Why We SHOULD Discriminate

For some time now, in large part due to the continued rise of the politically correct brigade, we have been told that to discriminate is wrong. I disagree.
When as individuals, or as a nation, we no longer feel comfortable in exercising our ability to discriminate, we lose much of what we used to value, that we as a nation once had a long standing reputation for - quality.
Yes, of course we should be accepting of others, their values, beliefs, colour, gender and the multitude of other specifically protected characteristics relating to showing negative or positive preference, but does that mean that we should then turn a blind eye towards other factors regardless?
It is when we lose the ability to be able to discriminate, to recognise and differentiate quality, taste and value, that we open ourselves up to abuse of a different kind.
For example, when money becomes the sole arbiter, the barometer by which we set our standards, we fall into the trap of no longer being able to discriminate and make those important judgements about whether or not we are really getting what we pay for. This is as true in politics as in anything else.
As a result of enforced efficiencies we continue to pay the same in council tax, and much is made of this, but we are increasingly getting less and less for our money. Companies placing advertisements for job vacancies will more often than not give no indication of the salary offered, in an effort to get labour at the cheapest possible rate, without always having due regard for the value of someone who by their experience and skills may well warrant a higher salary and produce better results.
Every time we succumb to buying cheap ready meals we are subjecting ourselves to the subterfuge of the power wielded by the big supermarket chains, enabling them to force the prices paid to their own suppliers down to a level where survival is on a knife edge, all the while reducing the quality of the ingredients used, and substituting them with dubious additives in a clear effort to deceive.
Cheap meals offered by some of the major pub chains are often nothing more than re-heated processed pap, and the beer and wine on tap is so cheap because it has been bought in bulk as it nears the end of its useful life. Our failure to discriminate leaves us constantly open to being conned.
I am not immune to the temptations myself. A pair of knock down bargain basement shoes, recently purchased, lasted no more than a couple of weeks before they disintegrated, and the cheap summer dress that looked the height of fashion lasted just a few washes before it started to literally fall apart at the seams. I'v found that you usually get what you pay for. Other clothes, purchased at a time when I was able to afford it, have lasted 20 years or more. The same goes for good old solid wood furniture when compared with cheaper more modern fabricated items. This is why nowadays almost everything I buy is second hand, stuff that may not be new, but has stood the test of time, and does provide good value for money.
Most of us now need to think seriously about guarding our precious pennies each week, balancing the decisions we make about what we purchase against what we’d like the freedom to do, but unless we retain the ability to be able to discriminate, and weigh up the choices available to us, we will continue to fall prey to those who do not have our best interests at heart.
We open ourselves up to becoming the victims, and they the victors at our expense.