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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Sage
Views
By Smokey Briggs
Anti-discrimination
laws cost too much
and accomplish zero
I have an announcement to make: human beings will be biased against each
another until the final blast on the trumpet.
Religion, race, nationality, dialect, sexual orientation, gender, what
part of the country you are from, what schools you did or did not attend,
who your mama was — boys and girls, this will never go away. It is
part of the human condition and you cannot legislate humanity or inhumanity.
Currently the United States Senate is considering a bill that will outlaw
considering a person's sexual orientation when making decisions about hiring,
firing, salary and promotions.
Anti-sexual orientation is the latest child of Mr. And Mrs. Utopia in
their never-ending effort to rid the world of that which they deem not nice
no matter the hopelessness of the cause or the price of supporting their
babies.
The absolute futility of these laws irks me almost as much as the true
price tag to American business.
Just how do you prove someone fired you because you are homosexual unless
he writes it down or shouts it across the office as he sails your pink slip-made-into-a-paper-airplane
toward your desk?
You do not. In 99.9 percent of discrimination cases the "proof" is more
in the allegation of discrimination rather than real evidence. But the bean-counters'
union runs like rabbits whenever they smell a possible lawsuit and settling
a case no matter a lack of evidence seems to have become the norm.
Will this law actually affect any real protection for homosexuals?
No.
If I am really prejudiced against homosexuality and really want you out
of my business I can find a way to fire you and never so much as frown in
your direction. I can probably make you want to quit long before I sail your
paper airplane pink slip across the office.
Just like any other manager or business owner in the country.
The law will not protect anyone.
But what will it cost?
Plenty, just as all the other children of the Utopia marriage have.
American business is jumping off the American ship in droves.
Why?
Because doing business in America is expensive.
Why?
Government regulations and goofy laws.
Goofy laws like this one that do not protect anyone but will add another
level of paper work to the mountain inside the files of the human resources
eggheads and will create jobs for attorneys and anyone who gets fired, happens
to be homosexual, and did not enjoy being fired.
Will it matter if the person were fired for legitimate reasons?
Nope.
Corporate America will run for cover rather than take their chances in
court. The cash register will ring. Company profits will drop.
Eventually some bright young star on the corporate ladder will do a cost
of doing business comparison between America and two or three third-world
nations and discover that the profit line will triple if they move the manufacturing
process to a country that still considers mules first-class transportation.
At that point America will make one more payment toward supporting the
Utopia kids and take one more step toward entering the Third World as an
equal partner.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:
smokey@pecos.net
Our View
Get involved Pecos
It is Rodeo time Pecos. It seems that we save all the fun stuff in Pecos
for the 4th of July: Rodeo, Golden Girl, Little Miss Cantaloupe,
Windmill Square Players, Dances at the Sheriff's Posse, Night in Old Pecos,
Old Timers' Reunion.
For a sleepy little town in West Texas the week of the 4th
is quite a production. Considering the quality and scale of this effort Pecos
ought to be very proud of this week. Towns twice this size would be hard
pressed to put on such a show.
If you talk with almost anyone who is involved with the production of
these events right now they will probably grumble and cuss the day they volunteered.
In about a week the grumbling and cussing will begin to fade.
Being a part of this production really can be fun. Granted, it is a lot
of work if you are holding up your end, but generally the folks involved
are good people to be around and work with.
If you are not somehow involved in the production of all of this, getting
involved is worth a moment's thought.
It is good for your community. Pecos without these events would be far
less fun to live in.
More than likely, all of this will be even more fun if you have a hand
in the creation of it.
Return to top
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
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Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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