4 ms·

Why? Honest question from someone with a radical-transparency conviction

schoen 5y ago
Apart from other more ideological considerations, there are two obvious practical ones: * having people know you have more money than they do can make them jealous of you; it might also motivate family members to ask you for money and to feel angry with you if you don't share it * having people know you have a lot of money can make them interested in robbing you or in kidnapping you or your family members for ransom (especially in developing countries, but to some extent anywhere in the world) Those seem like considerations on par with those people might bring up around other kinds of privacy interests: information that can make people feel negatively toward you, and information that can incentivize people to target you for harm. (edit: I realized these issues are both more focused on how much money you have rather than on how high your salary is -- stocks rather than flows -- although the two are often correlated)
- igorkraw 5y ago
  If the country has a wealth tax it will also show how much you have, regarding your edit.
seibelj 5y ago
I am an individualist and I think every person has various things they are good at and things they are not-so-good-at. No two people are alike. However some say that everyone should be paid the same, when IMO no 2 people accomplish a task the same way. If no one is alike, then why should everyone be paid an equal wage? I like the idea of some super-skilled people making more than others. If we standardized all salaries it would hurt the top more than it helps the bottom. So no, I don’t want everyone being treated like replaceable cogs, and if I’m paid more than others then why should I have to defend myself? Radical transparency is a strategy to make people feel like they owe the collective, when my goal is to make everyone feel like an individual.
- igorkraw 5y ago
  You are arguing a straw man though, nobody is talking about standardization, we are talking about transparency. If you as a manager can justify the difference then having the salary transparent shouldn't be a problem. If you can't, then there's a problem. If you are the one receiving the salary, I don't see why you should have to defend yourself anymore than we have people"defending themselves" for living in a nice neighborhood. It simply doesn't come up. Just point to the manager/employer and say "ask them"
  - seibelj 5y ago
    It will cause employees to constantly ask why they are making less than someone else. If my decision is to keep my salary private then that should be my right. If you wanna show the world your salary be my guest, but leave me out of it.
sys_64738 5y ago
Because it’s none of your business.

Apart from other more ideological considerations, there are two obvious practical ones: * having people know you have more money than they do can make them jealous of you; it might also motivate family members to ask you for money and to feel angry with you if you don't share it * having people know you have a lot of money can make them interested in robbing you or in kidnapping you or your family members for ransom (especially in developing countries, but to some extent anywhere in the world) Those seem like considerations on par with those people might bring up around other kinds of privacy interests: information that can make people feel negatively toward you, and information that can incentivize people to target you for harm. (edit: I realized these issues are both more focused on how much money you have rather than on how high your salary is -- stocks rather than flows -- although the two are often correlated)

igorkraw 5y ago
If the country has a wealth tax it will also show how much you have, regarding your edit.

seibelj 5y ago

I am an individualist and I think every person has various things they are good at and things they are not-so-good-at. No two people are alike. However some say that everyone should be paid the same, when IMO no 2 people accomplish a task the same way. If no one is alike, then why should everyone be paid an equal wage? I like the idea of some super-skilled people making more than others. If we standardized all salaries it would hurt the top more than it helps the bottom. So no, I don’t want everyone being treated like replaceable cogs, and if I’m paid more than others then why should I have to defend myself? Radical transparency is a strategy to make people feel like they owe the collective, when my goal is to make everyone feel like an individual.

igorkraw 5y ago
You are arguing a straw man though, nobody is talking about standardization, we are talking about transparency. If you as a manager can justify the difference then having the salary transparent shouldn't be a problem. If you can't, then there's a problem. If you are the one receiving the salary, I don't see why you should have to defend yourself anymore than we have people"defending themselves" for living in a nice neighborhood. It simply doesn't come up. Just point to the manager/employer and say "ask them"
- seibelj 5y ago
  It will cause employees to constantly ask why they are making less than someone else. If my decision is to keep my salary private then that should be my right. If you wanna show the world your salary be my guest, but leave me out of it.

sys_64738 5y ago

Because it’s none of your business.