In response to a recent post on the Thought Catalog, I personally believe, at least currently, that affirmative action is detrimental. I think that admission to a school should be merit based. If your grades and extra-curricular activities are good enough to admit you to a school, I don’t think you should have to cross your fingers that your place at that university may be taken away by someone who is getting in for a reason that is unrelated to academics.

I understand that this is a controversial topic. I understand that people’s circumstances can put them in positions that are unbelievably unfavorable with respect to getting admitted to some schools. I understand that affirmative action intends to help relieve some people from these unfortunate circumstances.

However, I do not think that affirmative action is the best response to these circumstances. Not only does affirmative action take a seat away from a deserving student, but it is also a statement to the affirmed individual that there is a backdoor in life. Admission to school may not be the only difficult encounter they experience in life; showing them an easier alternative to hard work and persistence may not be the best option for the long run since the hard road will likely be the most likely road at some point in the future.

Different circumstances will often make certain things for some people to obtain. But we do not give out an extra 10% to students who cannot afford private tutoring. We do not give grocery discounts to people who are in lower income brackets. We do not choose to hire younger workers who have yet to build up valuable and relevant experience when a more senior, experienced worker is available.

This does not mean that the student who cannot afford private tutoring is unable to get higher marks than the student who can. This does not mean that people in lower income brackets are unable to purchase groceries. This does not mean younger, inexperienced workers are doomed to a lifetime of unemployment.

What this means is that some people have to work harder to achieve what others struggle less to achieve. Some people have to work longer to achieve what others can achieve in less time. Some people have to have more motivation and drive simply to keep up with the regular states of others.

But we’ve never before questioned this. Life has never been fair, and probably never will be fair. But we’ve always dealt with it up until now.

In conclusion, at least as I currently see it, affirmative action neither fixes a problem nor betters the system. I don’t think it is a beneficial strategy to implement or keep.

What do you guys think?