Charles Brown:
> CB: If I follow you here, are you taking account of the fact
> that the University of Michigan is in court defending its
> affirmative action program, and GM has just come out "on the
> same side"as the U of Mich.
I was unclear. I was speaking more generically. Academic institutions have often shown remarkable ferocity in resisting Affirmative Action, especially in the case of faculty and high administrative positions, while their constituents have been pretty happy to recommend it for other institutions such as corporations, the military, and civilian government service. I suspect many corporate managers would like to return the compliment. In the case at hand, however, the University appears to be dealing with the composition of its student body. As in the lower levels of the corporate hierarchy, much less is at stake, and neither the university nor the corporation are giving much away. Rather, they're both resisting a third group who are putting off the university's game. My observation was regrettably irrelevant as well as confusing in the context.
The underlying issue is, I think, a conflict among the bourgeoisie as to whether the class system should be based on heredity or merit or some synthesis of the two.