My subscription to this magazine is ending. The magazine has changed for the worse. Gone are the articles about exotic places, animals, fossils, historic tribes, and earth’s wonders. Those articles have been replaced, in part, with “social justice” articles, often written by “guest authors” from the academic circles. Too bad!!
I looked forward to the magazine arriving because it was an excellent source of information about the areas above. But not now. The most recent issue contains a five page article about “Pay Inequity” in the US, written by an English professor. The author claims that women are “systemically discriminated” against regarding pay. The article provides much data, comparing women’s pay, by race, to men’s pay, alleging that women are paid less than men. Thus, according to the author, the reason must be “systemic discrimination.”
This may be true, and easily explained. Salaries and wages are determined by many factors including industry, function, experience, skills, performance, location, job content, and financial strength of company.
Men work in many fields that are higher paying industries like mining, gas and oil exploration, logging, heavy construction, steel works, crafts like plumbing, electrical, and HV/AC, trucking, petrochemical, and many others.
Women dominate work industries like administrative, clerical, retail, child care, education, medical assistants, customer service, housekeeping, hospitality, and the food industry. These industries are lower paying than those industries dominated by men. These are the facts, and this explains the difference in pay levels between men and woman. It is not “systemic discrimination.”
Any credible publication should report a balanced view and not just print articles slanted to fit their own pollical view. Shame on National Geographic. I think that magazine should stick with geographic articles. Anyway, I am not renewing my subscription.
High Truths and Low Lies 