Does diversity in the workplace ensure workplace equality?

No

5 of 10

by Michael Greaney

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Throughout history in countless milieux, right-thinking people have tried to ensure that everyone is treated in a manner befitting the demands of human dignity, that is, equally before the law, and with equity in our relations with others. How different cultures understand and apply human dignity may vary widely, but there are certain basic principles that necessarily apply for a social environment to be considered just. Nowhere is this more critical than in the workplace, the milieu within which most people spend the greater part of their lives.

While the applications of basic principles of human dignity are as diverse as people themselves, this does not, in and of itself, lead to people being treated in an equitable manner. We can, in fact, mistakenly take diversity as the basic principle, rather than as an example of how different we can all be while adhering to the same basic principles and remaining as fully human as everyone else. If we mistake diversity as the principle, instead of as an indication that a principle is being adhered to, we run into serious problems.

Thus, if diversity in the workplace is based on and supported by whatever essential principles we believe are necessary to establish and maintain a just and fair work environment, it is all to the good, and should be encouraged. If, on the other hand, diversity in the workplace is not based on and supported by whatever essential principles we believe are necessary to establish and maintain a just and fair work environment, then diversity (at least in that instance) must be discouraged, even actively prohibited.

For example, having people of different religions and races all working together peacefully and harmoniously in a business toward a common goal is probably a good indication that the basic principle of respect for human dignity is in place and respected. To the extent that the goals of the business are enhanced by encouraging such "cooperative diversity," diversity should be promoted.

If, however, you have people who, on the grounds of an artificial diversity, claim equality and membership in the organization, yet their diversity is based on something other than the basic principles of human dignity, this should probably be discouraged, not encouraged or promoted. Such people would be inserting an unnecessary and counterproductive divisiveness and conflict into the workplace, from which the business might find it difficult to recover.

A business would, for example, probably be considered a victim of injustice if it were forced to hire someone whose basic philosophy was directly contrary to that of the business. For example, a butcher shop should never be forced to hire a committed vegan, while a devout polygamist would not be a good choice as therapist for a monogamous marriage counseling service.

This leads us to the question as to just what are the basic principles that must exist before true diversity can exist, and benefit both the individuals in the workplace and the business as a whole. Fortunately, the wisdom of the ages, distilled throughout thousands of years of human history in all times and places, has given us at least four basic precepts:

One, everyone has a right to life.

Two, everyone has a right to liberty ("free association").

Three, everyone has the right to own, individually or in association with others.

Four, everyone has the right to acquire and develop virtue, the "habit of doing good" ("pursuit of happiness").

Of these, the one many people claim a forced or artificial diversity violates is freedom of association. Sometimes this is valid. In our example of the butcher shop and the vegan, we would have to question, and question very seriously, why a vegan would insist on working in a butcher shop.

Many times, however, this is not valid. A black female who is denied employment on the grounds of "freedom of association" because the staff consists exclusively of white males is being unfairly discriminated against. The physical differences between black women and white men do not ordinarily have anything to do with job performance or result in a conflict of basic values.

If diversity does not ensure workplace equality (or, more accurately, equitability or equality of opportunity, not results), however, what does?

We find the answer in the third item on our list, the universal ("inalienable") right every human being has by nature to equal access to the means of acquiring and possessing private property in the means of production. From the earliest times people have realized, as American statesman Daniel Webster stated in 1820 (echoing thousands of years of thought on the subject), that, "power naturally and necessarily follows property."

An owner, especially a worker who is an owner, has the natural right to be treated the same as everyone else as an owner. Further, ownership confers rights, and thus power to enforce those rights, backed up by the coercive power of the State, if necessary. The State itself is founded on the necessity of protecting the life, liberty, and property of all its citizens. The State cannot, if it wishes to retain its own credibility and justification, undermine or abolish the exercise of private property for anyone for any reason other than as punishment for the commission of a crime of which someone has been duly convicted.

Diversity? By all means . . . but let's not forget what is really important: empowerment of the individual and the strengthening of social bonds through widespread direct ownership of the means of production, and the promotion and protection of that right by private enterprise and the State.

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