Re: Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?v

[doug@netcom.com (Doug Merritt)]

tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
>Freedom to associate, to pick one's friends and customers, and all
>that.
>
>Yes, I even support the radical idea that stores can refuse service to
>purple Martians, to Lesbian cats, to homeless bums, to blacks,
>whatever. We may not like it, but freedom to pick one's associates is
>as fundamental a right as one can imagine.

On that subject: my company receives substantial money from a government
agency (that prefers that we call it "DARPA" in public), to develop
technologies that are up our alley but not otherwise commercially viable.
That is, they're paying us to adapt our commercial technology to
applications that don't pay off in the market place, because they want
those non-viable applications for their own use.

As a result of this, it turns out that the government requires all
contractors and subcontractors to undergo not just financial audits,
but also Equal Opportunity Employment audits.

In preparing for an audit of that sort, we discovered that, not only
is it a Bad Thing to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, etc, etc,
which we all know by now, but it is also a Bad Thing to discriminate
on the basis of *personality*. To turn away an interviewee because they
would not fit into the existing group personality-wise apparently is
a Very Bad Thing Indeed.

I was flabbergasted. I had no idea that political correctness of this
extreme had been enshrined into federal policy.

On the flip side of the issue, I admit that I can see the point that
even...ah...personality-challenged people need to work so they can eat.
But still...yikes!

There go your "fundamental rights". Granted this (as far as I know) only
applies to government contractors at the moment. But what do you want to
bet but that this will soon apply to all businesses?
	Doug