Today Is Equal Pay Day if You're a White Woman
Of the many arguments I've heard regarding this issue, here are some I'd like to share:
1. The GNP only measures economy by capitalistic production and revenue, and has NEVER included the unpaid work that is so important in society of raising kids, education and other social support that would otherwise create greater costs if these resources and wealth weren't there. This just isn't measured and counted anyway, so the whole system of economics and capitalism is off by not counting social costs.
2. Trying to equalize the pay by legislation would only add more regulatory burden to document, justify and prove the pay scales are or are not discriminatory, and would not solve the problem but cost even more to companies, where increased overhead reduces what can be paid to the actual workers.
I agree that if we had a system that credited or paid women for the effort it takes to birth and raise children, the tables would be turned. A lot of the most valuable work in life isn't measurable and doesn't show up on GNP and Wall Street indexes. Some of the greatest heroes I know in historic preservation, environmental restoration, and even rescuing kidnap victims aren't paid for their volunteer work. We can't measure and value people using a scale that isn't universal and leaves out so many of the priceless things in life that define the best of humanity.
3. One of the best statements I ever heard was made by the Adbusters Media group out of Canada that had a video explaining the GNP is based on money spent on disease and destruction that generates jobs and revenue, but doesn't take into account the social and environment costs that create untracked debts and damages left out of the equation. The examples they gave is that cancer and destroying forests make the GNP go up, but what cost are we paying in the long run? I also point out that spiritual healing that has cured cancer is natural and free and cannot be monopolized for profit; while pharmaceuticals that make money off drugs that medicate and placate symptoms don't cure the causes but make huge profits.
4. One solution I promote is local currency that empowers communities to hire and develop their own labor for a sustainable economy. See Ithaca HOURS Introducing HOUR Money started by Paul Glover Paul Glover, community organizer of the Green Party. Also the TIME bank in DC organizes barter and credits by database, as started by an economics professor in DC.
Texas has a strong tradition of hiring and developing locally; also the Asian community tend to invest in their own. The African American community has some of the worst record of costing their own while money is pumped into systems that work against them.
If people are empowered with knowledge and organizational support to invest in their own communities,
this would solve all the other issues with gender or socioeconomic inequality by race, class, etc.
I am constantly reminded that investing in women tends to spread the wealth, while men are more conditioned to defend their own interests and autonomy at the expense of collective society. That may be another reason why men demand greater pay or they refuse to work and will go work for themselves. Most women I know have a mix of commitments between paid and unpaid work, where the focus is on the social value and necessity, not the pay. Even the men volunteers who claim to work for the community will expect the women to work for free and support them being in charge when there aren't enough funds for paid work.
Of the many arguments I've heard regarding this issue, here are some I'd like to share:
1. The GNP only measures economy by capitalistic production and revenue, and has NEVER included the unpaid work that is so important in society of raising kids, education and other social support that would otherwise create greater costs if these resources and wealth weren't there. This just isn't measured and counted anyway, so the whole system of economics and capitalism is off by not counting social costs.
2. Trying to equalize the pay by legislation would only add more regulatory burden to document, justify and prove the pay scales are or are not discriminatory, and would not solve the problem but cost even more to companies, where increased overhead reduces what can be paid to the actual workers.
I agree that if we had a system that credited or paid women for the effort it takes to birth and raise children, the tables would be turned. A lot of the most valuable work in life isn't measurable and doesn't show up on GNP and Wall Street indexes. Some of the greatest heroes I know in historic preservation, environmental restoration, and even rescuing kidnap victims aren't paid for their volunteer work. We can't measure and value people using a scale that isn't universal and leaves out so many of the priceless things in life that define the best of humanity.
3. One of the best statements I ever heard was made by the Adbusters Media group out of Canada that had a video explaining the GNP is based on money spent on disease and destruction that generates jobs and revenue, but doesn't take into account the social and environment costs that create untracked debts and damages left out of the equation. The examples they gave is that cancer and destroying forests make the GNP go up, but what cost are we paying in the long run? I also point out that spiritual healing that has cured cancer is natural and free and cannot be monopolized for profit; while pharmaceuticals that make money off drugs that medicate and placate symptoms don't cure the causes but make huge profits.
4. One solution I promote is local currency that empowers communities to hire and develop their own labor for a sustainable economy. See Ithaca HOURS Introducing HOUR Money started by Paul Glover Paul Glover, community organizer of the Green Party. Also the TIME bank in DC organizes barter and credits by database, as started by an economics professor in DC.
Texas has a strong tradition of hiring and developing locally; also the Asian community tend to invest in their own. The African American community has some of the worst record of costing their own while money is pumped into systems that work against them.
If people are empowered with knowledge and organizational support to invest in their own communities,
this would solve all the other issues with gender or socioeconomic inequality by race, class, etc.
I am constantly reminded that investing in women tends to spread the wealth, while men are more conditioned to defend their own interests and autonomy at the expense of collective society. That may be another reason why men demand greater pay or they refuse to work and will go work for themselves. Most women I know have a mix of commitments between paid and unpaid work, where the focus is on the social value and necessity, not the pay. Even the men volunteers who claim to work for the community will expect the women to work for free and support them being in charge when there aren't enough funds for paid work.
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