Read on Twitter
1/ I& #39;m seeing a lot of tweets about the Tom Cotton proposal to block Chinese student visas. One jarring thing is the number of them making the "business case" for keeping Chinese students - trotting out statistics about how much they add to the productivity of their labs. I get
2/ the motivation for that kind of argumentation; the "business case for diversity" has become a popular way to justify policies that diversify organizations. I guess my problem with that line of argumentation is the broader issue that it highlights in this nation- an issue
3/ that is always lurking beneath the surface of so much of our discourse - whether it is "worth it" to spend money on our schools, "worth it" to fund a health care system, "worth it" ...to cover the other basic needs required for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
4/ The issue is that we don& #39;t seem to inherently value lives; at least not all of them. Some lives only matter if they have a clear contribution to the bottom line. We can& #39;t just look at a look at a proposal like Cotton& #39;s and just say - it& #39;s racist and therefore plain wrong. We
5/ instead get all wrapped up in trying to quantify the benefits and costs of that racism to decide if it& #39;s "worth it." A few years ago I listened to a @Radiolab More Perfect episode that I found upsetting, not because I think it& #39;s wrong, but because I think it& #39;s right, and...
6/ therefore kinda sad. The episode is called "One Nation, Under Money," and is about the Commerce Clause in the US Constitution. Those 16 words are what we& #39;ve used to make decisions about all kinds of social issues ranging from racial discrimination to https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/radiolab-presents-more-perfect-one-nation-under-money">https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/...
7/ domestic violence. What makes me sad is that, as @JadAbumrad
put it, "hopefully we& #39;re Americans with principles that matter, you know? That we- we believe in equality, we believe in racial justice. But really we just believe in money."
That& #39;s what& #39;s frustrating about the
put it, "hopefully we& #39;re Americans with principles that matter, you know? That we- we believe in equality, we believe in racial justice. But really we just believe in money."
That& #39;s what& #39;s frustrating about the
