If You Had Supported Feminism, Look What You'd Be Making Now!

A hat tip to Tom Udall, candidate for US Senate from the great state of New Mexico, for his equal pay calculator.

Find out what you'd make if you were of the opposite sex.

It's an eye-opener, especially, I'd imagine, if you're one of those bright-eyed 30-somethings who think sexism was vanquished before you were born. Well guess what. It wasn't.

A woman in a comparable role today is paid 78% of what her male counterpart is paid. Why? Because she's a female and because our culture penalizes a woman who takes time out for child-rearing.

So much for "family values."

To those who object that it isn't the role of the corporation to subsidize childrearing, I'd ask why not. In an enlightened culture, stockholders would look favorably on deferred profits. In ours, however, extreme capitalism only counts profits generated in the present quarter. As a result, concepts like investing from birth in the quality of the next generations of workers are inconceivable.

Too bad.