I just came back from my class, one of my classes and wanted to make this episode. And then I watched for some reason, I watched the novel, this Snapchat story. And now I have even more reasons too. So why does America, I believe America keep getting diversity wrong?
So what is diversity? Well, in one of my classes today, we had slides on what university is supposed to be. And to really give it justice, I'm going to pull up the slide right now. So there were dimensions of diversity.
So this is not supposed to take. And so there were biological factors and secondary dimensions. The biological factors were sexual orientation, race, gender, physical ability, age and ethnicity. It's like, huh, that's interesting.
So it's all physical, superficial stuff that can change how you experience life, but doesn't get to the bottom of it, how you experience life. People with the same age, experience life different, people with the same ethnicity, experience life different, people with the same gender experience life differently. So I was like, okay, maybe they're going to put like a pinion or something in secondary dimensions. And I didn't write all of them down, but you'll see why, because it was location, religion, just things like this, like if you have two parents or the gender of your parents.
And it just clicks for me. Why does America or the United States keep getting diversity wrong? Because the United States completely confuses opinions and actual experiences with traits. Why do I mean by that?
In diversity, what you'll hear is that, in the US is that diversity is having people from different backgrounds, with different physical abilities, different ethnicities, different skin colors and all. That's great and all. And if you do that, you're more likely to have different opinions on things, different views. But it's still, it infers that if you get someone with different races that you're going to automatically get two different opinions, or that if you get two people with the same race, you're going to get the same opinion.
And that's a straight up dumb thing to think. That's such a dumb thing to think. Why? Well, hey, I'm white.
I'm also French. My culture is very, very, very different from American culture in many ways, where in France we're more abstract than kind of the, down to a kind of material. And I'm not saying that negatively, but more materialistic American culture. In France we're more abstract.
We have a different language, which means that our perspective on life is completely different because what we based our perspective on the language itself differs greatly from the language in the United States. So I was watching in class and we had to kind of say why cultural categories we put ourselves in. I didn't want to write anything because what other people wrote was like single college student, their political affiliation. But here's the thing, just because culturally I'm French does not mean I'm going to have the same opinion as any French person and thus just putting two French people in the same group.
Like you can call that diversity because we might have completely different opinions. And what fucking blows my mind is that we're learning that dimensions of diversity are traits and not actual experiences. That's insane. Because that's saying like, oh, so to get diversity, you need to basically just know what a person is.
And from that you can conclude that they have different opinions than someone different than them. So basically that's saying that if you take a person and like if you take two neighbors, let's say you're in a white neighborhood and like it's a white neighborhood and like Raleigh or something because that's where I'm from in North Carolina. And basically you have two couples next to each other like neighbors and each other kid. And their kid is seven years old.
The kid is a guy, is a boy and obviously the kid's white, if it's a white couple. If the kid's not adopted. So what you're saying is that those two kids are basically identical. Because if I look at my dimensions of diversity, they have the same race, they have the same gender, they have about the same background, not when it comes to the actual experiences themselves but like that completely ignores it honestly, what we learned in that class.
But it's the same location. So what you're saying is that on our dimensions of diversity scale, putting those two kids together will not be diverse because those two kids are basically identical biologically and in the secondary dimensions, the social factor dimensions. So basically it's the same person. So it's not diverse.
Like what the hell? Diversity to me first is diversity of opinion, diversity of experiences. First it's experiences and opinions. Then that's all it is.
That's all diversity should be. Because when you get down to it, why are all those dimensions of diversity trying to get up? This is a long one but this is something that makes me extremely pissed off. So I'm going to keep going and I'll see where it takes me.
Because what this qualms to me is trying to get to. It's clumsy and I think it's ineffective but what I really hope, I really hope it tries to get to is differences of experiences. And I think people get so caught up in the appearance side of it that they forget that it boils down to, actually it boils down to diversity of opinions, diversity of opinions and experiences. Because it's just opinions actually because diversity of experiences can lead oftentimes to the diversity of opinions but not always.
Because just because two people have different backgrounds does not mean they have completely different opinions. And this is what really, really, really pisses me off about this. Is that whole diversity talk tries to be about letting more people in and taking in and being more open-minded but it's not. And I offer listening to different opinions.
That's all I love to do that. Most of the time I talk a lot but this is my outlet so I talk a lot here. But in real life when I don't talk I'm constantly listening. I can listen to where people come from and what they believe in even if it's completely opposite of me.
I can listen to that for hours and I have. That's the thing. That's not just something I say I have done that. I have stayed up until 7.30 a.m.
with people just listening to them and shining in sometime to try to get to the bottom of something I heard them saying to get to the bottom of why they believe what they believe. That's what I like to do. I don't care to know where they know that's not true. I don't care to judge how I'm going to judge someone just based on appearances.
It's such oh my god. And so don't don't buy into the diversity because that's a very American thing. Believe it or not that's very American. I don't like to be judgmental.
I really don't. But usually I've gotten good at telling when someone has never left the US or at least never been to merge in another country because the way the like very left and even right actually like I'm talking about like extreme left and right leaning people in this country think about some things it's very materialistic meaning it's very appearance based. It's not based on like who someone actually is. It's based on who someone what someone looks like and what their label is.
And the thing that pisses me off is when people try to label other people and then think first. I don't I don't call myself an agnostic anymore because I don't feel like that completely encompasses how I feel about religion. Right. And I don't consider myself a liberal or a Republican because I have beliefs from both parties.
Right. Now what does that make me? Can I enter a conversation and still have the conversation diverse just because I don't put a label on myself? Can I?
Well I don't know because from those biological factors and secondary dimensions. Oh yeah because secondary dimensions of diversity one of them was politics. Well guess what you don't have to have a label on yourself just to enter a political discussion. Like there's two sides there's liberal and conservatives conservatives and that's already independent but that's already insane to me that it's still just two sides.
But on top of that you're going to tell me that we have to use those labels to determine if like something is diverse or not. But the hell can't you just listen to someone else's opinion and not worry about oh are the labels diverse because that's that's that's extremely materialistic. It's not listening to someone like worrying about diversity that much the appearance the superficial aspects of diversity not true diversity because I like true diversity. I like listening to opinions that aren't mine.
I love that shit. I love it because when I listen to something that's not my opinion and that kind of makes me think about my own opinion it makes me think deeper about the things that I might take for granted. So my opinion is being changed a lot on important issues because I've listened to people that I might not agree with or thought I didn't agree with or just didn't understand that. The opinion of but no no before you even start a conversation you need to worry about is it diverse or not.
Well let me tell you something no no you need to first listen to someone that's it that's that's literally just it that's like why can't Jesus I don't know how long this is going to be but I'm letting it all out 12 minutes like why can't we just focus on getting along and finding where we can make bridges oh yeah because I haven't talked about this yet I was watching this stupid now this video I'm gonna make a political I'm gonna get a little bit political because I like messing with both sides and politics I don't really affiliate I don't really associate with either liberals or conservatives so let's piss off everyone you know what I mean all right I'm just kidding but remember when before Trump was elected the very liberal media is I don't remember which ones or maybe I think it was Hillary maybe herself I don't remember don't quote me said oh yeah if Hillary's elected conservatives are never gonna accept Hillary as being president well it's been two years and and the very liberal media is not everyone just the very liberal media is are still going on and on and on about the fact that we're stunned that Trump is elected oh new slash I don't like Trump I don't but this is not helpful just bitching and moaning about the fact that that that the very not very competent guy is into office just bitching and moaning about it does not help at all it doesn't help at all and it was there was this whole video about voting and the video this this this guy is itself as you should go out and vote but that's not what the video was actually about because when you watch it it's about again all those outward appearance things oh we're gonna have the first this and okay before I continue I want to say one thing I am not a fan of gender roles at all I've talked I've told this story before but when my low sister she's in fifth right now when my low sister was in fourth grade I think she wanted to play basketball but all the guys played basketball and no girls played basketball and the guys went really letter and my parents my other sister and I just told her and pushed her hey if that's what you want to do do it there's no boys can tell you what to do if you want to do something do it that's where I stand on gender roles if you're a woman and you want to do something where a few women that few women do but if you want to do it just do it I have nothing against it if you're a guy and you want to do something that mainly women do and not many men do do it I don't care but there is a reason that some things are mainly done by women and some things are mainly done by men on average that doesn't mean every men is gonna want to do it that doesn't mean every women is gonna want to do it there's just something there there's a reason and what that video was saying was you should go out and vote why should you go on and vote because you could elect the first blah blah the first congressman that's this this and that and it was all appearance qualities well it was in one secondary factor they were all Democrats like it's it's now this what do you expect so it wasn't diversity it was disguising itself as diversity but it was purely super official things it was people with dual nationalities and and and like the first women congressman and again I have nothing against women congressmen it's just that the only thing that those guys were advertising is the fact that women why should I want to vote for someone because they have good fucking ideas and they do them and they act on their promises that's why I want to vote for someone oh are they women great I'll vote for them are they men great I will I'll vote for them I don't care about their gender I don't I care about their ideas and if they do things and you know what you know what maybe if they're a woman and there's there like I'm in the state of course I can't vote but if they're women they have good ideas they act on them and they're in the state where no women congressman have been elected before I'll be like cool you know we're making history but I'm not going to vote for them just based on their gender that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard that's such that's and again that's American I've only lived in the in France for like 12 years but still I've never I've I've never seen maybe maybe times are changing in France I doubt it but maybe times are changing and some people are adopting this mindset I've legitimately never seen such an obsession with superficial and visual tricks to determine what someone is now we're humans so we're gonna judge based on what we can see and perceive first but god damn like we're talking about politics and you're telling me to go vote because there can be someone who's the there's always gonna be a first something always always always always that's not what the veracity is I really I really hope I really hope that I really fired up I really hope that what those liberal very very far left medias are trying to achieve with diversity is not just visual diversity because that's the stupidest thing I've ever I've ever heard I really hope that what they're trying to achieve is diversity of opinion even though I know that a lot of them don't want diversity of opinion they don't that's both on the right and the left they don't want diversity of opinion they want their opinion but I really hope I still hope maybe I'm delusional that they don't just want visual diversity that deep down like the reason why is because they want diversity of opinion and they're doing it terribly absolutely terribly but still I still feel like I have a lot to say but I'll leave it for another episode this was a more heated one as always take what I say with the grain of salt and my opinions are not stagnant but this is something I've believed for a long time and I don't the core opinion that diversity is not just visual that's that it's literally the dumbest thing I've heard and I think I will stand by the same I will talk with anyone who wants to discuss that with me I will I'll listen to them I'll hear where they're like coming from but please please really is I can really usually tell when someone's not left the US once and have been listening to that narrative all their lives because they will assume a lot of things based on someone's appearance and what I've learned is that you will be surprised and you will you will make assumptions that you will regret deeply in your life if your opinion on someone is always first based on on appearance oh one last thing we are humans we judge based on appearance I do that I also judge based on what I hear someone say first I try not to follow it too much because I know it gets it gets faulty sometimes but we can't help judging people based on what we can perceive first I'm not denying that what I'm saying is that that should not be something that you follow so closely that judgment is not something you should use on a regular basis to determine your whole college curriculum dimensions of diversity that's I didn't want to copy that I didn't want to copy the secondary dimensions all right like when I realized that there wasn't even the word opinion in the diverse dimensions of diversity I my mind was blown because I thought that the that when you said we need diversity of race and age and ethnicity I thought that meant we need that because they have different different experiences oftentimes and then they have um differences of opinions so thus if we get people of different gender and race and ethnicity we get difference of opinion but no that's not what it is I haven't seen the word opinion in all the sides that we watched today and it's nothing against my professors or especially not against the RA RA's but goddamn like oh my god oh thank you for listening and have a great day