If you, or a loved one, needed to have open heart surgery to save your (their) life, what kind of surgeon would you want to perform the operation: a “young,” “inspirational” doctor, or an older one who has many, many years of experience and hundreds of such surgeries behind him? That isn’t a rhetorical question; it is a perfectly legitimate one given what Joe Biden is trying to do with America via “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
I don’t know what happened to the submersible that apparently imploded under the sea near the Titanic recently. I’m not trained in that field of nautical studies, so I cannot speak to the causes of that tragedy with proficiency. But I do know this: if I were to go down several hundred meters below the surface of the sea in such a contraption, I would want an expertly trained submariner at the helm, one who had plenty of experience, expertise, and calm in such situations. If I were standing near the submersible before departure, and a 25-year-old non-binary with a big smile on their face showed up to be the pilot, I’d probably take a pass on going down.
Again, I don’t know what happened, or why, to that Titan Sub. The people controlling it might have been the most capable in the world. I do know, though, of a recent report entitled, “Titan Sub: OceanGate CEO Didn’t Want to Hire ’50-Year-Old White Guys’ Because They’re Not ‘Inspirational’”. Within the report is a quote from OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, which he made in 2020. I think readers should have his full quote:
“When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub-operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old white guys.
“I wanted our team to be younger, to be inspirational, and I’m not going to inspire a 16-year-old to go pursue marine technology, but a 25-year-old, you know, who’s a sub pilot or a platform operator or one of our techs, can be inspirational.
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So we’ve really tried to get very intelligent, motivated, younger individuals involved because we’re doing things that are entirely new.
“We’re taking approaches that are used largely in the aerospace industry, related to safety and some of the preponderance of checklists, things we do for risk assessments and things like that, that are more aviation-related than ocean-related, and we can train people to do that. We can train someone to pilot the sub; we use a game controller so anybody can drive the sub.”
Aerospace industry? More “aviation-related” than “ocean-related”? Do what?
I want to emphasize here, in the strongest possible terms, that I am not blaming Stockton Rush, or anybody in that submersible, for the tragedy. The events are beyond my knowledge, and the most qualified person on earth might indeed have been in that Titan Sub. But I will say that what Rush said scares the pants off me, and I will never go down in one of his subs. I don’t want a “younger,” “inspirational” doctor to operate on my heart; I want the best-qualified person possible. Anybody who goes under the sea in a submersible should want the same pilot qualifications. And maybe that is what the situation was in the Titan. But Rush’s words indeed weren’t “inspirational” enough to “inspire” me to go into the water in an OceanGate submersible.
I don’t know what Rush believes about DEI. I just know that his words smell of DEI to me. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion” are not about merit. They are not about finding the best people to do a job. In some areas—flipping hamburgers—that may not be so important, though; when I was in America, I bought more than one “DEI” stacked hamburger that wasn’t even close to what I ordered. So be it. Young people need experience and need to learn the things a McDonald’s job can teach them (my first job was at a McDonald’s). I think that is an excellent beginning for “young,” “inspirational” people, maybe even 25-year-olds who are just getting out of their parent’s basement. DEI may be fine for cooking hamburgers, but it is NOT fine for driving submersibles in deadly situations or performing life-saving surgery. Or for leading a country or fighting wars against China or other nations who want to wipe America off the map of the world. In those situations, we need the best people possible, and I don’t care if every one of them is a “50-year-old white guy.” When my life is at stake, my concern is not the color, age, or gender of the person protecting me. All I want to know is: “Is that person qualified to save me?” That is the ONLY thing I care about. And if that person is only there because he/she punches the correct “DEI” Joe Biden bean-counting quota buttons, then I don’t want him/her anywhere near me. D-E-I could mean I D-I-E. Give me quality, ability, and merit—only and always.
DEI can be lethal otherwise.
Again, I insist I am not blaming DEI for the submersible tragedy. I just know that Stockton Rush’s philosophy sounds extremely dangerous to me. Yes, hire young people and train them; that is acceptable, of course. But in a life-threatening situation, make sure the most capable people are there, regardless of their age or anything else. That is my point. Such won’t always eliminate every possible mistake and mishap, but it would certainly minimize the possibility. That’s just common sense, something Biden and the Left have entirely thrown out the window in their lust to flush their Utopian sewage down our throats.
Give me that 50-year-old qualified white guy, any day of the week, to operate on me or my loved one. I bet a hypocritical Joe Biden would want him, too.
Check for a lot more articles, as well as audio and video podcasts, on my substack: mklewis929.substack.com. Free signup. Read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon. You can follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl. And rumble: lewandcou
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