A Note on “Equity” and Captured Institutions

Blink twice if your organization has been taken over by Marxists!

I get a lot of emails asking for money or other forms of support to different groups. Many requests are for worthy causes, some of which I support monetarily or by speaking. Some are for not-so-worthy causes, and that’s fine. But there’s nothing more disappointing than a message from an institution I otherwise liked, polluted by the language of Marxism. And there’s no quicker tell than the use of “equity,” the elevation of which over “equality” represents almost perfectly the line between aspirational liberalism and proto-Communism.

https://x.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1794255316374487119

As Jordan puts it, the language of equity is more subtle than previous versions of Marxist politics. But it’s the same ideas all the way down. Because of that, if an institution starts bragging about its commitment to “equity,” the odds are that it has been conquered by bad ideas and their adherents. At that point, the leaders of the institution face a choice: correct course and eliminate those ideas and staff entirely, or play along until it’s too late, telling themselves that “equity” is well-meaning, or that it doesn’t mean what we all understand it to mean in the world of DEI and the woke mind virus.

“Equity” as the pursuit of equal outcomes is not well-meaning. It is at odds with the American idea of equality, equal rights, and equal treatment under law. Ibram Kendi, the father of “anti-racism” makes this quite clear, saying that “racial discrimination is not inherently racist. The defining question is whether the discrimination is creating equity or inequity. If discrimination is creating equity, that is antiracist.” He said, most infamously, that “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Kendi’s ideas have taken over numerous governments, NGOs, universities, and even companies. In particular, his worldview now dominates large swathes of the federal bureaucracy. Many federal departments now have “equity” strategies to seek equal outcomes. Take it from VP nominee Kamala Harris in 2020: “Equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place.”

As VP, Harris said this: “Ours is an administration that is always focused on ‘equity.’” Some people, in order to avoid the awkward position of defending “equity” as a proto-Communist goal, offer novel definitions of the term altogether. Take Mark Cuban, who gives his idea of equity:

Treating people equally does not mean treating them the same. I made the mistake for a lot of years thinking it did.

Equity is a core principle of business. Put your employees in a position to succeed. Recognize their differences and play to their strengths where ever possible. It is not a hard concept. But it is not easy to implement. Most workforces don't have the depth of management to do this well. When it's not done well it can create tension and resentment.

“Put your employees in a position to succeed” is simply not the meaning of “equity” as understood by the DEI sector, or our government, or universities, or anyone except Mark Cuban, really. VP Harris said it herself: it means we all end up at the same place. Obviously, that is not equality of opportunity, or setting people up for success. Still, in the abstract, it can be difficult to see why ideas of “equity” cause so much damage throughout society. So, here are some vignettes about what equity means in practice. 

I: UCLA medical school, where equity became the supreme value in both admission and curriculum: “Students spend three to four hours every other week in ‘Structural Racism and Health Equity,’ a required class that covers topics like ‘fatphobia,’ has featured anti-Semitic speakers, and is now the subject of an internal review.” 

One moment, you accept the pursuit of “equity” as well-intended, and the next moment “fatphobia” is being taught at a school of medicine where the students are admitted based on race, not merit. And the results? The Washington Free Beacon reports: 

“Nearly a fourth of UCLA medical students in the class of 2025 have failed three or more shelf exams, data from the school show, forcing some students to repeat classes and persuading others to postpone a different test, the Step 2 licensing exam, that is typically taken in the third year of medical school and is a prerequisite for most residency programs…

"It's a combination of a bad curriculum and bad selection," another professor said, referring to the admissions process. Some students are accepted with GPAs so low "they shouldn't even be applying."

II: California’s K-12 math education, where the pursuit of “equitable student mathematics success” means ending Algebra for 8th graders because students don’t have equal math skills. One moment, you accept “equity” as a benign goal, and the next moment, no more advanced math for bright kids — who are largely in the “wrong” groups of Asians and Jews. The result, of course, is not “equality of opportunity” let alone equal outcomes. It is the end of merit, which is a worse outcome for everyone.

III: The federal Department of Transportation pledges to “continuously provide resources to embed equity, civil rights, and social justice initiatives into the Department’s decision-making processes—including meaningful public involvement—and ensue that equity is a core part of the Department’s mission and culture.” 

What happens when you embed social justice into the decision making process of a bureaucracy spending hundreds of billions of dollars, allegedly on infrastructure? On CBS this past weekend, DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg was confronted with the fact that with $7.5 billion in funding, just “seven or eight” EV charging stations have been built by the federal government.

Does this price tag surprise you? It shouldn’t. When equity is the highest priority, complete project failure is A-Okay. The Department of Transportation extolls an “equitable planning process” to “ensure that a project’s benefits and costs are fairly distributed throughout the community, including to low-income communities, communities of color, and the disability community.” The types of “equity” cited by the DOT are numerous: energy equity, transport equity, distributional equity, procedural equity, recognition equity, and others. 

IV: The California High Speed Rail Authority brags that “225 Certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises” have been contracted to work on the train, and that “equity” is one of its core values in building a train. In reality, of course, “equity” is core to its project of not building a train! Over $20 billion has been spent so far — with no real timeline and a ballooning cost estimate of over $120 billion. But again: failure and an obsession with equity are compatible, as long as the money for the project is funneled to the “right” places. 

Returning to where we started: an institution is asking for money while announcing its commitment to “equity.” If a culture doesn’t aim for excellence and competence, it will tend to be not excellent and not competent. All throughout society we’re seeing the consequences of this drift. Just this week: a $320 million “floating aid pier” in Gaza that sinks repeatedly and doesn’t deliver any aid to civilians, only to terrorists — A horrible idea executed terribly, as Sen. J.D. Vance put it. We are still the most powerful country in the world, but are in danger of becoming a laughingstock to our adversaries if we don’t hire the very best and hold people accountable, regardless of their race or background.

Even minor indulgences in the concept of equity signal that the institution isn’t totally focused on achieving its mission. Any institution that wants to play a positive role in the world has to take the side of competence, be clear about it, and withstand the offense of the easily-offended in our society who complain that you “need an equity plan.” Everything hangs in the balance. Without competence and excellence, without property rights and dynamic markets, we will fall into decay and millions will suffer. If “equity” is the lodestar, all of those things can be sacrificed, and will be. We are in the midst of a battle for our civilization; the radical left has been fighting to win, and the rest of us have been mostly on the sidelines. If you’re not on the side of the incompetent commies, then stop supporting organizations that parrot terrible ideas like “equity”, and speak up!