Do you think I am eligible? Perhaps I should just be an associate member. Each person has a passion for detail. In a diverse World, various life-forms interact and work together as equals. Men and women work side by side and even sometimes there are dogs hired as a species to comfort, guide, and protect human. Sometimes birds are even put to work, alongside humans, to make sure a mine is safe, and the air in your house is breathable. However, some who may seem intelligent make irrational generalizations about other lifeforms and genders. Sexism and racism echoes throughout America, even though it is supposed to be an egalitarian society. The news is so frequently reporting on racism, gender bias, and animal abuse to alert the public that deviant behavior is counterproductive and disrupts social and economic progress.  In certain situations, we all are considered minorities, even white men.

Some with antiquated ideas believe that if women and ethnic minorities could think for themselves that they would eliminate other segments of the population. All members of the human and animal population can move, have audio capabilities, but just by looking at them we are not always able to determine their physical or mental states. No matter what jobs they are assigned many women, men, and animals excel at the task at hand because they are properly trained for the job and have relevant experience. There are African American doctors, women lawyers, dogs as police officers, and Caucasian basketball players, for instance; and they are can make the decisions necessary to build a long term career.

Some people think that just because some take jobs that others many not think is suitable for them that they should be paid less or simply be overlooked in the hiring process. And many people believe that there is white privilege in America (white men are preferred in all situations and positions), but that is not always true. Some women actors are paid less their male counterparts, and some say it is because they do not have as many action scenes or may need time off for maternity leave. Others say African American men do not make good managers, are not good with money, and should have service jobs. And in many low income housing projects, young white men are overlooked when they apply because several people do not feel they qualify because of their perceived privilege. Then there are people who do not think dogs should be allowed in restaurants as guides because of sanitary issues.

Is it unusual that people have these opinions? Likely not. People make judgments about people without knowing their plans, intelligence levels, or physical abilities, and I can understand not everyone is dog friendly, but I have never heard of a dog having bedbugs. I think it is going to take a while to fully integrate dogs into society, however. For people to overcome their generalizations and stereotypes, they need to find a place where they can freely interact with others and express their concerns, and have a chance to talk them out. However, some people label others because the individual being judgmental has an agenda. So sometimes people discriminate not because of inexperience, but because they have an agenda. Therefore, it is easy to think people are stupid if you cannot understand them.

Frequent exposure to other people and cultures can increase empathy. Yet, you have to understand, some people know that they are not best suited for the job, but try to stay a majority because they want to give benefits to their people. And many of you might blame white men for doing this, but black people do the same thing. Sometimes when blacks come into powerful positions, you will notice a shift in the culture of the company. If it is a public company, where you do not have shareholders and performance obligations, it is easier to hire people who may not be qualified for the job, and even replace people who have been with the company long term because there is no one auditing records and expense accounts. So you will start noticing professional whites being replaced by blacks with untraditional hairstyles, and you may even hear gangster rap playing while they are working.

In a private corporation, maximizing profits and productivity is essential. Jay Z, an African American rapper recently became co-owner of a professional baseball team. Many people were upset about this because I believe Jay Z was the first non-Caucasian to own a sports team. However, his money was green and it paid the bills so people got over their feelings. Under his direction, the sports team went on to continue to be great. Reese Witherspoon is a Caucasian American Oscar winning actress. If you win an Oscar, you are known to be one of the best at your job. However, there are many who believe that because Reese Witherspoon is woman that she should automatically make less than a man. Nonetheless, she is noted to be one of the best actresses in Hollywood and many of the top performers can make about $20 million USD for each film.

Also, so Matthew Ryan be denied income based housing because he is Caucasian? Many would argue, “Yes, because he can get a job everywhere and everyone loves white people.” However, discrimination is illegal, and if he qualifies, then one segment of the population should not be entitled to receive all the discounts the government offers to those who may need temporary help. There are others who are just lazy and looking for discounts and are preferred because of the color of their skin. And all of the sudden, you will see an influx of people from other areas and the culture of the neighborhood changes.

This is also a reason people do not want to accept refugees because 76 percent of them tend to disproportionately take housing and government benefits leaving citizens with no assistance, even though they have paid taxes, and may have gotten injured, which caused their income to decrease substantially.  And while these long term legal citizens are struggling to pay bills and trying to hide their financial problems from their friends, others are getting discounted rent and paid to stay home, watch TV, and run amuck in once prestigious neighborhoods, terrorizing peaceful citizens.

Before we make decisions about people, we not only want to know how intelligent they are, but another important questions to ask is whether or not they can feel emotions, suffering, pain, and if they have empathy for us? It our culture, we often see people who are highly educated, but they have no emotions. They do not care about the people they hurt because they have an agenda. In our everyday understanding of psychology, many typically think of reason and emotion as two different things. Still, that is not always the case. When looking at mental states things become more complex.

To some, motivation, desire, suspicion, interest, and intuitions are also considered emotions. So before you hire or elect someone based on race, culture, sex, or gender, figure out their mental state, think about the feasibility of intelligence without emotion. Just because someone looks like you, or you think represents you, remember, they may not like you and their goals could be totally different than yours. There is a big difference between behaving professionally, and actually being professional. Try to get a sense for a person and see if they actually care or are pretending to care. Do they really feel anything for you or the things that you care about, or are they just looking to make this money, and flip the script?

During an interview or conversation, you may want to ask questions that make people uncomfortable. Many people give general answers or intelligent answers, but do not really understand what they are saying, or are just trying to evade the subject, and impress you. So sometimes it might help you to play the Mock Trial Game, in which you give them a situation, and ask them if they were in your position, how would they handle it? The good thing about the test is you can get a feel for not only a person’s intelligence and mental state, but you also can detect their agenda.

The smaller partners in alliances can be sure that if they do not write their own histories their individual experiences will be written very small in the pages of recorded history, if only because it is not easy for the historians of the larger partners to find out much about that experience, and they are to chronicle it only in a broad and general way. For example, everyone was so happy to have the first black Mayor of a certain city. However, when a journalist sound down to interview him, and asked what are your plans for our great city, the prospective mayor told the reporter that he planned to drastically change the city, he wanted to fire people, audit records, cut budgets, and re-urbanize the downtown district, and implement gentrification in poverty stricken areas. He also stated that although he was not rich and famous, he had been a victim of racial profiling for driving his Ferrari through a low income neighborhood, with the music blasting, as at a high rate of speed.

For many, this sounded like a good plan and the mayor seemed like a great fit, but no one took into account all the suffering he would cause people because people did not take the concerns, abilities, or lifestyles of the historians into consideration; and if the mayor had an agenda or wanted revenge, a great deal of suffering would be inflicted on the city and its people. While it might seem like a good idea to stereotype and want to see the first this and that, we need to figure out people’s motivations and treat others fairly. Moving uncivilized people into a high rent district cost the city millions because of all the service calls. Pricing people out of poor neighborhoods increased dependency on the government. And you can read about the rest in the Sacramento News and Review.