No question about IQ differences in gender and people. Then there is meritocracy and the sense of entitlement. i.e. We are smart and therefore we should/entitled to multiples of income to the less smart.
Many talk about gender equality in pay. What about less differentiation in pay between the skilled and labor intensive work and so called “high IQ” work.
Published by
sbarrkum
I am 3/4ths Sri Lankan (Jaffna) Tamil, 1/8th Sinhalese and 1/8th Irish; a proper mutt.
Maternal: Grandfather a Govt Surveyor married my grandmother of Sinhalese/Irish descent from the deep south, in the early 1900’s. They lived in the deep South, are generally considered Sinhalese and look Eurasian (common among upper class Sinhalese). They were Anglicans (Church of England), became Evangelical Christians (AOG) in 1940's, and built the first Evangelical church in the South.
Paternal: Sri Lanka (Jaffna Tamil). Paternal ancestors converted to Catholicism during Portuguese rule (1500's), went back to being Hindu and then became Methodists (and Anglicans) around 1850 (ggfather). They were Administrators and translators to the British, poets and writers in Tamil and English. Grandfathers sister was the first female Tamil novelist of modern times
I was brought up as an Evangelical even attending Bible study till about the age of 13. Agnostic and later atheist.
I studied in Sinhala, did a Bachelor in Chemistry and Physics in Sri Lanka. Then did Oceanography graduate stuff and research in the US.
I am about 60 years old, no kids, widower. Sri Lankan citizen (no dual) and been back in SL since 2012. Live in small village near a National Park, run a very small budget guest house and try to do some agriculture that can survive the Elephants, monkeys and wild boar incursions.
I am not really anonymous, a little digging and you can find my identity.
View all posts by sbarrkum
00votes
Article Rating
5 Comments
Oldest
NewestMost Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Violet
5 years ago
It already exists. Welders and construction labor in oil and gas industry make two or three times what PhD Engineers make in the same industry.
One graduate student in engineering worked as bar-bender on high-rise construction in summer and made 3 times his earnings in “high IQ” work.
Entitlement wouldn’t give you any more money if there is no demand.
It is partly demand and supply and partly the dignity given to the type of labour. In Britain, many skilled workers can get a good hourly or daily rate- it is called ‘trade’. If you invite a carpenter or bricklayer, they should be given proper respect like saying ‘please ‘ and giving them refreshments. Recently a bricklayer’s course invited 20000 applications for 100 seats. Labour of any sort demands dignity and is also paid well. In India , Labour and labourers are treated shabbily, regarded shabbily and paid shabbily. I suspect if the labourer is given due respect he/she will also be paid fairly. And it will invite more creative people to enter those professions
It is partly demand and supply and partly the dignity given to the type of labour. In Britain, many skilled workers can get a good hourly or daily rate- it is called ‘trade’. If you invite a carpenter or bricklayer, they should be given proper respect like saying ‘please ‘ and giving them refreshments. Recently a bricklayer’s course invited 20000 applications for 100 seats. Labour of any sort demands dignity and is also paid well. In India , Labour and labourers are treated shabbily, regarded shabbily and paid shabbily. I suspect if the labourer is given due respect he/she will also be paid fairly. And it will invite more creative people to enter those professions
hoipolloi
5 years ago
Once I was horrified to know everybody I come in contact for help in the U.S. (taxi drivers, car mechanics, all kinds of trades that fix things around the house, car salespersons, etc.) demand and are paid equal or more money per hour than a Ph.D. One exception I could find, fast food checkout persons. There is a strange kind of socialism at work in the U.S., in many sections of the society.
But the prestige of being “white collar” as opposed to “blue collar” remains. There is an obsession in public policy of getting more and more people into college (not that some of those people would not be better off in a vocational school). Not everyone has the skills required for a university education. But college was supposed to be the ticket to a white color job. It doesn’t really work out that way in practice.
It already exists. Welders and construction labor in oil and gas industry make two or three times what PhD Engineers make in the same industry.
One graduate student in engineering worked as bar-bender on high-rise construction in summer and made 3 times his earnings in “high IQ” work.
Entitlement wouldn’t give you any more money if there is no demand.
It is a matter of demand and supply and location.
It is partly demand and supply and partly the dignity given to the type of labour. In Britain, many skilled workers can get a good hourly or daily rate- it is called ‘trade’. If you invite a carpenter or bricklayer, they should be given proper respect like saying ‘please ‘ and giving them refreshments. Recently a bricklayer’s course invited 20000 applications for 100 seats. Labour of any sort demands dignity and is also paid well. In India , Labour and labourers are treated shabbily, regarded shabbily and paid shabbily. I suspect if the labourer is given due respect he/she will also be paid fairly. And it will invite more creative people to enter those professions
It is partly demand and supply and partly the dignity given to the type of labour. In Britain, many skilled workers can get a good hourly or daily rate- it is called ‘trade’. If you invite a carpenter or bricklayer, they should be given proper respect like saying ‘please ‘ and giving them refreshments. Recently a bricklayer’s course invited 20000 applications for 100 seats. Labour of any sort demands dignity and is also paid well. In India , Labour and labourers are treated shabbily, regarded shabbily and paid shabbily. I suspect if the labourer is given due respect he/she will also be paid fairly. And it will invite more creative people to enter those professions
Once I was horrified to know everybody I come in contact for help in the U.S. (taxi drivers, car mechanics, all kinds of trades that fix things around the house, car salespersons, etc.) demand and are paid equal or more money per hour than a Ph.D. One exception I could find, fast food checkout persons. There is a strange kind of socialism at work in the U.S., in many sections of the society.
But the prestige of being “white collar” as opposed to “blue collar” remains. There is an obsession in public policy of getting more and more people into college (not that some of those people would not be better off in a vocational school). Not everyone has the skills required for a university education. But college was supposed to be the ticket to a white color job. It doesn’t really work out that way in practice.