Obama Pushes Equal Pay Day

Surrounded by a group of smiling women, President Obama promised executive action on reducing the gender pay gap.

According Aamer Madhani, reporter for USA Today, the president encouraged Americans to pressure lawmakers to pass the legislation. The legislation imposes new regulations on how companies pay employees to ensure fair wages regardless of gender (USA Today).

“Today is equal pay day,” said President Obama (USA Today Video).

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The cries of foul are fueled by the results of 2013 Census. The report found that women earn 23 percent less than men (Census p.13).

I should be surprised by the discrepancy, but I am not. What is annoying to me is the political party blame game. Please, I have worked for cheap Republicans and Democrats. It is also incredibly irritating that more laws have to be passed to encourage equal pay.

What if women just stopped contributing? How long would it take before things fell apart? Not long, not long at all. Maybe then, men (and woman, they can be just as cheap) would finally be willing to pay a woman her worth.

Okay, so that might be a bit drastic, and to be honest, it is coming from a woman who is overstretched and in dire need of a break. We can throw out my idea, but it is tempting. Yes?

In an effort to create momentum, April 9 is supposed to be “Equal Pay Day” with a push to wear red to heighten awareness of unequal pay. Wow, we are so quick to push a color for awareness.

Red is also the color for AIDS, and Red Bull gives you wings. I digress.

Going back to not being surprised, this is, yet, another example of society not honoring and valuing people. Even more bothersome is the difference in median incomes by race (Census p.8). More of the same, we are a slow learning country.

Final thought: Push forward, get a good education and demand something better from society.

 

 

America: Home of the Brave?

I must preface before beginning. This post is not for the faint of heart, or anyone who is easily offended.

With that… Oh my goodness, what is wrong with Americans? Since when did we become a nation of crybabies?

Banning labels, and demanding others to be or have less are a result of ignorance, low self-esteem and, or coddling. I have no data to back this, only speculation through observation.

Our actions seem downright co-dependent. Do not pity people because of their obstacles. Pity never did anyone any good. Instead, create a society that fosters good, not with rules, but actions. Meaning, if you do not want children to engage in negative behaviors, society has to model the proper way to deal with differences and shortcomings.

Instead, it seems like there is a movement to create a utopian society of protective bubbles, where everyone is the same physically, intellectually and monetarily, and nobody ever speaks or does anything in opposition. Bah, it sounds more like a dystopian society.

Opposition is good. Differences are great.

Oh Santa, you have been naughty. GOOGLE IMAGES

Here are a few examples of where we are taking it too far in my opinion:

• “Ho, ho, ho” is a no, no (Chicago Tribune).
• Your fit body is intimidating (Yahoo News).
• Do not call me bossy (Ban Bossy).
• “Slave” and “master” hard drives create a discrimination lawsuit (CNN).

People are not born strong. People are not born great leaders. Great leaders are made by persevering despite failures and opposition.

Bottom line, who cares what others say? Know who you are, innovate and create something wonderful for yourself and others.

Do not mistake my post for someone in favor of bullying. No way, I have no tolerance for oppression. There should be consequences for poor demeaning behavior. Even more so, there should be a push for children to defend themselves against bullying. Instead, students who fight back or stand up for themselves get in trouble. It is incredibly foolish not to empower people to self-protect.