Affirmative action leads to majorities being robbed of opportunities they rightfully deserve.

You have set up the problem perfectly. I agree to use it as framework for the debate - but with one exception. You have described the situation as if the Yiriminots who replaced the Yarimjots are complete idiots. I will assume that they also meet the basic qualifications needed to do the work, though they may be less suitable than the 18 Yarimjots. We are going to debate whether the Yarimjots who lost the opportunity 'rightfully deserved' the job in any sense. The inappropriateness (or otherwise) of the term 'rob' will follow automatically. You have said that Yarimjots are better prepared for that job at Catino Industries while Yiriminots don't bother to prepare. Why is this so? The reasons are extremely relevant to this debate! Is it that Yiriminots, by nature, are lazier? Or maybe they are less intelligent by birth? If anyone believes in either of the reasons he is racist as well as wrong! Science has now confirmed what Religions have always proclaimed. All the human beings are extremely close at genetic level and intelligence cannot be directly correlated to communities based on races alone. (http://www.apa.org...) However intelligence is related to social conditions prevailing in a particular community. Richer parents can afford better schools for their children. Richer children are more likely to grow in a situation where they are aware of various opportunities. Poorer children may be forced to withdraw out of the studies earlier because of family conditions. I hope we agree that these are the real reasons why Yiriminots are lagging behind. But why are they less advanced in first case? Usually it is because of some historic problems, but we will not go into details. While the origin is historic, the problem still exists. The bigger problem is - it is likely to propagate to future generations also. If capitalism (or any form of competition) is left unregulated - rich become richer and poor become poor. This is why corrective action is required. Having discussed the causes of this disparity, let us come back to the issue at hand. We can now see that the more qualified candidates are not necessarily more deserving candidates. The Yiriminots, who were just behind them, are likely to be equally intelligent and more hardworking than them. This is because they have managed to compete with them and finish close while facing more adversity. You have raised the issue of how much extra cost it means to the company. This is a separate issue, disconnected with this debate. Still, for a brief response - I think the response of the Catino executive is highly exaggerated. On other hand, the response itself is a very typical one. "If we hire them - we will go bankrupt!" I agree that this does mean some extra cost for the company. However, if the regulations are applied evenly across the industry, it will not mean any loss of competitiveness for any company. On other hand this extra cost is a direct investment into the development of the society. It is in everybody's long term interest, if the whole population is brought into the mainstream. There is just one small issue left, and I think it is important that we address it. What I said makes sense statistically - but what happens to the Yarimjots who got fired (or as it is more usual - were not selected - I think affirmative action requirements are usually known beforehand). This is a painful issue. But as I said earlier, someone is going to face this problem as long as demand for job is more than supply. Still Catino Industries is unlikely to be the end of the road. Indeed, these more qualified and more aware Yarimjots are likely to be better off than those Yiriminots who would have lost the opportunity in absence of affirmative action. I enjoyed your anagrams. But do Catino and Reamviatiff have any special significance?