"All fingers are not equal" is a common saying in my country, Nigeria, as this mostly refers to people's wealth and general ways of life and every other thing which make up an individual, of course, a person's pay is also what determines the person's worth to some extent, looking at the equal payment for all at first glance, it seems to stem from a genuine desire for all to be fair and equal, but the fact remains that this is impossible to achieve in our current world, every human is unique and has a different level of qualification, experience, skills, labour, etc.
For instance, how can you expect an SSCE(Senior Secondary School) holder who works in a nursery school to receive the same pay as a Professor who works in a tertiary institution, from the description above, you can see the is a wide gap/difference between them therefore, there is no fairness involved in paying them equally, life in general will move towards a disastrous level if this form of equality is brought upon us, rather than bring a balance, the opposite will be the case. Therefore, it is important to recognize the uniqueness of each individual and pay them according to their qualifications and experience. This is the best way to ensure that all people are treated fairly and equally.
There will be no motivation to aim higher in life, career-wise since we will all receive equal payment eventually, whether we move past SSCE or not and this will further lead to a lot of quack/ incompetent hands that will further drive the nation's economy into a mess This will lead to a decrease in productivity, resulting in a decline in the quality of products and services, as well as a decrease in economic growth. This will ultimately lead to a decrease in the quality of life for all citizens.
What we should do instead is look into equal pay among persons with similar work experience, qualification, and labour inputted irrespective of their gender, race or age, as long as their input is same, also placing special focus on some certain jobs like the medical field, agriculture, etc which have no populated workforce due to the lesser pay they receive compared to the job they do, these fields should be well compensated alongside their pay, payment should also be based on job gravity.
Another aspect to be addressed is the political positions and how people go to extremes to gain such positions only shows how much humans are after very high-paying jobs, rather than paying a governor salary that is worth paying several doctors or people in other fields, the political office and leader voted should be paid based on his or her qualification and how well they perform in their various offices, only then will we have genuine leaders who are after the positive change and growth of the nation and not corrupt and selfish individuals who are after the pay and not the description of the job.
If equal pay is based on similarities between qualification, skill, labour and most importantly their productivity, this will create a more equitable workplace and ensure that everyone has the same opportunities to succeed, and the zeal to grow to get better qualified and skilled will be at it's highest, furthermore, It will also help reduce the disparity between the highest and lowest paid roles, which is essential for a fairer economy.
This post is in response to the hive learners weekly contest, week 83, edition 1.