Pay Equality

The government is pushing on with plans to create equality by naming and shaming companies who they perceive to be discriminating (and forcing all other companies to reveal details of their payrolls as well). Those of us with a firmer grasp of reality than those in the Nu Labour government will, of course, see the limiting factors in this idea, and indeed would best summarise this plan as palpable bullshit. Yes, discrimination exists in society. Bureaucracy ain't going to help anyone though.

There is the further argument that it is absolutely the wrong time to do this sort of thing, what with the recession and all. Fortunately, Harriet Harman has a counter-argument for that one:

"The economies and societies which will prosper in the future are not those that have rigid hierarchies, where women know their place and where you can't go forward because of the colour of your skin," she said. "That's a very backward-looking argument."

Couple of points on that one. Firstly, Nu Labour had a good decade - ten years, 120 months, 520 weeks etc - of a strong, prosperous economy to introduce this sort of legislation. The fact that they have failed to do so until the economy goes down the shitter shows either a lack of interest in equality on their behalf, or gross incompetence. Actually, with Nu Labour, it could be both. And then you've got to point out the fallacy in what Harman is saying - you can have prosperous societies which have rigid hierarchies. There are plenty of moral arguments for equality - this socio-economic argument is, unfortunately, just not correct.

Furthermore, state legislation actually isn't the best way to foster equality. State-enforced equality simply creates more resentment. Look at positive discrimination - it devalues the achievements of minorities by creating the implication - that incessant whisper - that those achievements were purely down to the state insisting that the minorites get what they apply for, regardless of ability. Sometimes that implication is correct, other times not. But it simply makes those who have lost out resent the concept of equality.

So what will forcing companies to publish details of their pay structures actually do? A lot of companies may introduce rigid pay scales to create the perception of equality, and in doing so, reduce their ability to reward talent within their organisations. Other companies - who do discriminate, for whatever the reason - may be less likely to take people from minorities on. Are they creating equality with this bill? Are they bollocks. They are creating resentment in this country, and forcing the companies to create more elaborate ways of hiding their discrimination.

For once, the Tories are actually talking sense on an issue:

Shadow work and pensions minister Theresa May said earlier this year: "You don't make people's lives better by telling them they have a legal right to a better life. You do it by tackling the root causes like family breakdown and poor education."

Quite. If you want to minimise inequality, then your answer is education. But it isn't just about educating young people to maximise their potential and to achieve all they can achieve. It is also about education making the moral case for why discrimination is wrong. Setting out the argument, and then letting people make their own choice. Because if people can choose their own path, they are far less likely to resent the outcome.

But education is a long term solution that requires government to let people make up their own minds. It is also a point of view that requires an optimistic view of the majority of people in this country - that, if you leave them to their own desires, they will come to the right conclusions. And as a result of these factors, it is a solution that Nu Labour could never countenance. So we get more legislation, more bureaucracy, more businesses going under - and ironically, the thing we won't get is the thing Harman et al are trying so desperately to achieve - more equality.