So the author is equating “economics” with “behavior driven by self-interest” but that seems like too narrow a view of economics to me, since many ideas from “traditional” economics can be useful for analyzing genuinely moral/altruistic behavior as well. (E.g., moral trade, moral public goods, etc.)
Aside from that, only the most proximate cause of the situation can be explained purely by self-interest, because why were the diversity staff hired in the first place and given so much power? A significant faction of the coalition (contra “don’t need politics”) that supported that must have done so out of real moral concern. (I think this fact should be explicitly stated, or at least not negated, so that they and we can learn from the consequences of their decisions. Otherwise I fear that the lesson will be “self-interest is the bad guy here, I’m acting out of real moral concern so I don’t have to worry about causing this kind of problem.”)
(Sorry if I’m being too pedantic here and going off on a tangent...)
So the author is equating “economics” with “behavior driven by self-interest” but that seems like too narrow a view of economics to me, since many ideas from “traditional” economics can be useful for analyzing genuinely moral/altruistic behavior as well. (E.g., moral trade, moral public goods, etc.)
Aside from that, only the most proximate cause of the situation can be explained purely by self-interest, because why were the diversity staff hired in the first place and given so much power? A significant faction of the coalition (contra “don’t need politics”) that supported that must have done so out of real moral concern. (I think this fact should be explicitly stated, or at least not negated, so that they and we can learn from the consequences of their decisions. Otherwise I fear that the lesson will be “self-interest is the bad guy here, I’m acting out of real moral concern so I don’t have to worry about causing this kind of problem.”)
(Sorry if I’m being too pedantic here and going off on a tangent...)