Genghis Khan is a name most people in the world easily recognize. Most also know of Attila the Hun (a.k.k “Scourge of God”), who famously invaded the Roman empire from the eastern steppes and turned back at the gates of Rome, and Alexander the Great. If you are well-read, you might recognize Tamerlane “Prince of Destruction,” founder of the Timurid Empire, or King Xerxes, son of Darius the Great. Perhaps Moctezuma, or Atahualpa, or Shaka Zulu rings a bell. Maybe Suleiman the Magnificent is more your style, or perhaps Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Mao, Idi Amin or Isoroku Yamamoto are more your genre. If you read American / New World history, you might know Andrew Jackson, General Sherman, Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Col Custer, Jubal Early, Robert E. Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson, and Captain John Smith (of Jamestown fame). All were responsible for significant death and destruction, some more than others, some more personally involved than others.
But something curious is happening in our history books. Among the great butchers of history, it’s only the western ones who are being written out of history, or pained in a uniformly bad light. All the others are being given “context” and “empathy” and understanding that they were a product of their time and culture. But white, western man, is being reviled across the board in supposedly western school systems.
I had an epiphany the other day about the similarities between medieval indulgences for the forgiveness of sin, the selling of carbon offsets for the forgiveness of “environmental sins,” and now the pushing to “white guilt” for the inherent racism of our being, demanding reparations and all.
Today I am reading Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer. In Part 2, “The Potential Converts,” section XI “The Sinners,” I came across the passage: “An effective mass movement cultivates the idea of sin. It depicts the autonomous self as not only barren and helpless but also as vile. To confess and repent is to slough off one’s individual distinctness and separateness, and salvation is found by losing oneself in the holy oneness of the congregation.”
BINGO! That explains the zealotry and reasons for the methods the SJWs and cultural Marxists use the term racist and the rest. They are pointing at you, screaming “repent, sinner (racist)!” and demand your abject submission and compliance. They have lost an actual religion, but are lost and alone, and find welcoming in the crucifixion and humiliation of others to assuage their own emptiness. When you are talking to them, talk as if you are talking to a religious fanatic, because you are.
The whole book is pretty darn good so far, and explains well the types of people drawn to mass movements (like communism, Nazism, and cults) and those who will be more resistant to it. Seeing yourself as flawed, a failure, and a sinner, it’s normal to seek a way to achieve redemption. Self-flagellation of some sort is a time honored way of doing that. So that’s how the culturally lost, without any firm attachment to their own heritage, family, history, church, etc, try to create a place where they are sanctified. Part of that is they need to eliminate all the cultural things they left behind and could have called their own but rejected or forgot, and can’t welcome back without admitting deep flaws in themselves which they can’t face. So they tear it all down, all it’s history and symbols, to start anew. The invaders who hold in contempt those who let them in for their weakness (for why else would they be let in? Unguarded borders on the Danube, or the Rio Grande, and no requirement to assimilate are not a sign of strength), and have nothing in common with the nation and people they are invading, are happy to applaud the turncoats and help them. The who forgot their history are easy to talk into obviously self-destructive policies, like pushing “diversity” instead of “excellence,” counting “diversity” by things like skin color, genitalia, victim points, and so-forth. But they absolutely NOT tolerating intellectual or viewpoint diversity. Heretics are NOT allowed. Orthodoxy of belief is DEMANDED. Shouting “Black Live Matter” at every opportunity is as de rigueur today as the straight-arm salute with a hearty sieg heil was in a certain past regime. The cult followers will willingly give away things their ancestors worked hard for to “atone” for the “sins” of their forefathers. That’s how you get corporate policies that put utterly non-essential things of equal or greater importance than critical competence. That means they will hire engineers because they are the “most qualified left-handed, lesbian, biracial-Samoan, quadriplegic engineer” as opposed to “the most qualified engineer…. full stop.” They have lost in any meaningful way the concept of religious sin, and replaced it with false sins, sins that are politically useful to those who would destroy or enslave them. The psychological manipulations and gaslighting is comprehensive.
That’s how you crash and destroy a technological civilization. I mean, like, actually destroy, with tens of millions dead from infrastructure collapse, not a metaphorical destroy where you are left devastated by the fact that the corner coffee shop has no sprinkles for your latte. Across the board, companies are suddenly putting things other than core competence at the top of the “to be hired or promoted” list. Vox Day even wrote a book about it, Corporate Cancer. The examples are innumerable, where companies have “trust and safety councils,” are suddenly donating money to Black Lives Matter (which launders the cash to Dems and the Elect Biden fund), the Ford Foundation is giving BLM millions, the CEO of Chik Fil A said whites must shine black peoples shoes as a sign of “shame” over “racism.” I understand the idea of humility, but there is also a point of suicidal submission to those who are no more (nor less) perfect than yourself, and generally seek your destruction or dhimmitude. Meanwhile, a Cambridge Prof tweeted “White lives don’t matter” and “Abolish Whiteness”, and was rewarded with a promotion. Yeah, she’s totally into that whole diversity thing, as long as whites are exterminated along the way.
Take the following for just one example I came across recently, and explain how it will actually increase the competence of the corporation? It can’t. Short that stock, Batman! The corporate cancer has set in and metastasized. It is straight-up anti-white bigotry dressed up as virtue and atoning for past sins. Yes, it has the feel of a secular “religious” revival. I can imagine the President of T-Mobil having his son apply for a job and being told “Nope, don’t need your kind around here. Don’t care if you have straight As and a Masters in engineering from MIT, we don’t need your kind around here!” He is destroying his own nation, culture, and heritage. Now, I’m all for giving people who look different than me a fair shake – but preference based on skin color is the rankest discrimination, and un-American. I say again, with policies like this in place, I’d be shorting the stock if I were investing in this space at all. In the mean time, I’m damn glad I don’t have a cell phone that uses T-Mobile, or I’d be expecting deteriorating service soon.
Begin quote of corporate policy, with commentary in (red parentheses)
These past few weeks have been both historic (because we’ve never had race riots before) and heart-wrenching (even though we know nothing about him and the official story has more holes than a net store), as the protests for greater racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder erupt all around the world (and you don’t find that the least bit suspicious?). As I shared in my statement last week to customers, employees, and shareholders, T-Mobile stands in solidarity with the Black Community (that’s funny, because the hard-left race-hustlers pushing this fantasy sure don’t stand with you, they intend to shake you down from what I can see) and behind our belief that Black Lives Matter. The senseless killing of George Floyd (he died while in police custody, yes, but the jury hasn’t even been impaneled yet, let alone delivered a verdict, so it’s more than a tad premature to call it a killing), and so many before him, is a terrible reminder of the systemic racism (queue the cultural Marxist anti-white false premise) and prejudice that persist in our society today (like the anti-white, anti-male, anti-Christian, anti-rural bigotry that is pervasive in cities and academia, like your implicit branding of all whites as racists and bigots?).
When we look back on this time and ask, “What did we do?”, I want to ensure that we can proudly show that T-Mobile answered this call to action by making real changes to advance our efforts and combat inequality (good luck with that, Harrison Bergeron). We are getting incredibly beneficial (really? or will the honest folks who tell the truth get fired for non-PC statements?) input and insights from many of you every day, and I thank you for that. We also have some amazing external partners to help us on this journey… including the six National Civil Rights organizations that are part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) we signed back in October. I am confident that we will make informed and measurable changes to move forward. (And if that measurement moves toward a regression to a lower mean, what will you do?)
T-Mobile has long stood for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (reminiscent of “Liberté, égalité, fraternité”, and I suppose all are equal under the guillotine blade of arson and riot if you cannot afford private security)– really getting its start as a grassroots employee movement (genuine grass-roots, or hostile activist infiltrators looking for a shakedown target to extort cash and concessions from by gaslighting you day and night?), and it has grown to be an important part of our culture (oh, really? then why this big sudden push?). But it is clear that we have more work to do. Over the past few weeks, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and I have been hearing from so many of you – and I want you to know, we HEAR you. We are LISTENING (ooohhh, CAPS… you must be really serious). And it’s YOUR voices that are driving our ongoing discussions on how to effectively engage, take action, and ultimately, move our company forward. (So you are not so much leading as surrendering control?)
The plans I’m sharing today are a result of ongoing discussions with our Executive Advisors and Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DE&I) stakeholders (Are people without color, AKA people of primarily European ancestry, who will lose or not get jobs over this, considered “stakeholders”? Or are they just “collateral damage?” Or maybe “crackers who deserve to lose their jobs because they are the same color as someone else long dead who owned slaves”?) with the commitment to make immediate decisions, as well as build mid, and long-term plans. These programs are steps we are taking to increase and improve (for what definition of “improve?” How, specifically, will the customer experience get better or the share owner get an increased return on investment?) the overall diversity of our company and build a more inclusive and aware culture. We are also making some important commitments to the Black community with some targeted efforts to ensure we are not losing sight of the very real conversation we are having across our country right now. Below are the programs underway to better live up to the identity of our people and our brand.
- We will improve diversity of our leadership & workforce at all levels. Fueling our management ranks with more People of Color is critical to our long-term success (Why? are they assumed to be better than non-colored people?). We have a strong history of promoting from within for management roles, and we will focus on bringing more diverse talent into that pipeline. Over time (Ah, so it’s not a threat to your position right now. Uh-huh. Convenient. So the implosion won’t happen on your watch like outsourcing IT at AIT did to their corporate heads.), I also see opportunities for more diversity among our senior leadership, including our SLT and on the Board of Directors, but I recognize that these changes will depend on turnover of seats and other factors, and will take some time. (Prepare that golden parachute, baby!)
The programs and changes outlined below are built to improve diversity in our workforce and retain our diverse talent across the company. They represent at least a $20 million investment (I’m sure your shareholders will like you spending more money on people for things other than talent) in just the next few years. As part of this process, we are making changes in the following areas to increase opportunities for People of Color across our business.
- We are diversifying our pipeline of talent. For every job we fill internally and externally we will include underrepresented talent in the recruitment pool for the job (hey, I bet engineers who hate doing homework and are math-challenged are under-represented. Are you going to hire some of those?). As a large employer, we fill thousands of jobs each year, and starting next quarter, we will track the mix of applicants with a new goal of having a diverse talent pool for every position we hire (so you will be, in part, judging them by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character? You’d make MLK so proud!). We will also ensure our recruiting team has the ability to source diverse talent through new partnerships and training. We will also improve the mechanisms needed for leaders to benchmark and track the progress they are making in their organizations – and ensure that leaders assess that progress annually. (and what will you do if by any objective measure your diversity hires suck pond water or cause distrust and dissension? Will you get rid of them, or waste more money
scoldingI meanhectoringI mean retraining existing employees with insufficient diversity Pokemon points?) - We are funding new scholarship programs and launching an apprenticeship program for People of Color. (So will truly talented PoC be able to try for the color-blind scholarships you offer, and double-dip, or are these just a big FU to your white customers who have their own kids to send to college without a chance at scholarships?) These programs will launch by the end of this year, and they are built to develop underrepresented talent for future job opportunities. We will start with 10 annual scholarships and they will be combined with internship positions that enable us to work with these students to ensure they are successfully positioned to compete for jobs once they complete their education. (So, yes, you’ll be taking money from your largely white customer base to buy competition for their own children. Cool. Do you think your PoC customers would be fine if you told them you were taking their monthly fees and creating a whites-only college scholarship fund?)
- We are changing and expanding our talent development programs to ensure more opportunities and retention for Employees of Color (interesting use of capitalization. what are you implying?) to strengthen our pipeline of talent up to the executive leadership level. This includes our existing management and leadership development programs, as well as the creation of new programs this summer and fall. This will focus on building a greater bench of diverse talent working with outside organizations such as the Executive Leadership Council and Management Leadership for Tomorrow.
- We are improving our talent review process across the organization. This will ensure we have formalized people discussions across our organizations to discuss succession planning, people development, representation of People of Color (this sort of implies that all PoCs are a monolithic group that are different than Po(no)Cs, and unified in what they want and how they should be treated, and they should be treated, I don’t know, “separate but equal” perhaps), and specific actions we will take to develop a more diverse workforce. This will be an annual review that all of my leaders will undertake and then I will assess the company’s progress myself in a complete review each year. (If this works, great, but are you going to be honest enough that you will mea culpa if this blows up in your face and causes serious problems?)
- We are continuing to invest in and deploy training for all employees to reinforce the behaviors we stand for as a company. We heard your feedback about some of our previous training programs in this area, and the HR team is working to develop new unconscious Bias training (i.e., cultural Marxist mantra’s to destroy Western Civilization and make major American companies to fail from internal contradiction brought on by pursuing things other than excellence in the core mission) from experts in the field (self-described experts, I’m sure, who are conveniently earning a living beating you up for the sins of your ancestors) to ensure it is more relevant, more meaningful, and ultimately more impactful, I expect the team to roll these out by the end of this year.
- We are listening. (Really? To everyone? Or only listening to the Marxists screaming in your ear with a legal gun to your head?) Leadership listening and experience sharing sessions have already begun and in partnership with our Employee Resource Group (ERG) teams, we will launch a sustained set of leadership events across all DE&I topics to ensure employees of underrepresented groups get time with more executives and SLT members to share their experiences at T-Mobile and help shape our approach going forward. Each month, one of our Employee Resource Groups will host a leadership listening and experience sharing session with a number of us from senior management to ensure we continue these important conversations. These sessions will be open to all employees (just don’t be the first employee to stop clapping… that might reflect poorly in your review).
- We established a team of Executive Advisors. In partnership with our DE&I leaders, we have asked some of our Black leaders to help ensure that as a leadership team we are taking meaningful steps and that we have a diverse perspective in all of our ongoing efforts. I’d like to thank India Boulton, Terrance Glover, Marie Sylla and Shelly Woodruff for their willingness to invest extra time with myself and the SLT to ensure we are getting important perspective.
- We will support Black owned businesses and underserved communities.
- Our $25 million community investment outlined in our MOU is already underway. This will support to support tech entrepreneurship for Communities of Color and to bridge the gap in literacy, job training, and access and participation in the digital economy for Communities of Color. Additionally, we’ve already announced Project 10Million (shades of Project 100,000; not a favorable historical comparison; do some research) and that work is underway for an official program launch later this year.
- T-Mobile for Business (TFB) is establishing a program to provide expert advice, resources, and business grants to stimulate resiliency and growth in Black businesses and minority communities (that’s rather condescending – are you assuming they are not able to do that as well as non-minority businesses?). We will launch a new partnership (with a well-known entrepreneur and business leader) to bring modular, class-room style learning (will you be providing separate-but-equal training for People of No Color?) to local markets across the country with relevant, timely advice for businesses that need to reinvent themselves, or become a small business owner for the first time. We anticipate having this program up and running by late in the third quarter of 2020.
- We will deliver on our business commitments. We made a number of commitments as part of our MOU. This includes vendor diversity, supporting diverse entrepreneurs (giving lots of opportunities for less ethical companies to hire PoC figureheads to game the system, but I’m sure that will end well), and reaching low income consumers with outstanding wireless services – including 5G. Plus, by the end of this month we plan to announce our external diversity council to help inform, guide and drive further change – and we have hired a diversity firm (and I’m sure they’ll be totally honest, above board, politically neutral, and never think of shaking down anyone or directing your dollars to one of their friends or family’s companies) to conduct an audit for the new company, and to benchmark where we are, so we can measure and monitor our progress as we move forward in creating an even more diverse workforce. Measurement matters and we plan to set tangible goals to ensure we stay on track! (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)
This set of programs and commitments represent what I feel is an important first step (wait, there is MORE to this diversion from your core mission to your customers?) to do more than just listen – but to act. As we work to implement our partnership with the coalition from our MOU, I am certain we will do more – but let me be clear, beyond the MOU – we chose to take steps now, because we want to ensure that action does not fade amidst long-term planning. And while this is just the beginning, I felt it was important that we do what the Un-carrier is known for – listen to what is broken and take immediate action to change things.
Each one of us may approach this historic opportunity differently. Some will read and learn (maybe you should start with some history). Some will have conversations with others. Some will choose to donate and invest in programs. And others will cast their votes to drive change in their communities and beyond. I cannot tell any of you how you should seize this opportunity to change our world (Stalin, Hitler, Khomeini, Bin Laden, and Genghis Khan all wanted to change the world for the better (for them), too; chage =/= improve!), but I do encourage all of us to participate and become part of the solution.
Thank you all for your focus, your determination, and your voices. I am so proud to be part of a company that is so willing to jump in and make a difference. While we can all play a part in our own way, as the leaders of T-Mobile, the SLT and I are committed to doing our part to make a difference. (How about start with better customer service and selection of phones?)
I look forward to the impact we’ll have and to the changes we can deliver together.
Mike Sievert, CEO, T-Mobile, @MikeSievert
End policy quote.
Look, I agree that black lives matter. So do brown, yellow, white, and red lives. But the BLM group and it’s “inspired” followers are so stupid they vandalized a statue commemorating the contributions of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, an ALL BLACK union volunteer regiment fighting to end slavery, a U.S. Grant statue (the guy who was literally leading the Union Army to end slavery in the US ), and of Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) who was an actual African slave for real! (That is, a Spaniard, held by Africans in Algiers for five years as a galley slave before he was ransomed.) BML is lead by Marxists, and many followers of all skin colors are not very bright and deeply ignorant, and are addressing real problems in the worst possible way (making division even worse). Why are you bowing to demands by people who are that illogical and ignorant, and obviously hate America?
Virtue signaling =/= Virtue.
Good intentions =/= Good outcomes
Smart =/= Wise
Educated =/= Correct
Can =/= Should
Not white =/= not racist
In short, pinhead, I don’t know if you are a gullible moron with a guilty conscience who means well, you are compromised in some way and being shaken down over it, you are a foreign agent/mole whose job is to destroy your company and nation, or a pod-person who knows no human history and hasn’t been paying attention to current events. Whatever the truth is, your shareholders and customers deserve to know, just like all the other CEOs who are spending millions to reduce shareholder value should come clean. Or, maybe, you can point to all the success stories where increasing diversity has improved value over the long term. There are lots of companies and organizations that imploded after getting on the diversity bandwagon, but I can’t think of any established companies that got measurably better because of it. Hiring the best, most competent person for the job (even if they don’t look like me) I’m fine with, and will likely make your company better. Hiring the best person who isn’t like me BECAUSE they are not like me for the job is nothing but the most blatant discrimination, and can’t help but make your company worse.
A short anecdote: growing up, my parents chose Dr. Akiyama as the family doctor. He worked on my and all my siblings, from stitches and broken arms to internal medicine. My parents chose him because of discrimination. People of Japanese descent were not generally looked favorably upon by folks of my parents generation (they were born in the 1920s) after WWII. My parents figured that if the guy was good enough to get through med school in spite of the discrimination he must have faced, he must be really good. And he was. You are now demanding the bar be lowered for some people, because they cannot get hired on their own merits, just so you can have them “represent.” Would you do the same for the NFL or NBA? Their teams are obviously not proportional to the population. Or, for that matter, among lawyer – Jews are only about 2% of the American population, but a full 1/3 of the SCOTUS. They are only about 0.3% of the military, should we draft more of them, and they are over-represented in law more than three-fold, should we raise the bar on the bar for them? That’s obviously absurd. You policy is patronizing and condescending, and will cause divisions where none were before, because you’ll be creating a minefield of suspicion among personnel where before there was mutual respect based on mutual competence.
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