Suppose you have short arms but you are strong. Now you are to compete hand wrestling with a long armed person. The competition is on your skills and strength to bring the other persons hand down and the competing parties should be equal regarding the conditions in which this ability is tested.

So in your case, it is fair to ask for a thick book or something to be placed on the table under your elbow, so that both are having equal leverage and can compete equally.

Affirmative action aims at this “fair” and equal leverage for the competing parties. Some people are at disadvantage due to various conditions and we need to use affirmative action to make it possible to let them compete on an equal ground with people who have no disadvantages.

The disadvantage is not directly related to the quality that is tested in the competition. If the competition was to choose who had the longest arm, there is no point in adding the thickness of a thick book to the length of a short hand.

The rest about affirmative actions can be easily searched on Google or yahoo or wikipedia.org. Good luck.

The idea of “Affirmative Action” is that spots are reserved in jobs, colleges, etc, for people who aren’t white protestant males, based on the idea that everyone will benefit from the added perspective/culture. The truth behind “Affirmative Action” is that it discriminates against people by taking into account race, religion, gender, etc. instead of choosing who has the best test score, or the most qualifications or experience. It’s a silly idea that came about because minorities were yelling louder than majorities, and the government had a bigger interest in everything appearing to be hunky dory than they had in making sure the country runs like it should.

Here is a small note on Affirmatve Action. For more information you may refer to Wikipedia.com

Affirmative action refers to policies intended to promote access to education or employment aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group (typically, minorities or women). Motivation for affirmative action policies is to redress the effects of past discrimination and to encourage public institutions such as universities, hospitals and police forces to be more representative of the population.

This is commonly achieved through targeted recruitment programmes, by preferential treatment given to applicants from socio-politically disadvantaged groups and in some cases through the use of quotas.

Opponents of affirmative action policies argue that it is based on collectivism and merely another form of discrimination because it can result in qualified applicants being denied entry to higher education or employment because they belong to a particular social group (usually the historically socio-politically dominant group; typically majority races and men), regardless of social standing or financial need.

i