I’m doing the antithesis of being an idiot. I’m doing idiocy prevention. I thought of something I wanted to write about and instead of waiting until tomorrow when I know I’ll forget it; I’m striking when the iron is hot. I took a late afternoon shower and that always gives me time to think, so I might write on more than one topic. I’m not sure how much I need to write on any of these.
One of my friends linked to a post in the Huffington Post with the headline, “Elizabeth Warren Pledges Half Her Cabinet Will Be Women.” The source was a post by Liz on Medium, Restoring Integrity and Competence to Government After Trump. The actual quote was “(I will) Build a Cabinet and senior leadership team that reflects the full diversity of America, including having at least 50% of Cabinet positions filled by women and non binary people.” I just realized I object to that. It should be nonbinary or perhaps non-binary, but not “non binary.” I expect better proofreading from our future president. I’ll let it slide this one time. As many will have predicted the first comment was; “I’d rather her cabinet be “most competent” regardless of gender, race, sexual identity or faith.” That’s the kind of statement that sounds reasonable, but only if you ignore the cultural context. We’ve had 220 years of all male or overwhelmingly male cabinets and had no trouble filling the positions with competent people.
There will be no problem finding extremely capable women and nonbinary (see how much better that is) people to fill half the cabinet. In doing so we will have a better cabinet than one that is all or predominantly male, or all or predominantly female. While men and women are equally capable they have very different life experiences and the country will benefit from having a broader range of experiences in the cabinet. Health care is high on everyone’s agenda, it affects men and women very differently. Men, if you don’t get that, speak to your gynecologist. Many men think that birth control is cheap and not covering it is not a big deal. They don’t know that if you want the most effective methods, it’s expensive. Nexplanon costs $600 to be implanted and $100 to be removed. Raise your hand if you’re a man and you were aware of that. How many men have no idea what Nexplanon is? I didn’t. I thought it was called Norplant. It’s an implanted hormonal release device that is implanted subcutaneously. Options are only options if you can afford them.
That’s just one of many ways. The way people interact in business and the workplace are very different for men and women. Men are far more likely to be mentored. There are men that avoid social interactions with women because they are afraid of being accused of harassment. I had a friend who thought like that. They think that false accusations are prevalent and real ones rare so women should bear the costs.
The differences in experience lead to differences perceptions. That includes but is not limited to matters of war and peace. We’d greatly benefit from more debate and less bandwagonning. Having women in the cabinet will foster that.
Then there is the symbolic but still real effect of seeing women in positions of power. Right now, our ideas of what a powerful person look like are dominated by images and sounds of men. Our guts lie to us. When we say someone looks, sounds, and acts presidential, or like a leader that the effect of a lifetime of bias.
As for competence, as women are discriminated against in all facets of society, the women available for cabinet positions will be more capable on average not less. The capable men are more likely to be snapped up and already be in positions of power. Every woman that’s been denied her due in business, academia, and advocacy is a potential asset in government; including the positions at the very top. Women who get elected to office are systematically more qualified than men.
Everything I said about women can be said about blacks, Hispanics, LGBT, immigrants, the disabled, and anyone else facing discrimination. Moneyball is based on taking advantage of market inefficiencies. Discrimination is a market inefficiency. If our culture undervalues people that can benefit any organization that properly values them. That includes the government.
I finished this at 8PM, I’m going to wait until the morning to post it. That will leave tomorrow morning free. I can use the time to watch The Flash and Arrow. Usually I say that now I’m going to make breakfast. Today it’s, “now I’ll make dinner.” I can’t wait. I’m posting it now and will link to it again in the morning.
Wise Madness 