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In reply to the discussion: Bernie urges respect for Trump supporters [View all]Hekate
(90,565 posts)What good will wage parity do me if I do not also have access to the full range of women's medical care? If I can't obtain contraception and get pregnant? If I can't get an abortion and stay pregnant? If I have children whether by choice or by chance, and I cannot get maternity leave? What good does economic redistribution do me if I cannot get time off when my kids are sick?
It goes on and on. I was at one time a single mother. I got the job with the best benefits I could, and in my town that was as a confidential secretary at the University of California. Since I worked in Personnel, I knew all the salaries. My salary was exactly the same as that of a groundskeeper. Just for shits and giggles, I checked a few years ago, long after my retirement. They're still the same. So that was my wage parity -- me with a bachelor's degree (and at UC they really expect that), and the groundskeepers who, gods bless them, don't really need to speak or read English. They run a lawnmower; I ran an office.
Suppose, just for example, that I was African American (I'm not). How the hell is economic redistribution going to solve the problem of my son being being at risk of being shot and killed at the age of 12 at a public playground by white cops, or shot and killed by at the age of 17 by some asshole who thinks he has to stand his ground because my kid is walking along in a hoodie drinking ice tea and eating Skittles.
These problems and others like them are the reason I am a Democrat. I needed better wages back then, gods know I needed better wages. But if a magic fairy wand somehow gave every person in this sad nation a living wage, I swear to you it would not solve either of the problem-sets I just detailed here. We are fighting systemic racism and we are fighting systemic sexism and we are fighting many other systemic problems right alongside the economic issues. It is not "identity politics" to say that classical Socialist theory is not the entire answer.