To: SJWs, Stop Trying To Make Us A Socialist State
This piece is written in response to the Yale-NUS study about changing the primary 1 registration system to give privileges to low income families. Their suggestions include having spots reserved for those from low-income families and to limit the number of privileged students in each school.
It seems as if social movements and causes have become the “in” thing these days. Before you go any further with your movement, here are some reminders for all you Social Justice Warriors (SJWs).
❶ You need to remember that being disadvantaged is different from being penalized. The former means that you would have to fight harder to achieve the same goals, while the latter means that another actor in the system actively takes away resources from you. SJWs like to use the metaphor of having runners with different starting positions when describing privilege and meritocracy, but I’d like to paint a different picture. It is not about having different starting positions, it is that some runners are running without shoes, whilst others are able to afford gym memberships and professional trainers. A meritocratic system makes everyone run the same race from the same starting positions, ignoring the fact that some runners are disadvantaged. No one is being made to start at a different starting line. When you ask for extra concessions to be given to the poor, what you’re fighting for is for the disadvantaged to be given a head-start.
❷ You need to know that giving the disadvantaged a head-start has the same effects as penalizing everyone else just because they are not disadvantaged. Moreover, what SJWs are asking for, is also for those who are deemed as “overly privileged” to be penalized. In the above metaphor, what they are asking for is for those who have professional training to begin their race a little further back. Others, the “over privileged” with better gear are asked to run with their legs tied together. They are telling these “privileged” that they don’t deserve their status, and hence they should be punished for it. The effects of this is simple — the whole system is tilted in a way that predicates the position of the poor, reminding them constantly that as long as they remain poor, they will not be penalized. As long as they don’t receive professional training, they will be given a head-start.
❸ You need to consider those in the middle ground. I remember when I had to learn about the cons of a welfare state when I took social studies in secondary school, one of which is that it encourages a lower productivity. In the above race, those in the middle ground are asked to start at the normal starting line, whilst the disadvantaged are given a head start. This would encourage those in the middle ground, especially the not-so-poor who are too far from catching up with the “rich” but yet can’t be classified as “lower income”, to earn just a little less to acquire these benefits.
❹ You need to think about future possibilities. If we were to change the current system to fit the ideals that these SJWs have in mind, the poor who successfully escape the poverty cycle will be punished when they finally become privileged. The privileged may be encouraged to leave this race by moving to another country. The poor from other nations would be enticed to come. This would leave us with less available resources (e.g. taxable income), and more people to care for. This would also widen the disparity between rich and poor nations, where those who are rich/poor would consolidate in accordance with which nation penalizes them the least or which nation gives them the most advantages. Of course, these may seem to merely be hyperboles, but this is in line with what the SJWs are fighting for, an extreme.
❺ You need to recognize that everything is systemic. When SJWs fight against systems, what they are doing is asking for a new system, not removing it. Yet, this method of fighting against systemic flaws does not remove it, it merely creates new flaws. The ideas presented by the SJWs indicate a socialist system which actively penalizes the rich, discourages competition, and removes motivation. What we should be doing is finding ways to work around the current flaws. What we should be aiming for, is a system that penalizes no one.
Fighting for the weak, speaking up for the voiceless, and supporting those who don’t have support, no doubt these are all noble. Of course, we should fight for equality, where everyone is given the same pair of running shoes, or that everyone be given the opportunity to train for the race at the very least. However, fighting for the privileged to be tied down and for the underprivileged to be given a strong head-start and a myriad of other perks is overdoing it. Think a little bigger, a little deeper, and a little further. Stop trying to make us a socialist state.
