Opinion by Juan Luis Rojelio III

I normally am inclined to keep my opinions to myself, particularly when it comes to print. But for the second time in the last month I have had the misfortune of opening our school newspaper, The Inkwell, which apparently is, like all liberal arts newspapers, simply a vehicle for the opinions of cultural Marxists hell-bent on controlling whatever false narrative they happen to be championing that week. Of course, to attack the entire newspaper is unfair, I am only referring to the Op-Ed section, a place devoid of informed opinions and lacking in substance.

I am speaking specifically to columnist Tyler Tyack’s inane article “Equal pay for equal work: Our generation’s biggest no-brainer”. This is the second article I’ve read by Tyler Tyack. The first article was titled “Gun Control: A Compromise”. This article was equally vacuous and had I been so inclined previously, I would have typed up a response to it in kind.

Let me say this unequivocally: The wage gap as presented by the American Left does not exist. Here are the facts: according to a study conducted by James Chung, using information from the US Census Bureau, young single women earn 8% more than their male counterparts of equal qualifications in 147 out of the top 150 cities in the country, including all 50 of the largest cities. The false statistic of “77 cents for every dollar” is nothing but a lie of omission. Yes, it easy to point to the American Association of University Women and their statistic that states women in Georgia only earn 80-84% of a man’s salary. But this stat means nothing. It does not account for education level, experience and time with employer, time taken off, overtime, maternity/paternity leave and/or a whole host of other mitigating factors. It simply relies on the stupidity of the reader to take it at face value.

Tyler Tyack attempts to address this by stating “let’s look at the arguments against equal pay.” I wonder if Tyler understands what it means to poison a well. As if any sane person would attempt to defend a position that is against equal pay for equal work. I do not argue that women should be paid less for the same job, I argue that they are not being paid less. His exercise in unskilled rhetoric in regards to women and their ability to make babies does not even warrant a proper response. His further use of awful rhetoric comes in the form of an outright lie. Women do not earn less for the same amount of work as a man. Women earn less precisely because they don’t work as much as men.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men on average work longer shifts and are twice as likely as women to work overtime. Also, women are less likely than men to accept a job in which they will be expected to work outside normal hours. None of this is to say that women are less capable than men, but that the genders simply have different priorities when it comes to work.

If we are going to have an honest discussion about pay inequality, it needs to be first and foremost intellectually honest. No appeals to feelings, no appeals to some nonsense rhetoric such as “it’s 2016”. There is no gender wage gap that is based on some conspiracy of sexism. If there is a discussion to be had in all this, it should be focused on why women are less willing to negotiate their own salaries as opposed to men.

Last but certainly not least, please point me to a profession that can confidently say “we pay people with vagina’s less precisely because they have vaginas” and once you have pointed them out (you won’t find them, they don’t exist), please explain to me why they have yet to face a discrimination lawsuit? Because contrary to what Tyler believes, employers cannot in fact discriminate against a women in order to pay her less.

Let me leave you with a mental quandary: If women are as capable as men yet apparently much more cost effective, why would any employer ever hire a man?