Photo by Andrew Valdivia

Wait times at Social Security are longer than ever. It seems Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are to blame. When asked about the delays, a spokesperson for Lee Dudek, Trump’s then-acting Social Security Commissioner, said that it’s because former President Joe Biden “[advanced] radical DEI and gender ideology over improving service for all Americans.”

Record low staffing at the agency under Biden seems to have played no role. One may also dismiss Trump’s severe service cuts and buyouts. Yet, DEI and other racialized programs are useful because they provide explanations for social maladies.

Trump blamed DEI for a collision between an airplane and army helicopter that killed 67 people last January. When he was asked how he knew DEI was to blame for the crash, Trump responded that it was all crystal clear because, as he put it, “I have common sense.” Everyone should know that hiring people for their melanin but not for their qualifications is at epidemic levels.

That’s why things are so broken.

Common sense says that people are bad. They will get up to all sorts of shenanigans to climb up a rung or two on the social ladder. They will use whatever program, law, loophole, connection, or story to get there. And if they don’t have to work for a thing, then they’ll get it by making others lift the heavy end.

That’s DEI in a nutshell. That’s also welfare, food stamps, and public housing. People are bad and they cheat. They live at the expense of those who work hard and play by the rules.

It’s just common sense.

There is no shortage of people on TV, social media, barstools, or in the US Congress who will tell you that, too. Trump is not only their mouthpiece, but he—and many others—have skillfully manipulated Americans’ economic precarity by serving up people with pretend motivations to blame for real grievances.

They say that “those people” don’t want to work. “They”........

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