4 ms·

It can lead to uncomfortable social situations. Although I would like to believe people don't get jealous of how much others make or change their opinion based

It can lead to uncomfortable social situations. Although I would like to believe people don't get jealous of how much others make or change their opinion based on that they do, even if they don't mean too.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
This is entirely based on the people you work with. I'm sure some of my co-workers make more than me, but I would never think for a moment they don't deserve it or haven't earned it. The future is radical transparency; we should be prepared to embrace it.
- k-mcgrady 11y ago
  I actually wasn't even thinking of the workplace. If people contribute more to the company and therefore earn more, fine. I was thinking outside of the office. E.g. a friend offering to pay for a meal when you know they can't afford it as easily as you can or vice versa.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Most government worker salaries are already public information. Everyone's property value and home/condo sale price information is already public. I don't see personal financial information moving towards being more private anytime soon.
    - cookiecaper 11y ago
      Government worker salaries are not usual directly associated with the names of the people receiving them; the classifications are public, but you can't just type in "my neighbor salary" in Google and see what they make; you don't know what classification most government workers hold. Elected officials are the common exception to this, since we know senators make $x and we know all 100 people that are currently senators, we can look up the salary for the mayor and associate it with the mayor of the city, etc. Even then the published salaries should be seen as a baseline, since many public personas have multiple streams of income.
      - ktsmith 11y ago
        Who needs google: http://www.transparentnevada.com/salaries/search/ http://www.transparentnevada.com/salaries/search/ There has been plenty of pressure applied to state government to provide this information under freedom of information laws. When a local paper initially collected this information and made it available there was public backlash against both the paper, and the way certain people were compensated (mostly firefighters, police officers but also some school teachers and university employees). After a while most people forgot about it but the push continued and now we have things like the above linked site where you can find the total compensation of every employee of the state of Nevada.
      - thecage411 11y ago
        In California they are public and searchable by name, see http://transparentcalifornia.com/ http://transparentcalifornia.com/.
  - baby 11y ago
    How would your friend come across such a page? My friends don't browse the entirety of my website company, I actually wonder how many have actually looked at it.
- ryanmarsh 11y ago
  Forget the co-workers, how about your neighbors, debt collectors, direct marketers. Publishing the salary of private citizens should be criminal.
  - nacs 11y ago
    "Criminal" is a bit excessive.. If my employer suddenly published salaries then it may be an issue but they've been publishing these reports for years. I'm sure everyone who works there is both aware and accepting of the publishing. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't have accepted the job in the first place.
    - ryanmarsh 11y ago
      Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I let my emotions get the better of me.
patcon 11y ago
Interesting. In general, I'm curious why we all seem to feel wealth should be private. That ability to hide liquid wealth is something (relatively) new to our brains and societies. I would think a society where we could easily size up one another's wealth would be more in line with how our brains evolved to understand our social space...
- philsnow 11y ago
  That's just the thing, though. People want to connect on a personal level with other people, and if other people know that they make 50% more or 50% less than you, they will (by and large) treat you differently, even if subconsciously.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

This is entirely based on the people you work with. I'm sure some of my co-workers make more than me, but I would never think for a moment they don't deserve it or haven't earned it. The future is radical transparency; we should be prepared to embrace it.

k-mcgrady 11y ago
I actually wasn't even thinking of the workplace. If people contribute more to the company and therefore earn more, fine. I was thinking outside of the office. E.g. a friend offering to pay for a meal when you know they can't afford it as easily as you can or vice versa.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Most government worker salaries are already public information. Everyone's property value and home/condo sale price information is already public. I don't see personal financial information moving towards being more private anytime soon.
  - cookiecaper 11y ago
    Government worker salaries are not usual directly associated with the names of the people receiving them; the classifications are public, but you can't just type in "my neighbor salary" in Google and see what they make; you don't know what classification most government workers hold. Elected officials are the common exception to this, since we know senators make $x and we know all 100 people that are currently senators, we can look up the salary for the mayor and associate it with the mayor of the city, etc. Even then the published salaries should be seen as a baseline, since many public personas have multiple streams of income.
    - ktsmith 11y ago
      Who needs google: http://www.transparentnevada.com/salaries/search/ http://www.transparentnevada.com/salaries/search/ There has been plenty of pressure applied to state government to provide this information under freedom of information laws. When a local paper initially collected this information and made it available there was public backlash against both the paper, and the way certain people were compensated (mostly firefighters, police officers but also some school teachers and university employees). After a while most people forgot about it but the push continued and now we have things like the above linked site where you can find the total compensation of every employee of the state of Nevada.
    - thecage411 11y ago
      In California they are public and searchable by name, see http://transparentcalifornia.com/ http://transparentcalifornia.com/.
- baby 11y ago
  How would your friend come across such a page? My friends don't browse the entirety of my website company, I actually wonder how many have actually looked at it.
ryanmarsh 11y ago
Forget the co-workers, how about your neighbors, debt collectors, direct marketers. Publishing the salary of private citizens should be criminal.
- nacs 11y ago
  "Criminal" is a bit excessive.. If my employer suddenly published salaries then it may be an issue but they've been publishing these reports for years. I'm sure everyone who works there is both aware and accepting of the publishing. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't have accepted the job in the first place.
  - ryanmarsh 11y ago
    Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I let my emotions get the better of me.

patcon 11y ago

Interesting. In general, I'm curious why we all seem to feel wealth should be private. That ability to hide liquid wealth is something (relatively) new to our brains and societies. I would think a society where we could easily size up one another's wealth would be more in line with how our brains evolved to understand our social space...

philsnow 11y ago
That's just the thing, though. People want to connect on a personal level with other people, and if other people know that they make 50% more or 50% less than you, they will (by and large) treat you differently, even if subconsciously.