 years, an enormous number of high-skilled immigrants have come to this country, primarily from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

3/This influx of talent SHOULD mean that our the American elite - executives, professors, politicians, top managers, administrators, celebrities, etc. - starts to look increasingly non-white as well.

Except it hasn't. Certainly not as much as it should have. Why?

4/The most obvious reason is simple affinity bias.

Older white execs promote people they identify with.

Older white professors hire and promote people they identify with.

Older white filmmakers give awards to people they identify with.

Those are more likely to be white.

5/That is bound to piss off young, talented, hard-working nonwhite people who have done everything right, who deserve the top spots, and who are getting passed over in favor of their rich, white, less talented, less hard-working peers.

hbr.org/2016/12/why-ar…

6/So, that's one big problem.

The other problem is that large swathes of America - especially Black and Hispanic communities - often get ignored entirely, and much of that talent gets completely lost and wasted.

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

7/Just look at this graph.

A poor kid with high test scores is LESS likely to graduate college than a rich kid with low test scores!

In what Universe is that even remotely fair?

8/Now, the third problem: Inequality.

Inequality makes this all much worse, because it means that who gets into that elite REALLY, REALLY MATTERS.

This isn't a status game, this is life and death!

9/How long do you think a highly diverse society like ours can remain stable when most of the top college spots, top corporate positions, plum academic jobs, elected offices, etc. go to rich white people?

And when people who don't get those positions are economically screwed?

10/When hard-driving Asian, African, and Middle Eastern kids are being passed over for rich white failsons and faildaughters, and working-class Black and Hispanic kids are being ignored and left to languish entirely...how is that a recipe for a stable, healthy society?

11/To achieve a stable, fairer society, we need some big changes.

First, we need to change the way we allocate spots in the elite. Kill legacy admissions, use government programs to help poor kids go to college, emphasize diversity in promotions, etc. etc. etc.

12/Second - and this is the harder, longer task! - we need to make our economy more equal, so that getting into the elite isn't such a matter of life and death.

Every society has elites, but that doesn't mean you should have to be in the elite to live a good life.

13/Safety net stuff like government health care can help equalize our society, as can policies to raise wages, make housing more affordable, etc. And taxing the rich - especially raising the inheritance tax! - plays a big role.

14/But egalitarian policies can only do so much; there will always be differences in income and status (look at Denmark, Norway, etc. if you don't believe me!).

We need to make sure the system we use to choose our elites feels FAIR to the American people. Currently it does not.

15/Perfect meritocracy is unachievable, but man, we can do SO much better than this increasingly obvious sham.

(end)

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Oh, and as a follow-up, check out my thread on the connection between the increasing unfairness of the elite and the rise of the Social Justice movement:

https://twitter.com/Noahpinion/status/1079116390420733952