Go long on diversity. Short racism. In investing, going "long" refers to buying. Shorting refers to selling. To be well off, you long (buy) what you think will appreciate over time. To avoid losing, you short what you think will depreciate over time. These financial concepts can be applied well to the world of political science and sociology. In that context, the best possible advice is to go long on diversity and short racism.
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Racism represents the past. Diversity represents the future.
Racism is a socio economic system based on the ill and primitive concept of race. In reality, all humans are members of the same race, the human race. Humans inherit the physical traits of their recent ancestors. The environmental and mostly climatological factors in different regions around the globe caused different adaptations in skin, hair, facial profile, and body mass composition of humans. Most of these adaptations evolved to deal with one key factor: climate.
For example, in locations with a high annual index of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, skin pigmentation became darker. In locations with low annual UV index plus cold weather requiring folks to cover their skins with animal fur coats, skin got paler. UV radiation also caused changes in hair texture. Pigmentation loss also affected eye color. Air thickness and humidity levels affected nostril shapes, and so on. These primitive adaptations and mutations are still useful today to protect you from the weather on days at the beach or working outdoors, but are mostly irrelevant for everything else.
Dark or pale
Whether you are dark or pale, you are still a human primate like everyone other human on the planet. We are 7 billion plus storytelling primates, all members of the same race, the human race. The climatological adaptations faced by our primitive ancestors do not define us. It is useless and unproductive to keep dividing humans based on so-called "racial" categories. That was convenient to justify exploitation and colonization, but nothing else.
Ancient humans did not know much if anything about UV radiation, climate change, or anything else. These people based their beliefs in mythological stories and folk inferences. Every tribe fought for its own, waging incessant wars against neighbors under the classic "us vs them" construct of tribalism. Most wars were between neighbors of the same "race". As civilizations expanded regionally and globally, tribalism extended into racism.
Mental trap
When people see themselves as members of different "races", the old "us vs. them" tribalism kicks in, and wakes up the reptilian part of the brain together with its fight or flight mechanism. To this date, even educated people fall into the cultural trap of conceptualizing humanity as divided in "races". That probably creates more harm than good.
Every time that we fall into the cultural trap of referring to people as "white", "black", and so on we are technically being racist and contributing to racism. Of course, not all racism is created equal. Today we mostly call racists those people who want to go back in time to re-impose the colonial era supremacy of one "race" over another. For example, "white" supremacists around the world (e.g. Putin) and MAGA folks here (e.g. Trump) emulate Hitler into wanting to impose the supremacy of one race over another.
Racism is unproductive
The problem with racism is not only that it is fundamentally unfair, but that it is also unproductive. Racism is unfair because people do not choose their race. People are born into a "race" without choice. "White" supremacists want to keep or reinstate the privileges that their ancestors won from killing and colonizing. Racism is also unproductive because by definition it limits access to privilege to a certain group to the exclusion of others. When these "others" do not have incentives to work and produce to their maximum potential because they cannot obtain rewards, we all lose.
We are better off developing a society that promotes the flourishing of all members regardless of the primitive climatological adaptations of their recent ancestors went through. We say "recent" ancestors because going back enough all ancestral roads lead to Africa, the motherland of humanity. Not only are all humans members of the same race, but we are all of humans of African descent.
It's time to end racism once and for all.
Promoting diversity is the best investment of all times. With everyone contributing to their maximum potential, we are all better off. Ending racism can be the best investment of your life.
Food for thought. What do you think?
--TakeSlap.com
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