Taking Back America is About Personal Responsibility

UNITED STATES - No one should have to pay for the crimes of others, or be condemned simply because they share skin tone, profession, or religious affiliation. America isn’t that far removed from a time when Blacks, Native Americans, Jews, Catholics, Mormons and others had no legal recourse for being discriminated against. But we as a country and society have made great strides. However, in the last few days, much to the dismay and horror of the majority of Americans, the disenfranchised have chosen to discard reason and rational discourse to engage in ex-judicial violence. They have advocated for “race wars.” They are more vociferous and aggressive in their condemnation of foreigners. They are blinded by emotionalism and have conflated their desire to return to a past that made sense to them with the right to threaten a sitting President Barack Obama with death.

Statue of Liberty, New York, Photo by Alex Be.

They are advocating for undemocratic policies, and seek to elect leaders willing to discard the sacrosanct ideals embodied in the U.S. Constitution. Within the last three days we have witnessed the death of two black men shot dead by officers, and a reported retaliatory shooting, murder, and wounding of several policemen in Dallas, Texas. Yet, in the midst of this mayhem and climate of blame and hate, cooler heads are prevailing and calling upon us to act with dignity, restraint, love, and civility in the face of the deeper undercurrent of distrust, fear, and intolerance which currently besets our nation.

On July 4th the Washington Post featured a post in which Fernando Herboso, 58, and his brother Carlos, who are Hispanic and own their own real-estate company, recount the difficulties they are encountering when trying to sell homes to Muslims wearing traditional clothing in the supposedly progressive suburbs of Washington, DC. They report an incident which occurred when they were showing a U.S. military veteran and his wife a home in Frederick, MD.  When they entered the community clubhouse and went out to the pool area a patron verbally assaulted them.

According to the article, the “woman lounging at the pool took one look at his client’s hijab and said it loud and clear: “We don’t want Muslims in our clubhouse. Take off that robe over [sic] your head!” she boomed.”

In another incident a child of one of his clients needed to use the restroom and the house they were touring had no running water. So he took her across the street where a woman was in the front yard watering her grass. He politely asked her if the little girl could use her restroom and without a word the woman shut off her hose, walked into her house, slammed and locked the door behind her.

This is the America we live in today, a sad reminder of days we thought were long behind us. Practices which we believed eradicated through the enactment of Civil Rights Laws and in this instant, the Fair Housing Act.  U.S. citizens are succumbing to baser natures and vilification of the other in lieu of examining their own role in why they are unable to keep pace with the demands of the new world. With bravado they proclaim that they are no longer holding back and are going to ‘tell it how it is,” but it would seem, to everyone but themselves. People who once privately embraced racism, misogyny, xenophobia, antiSemitism, anti-Muslim, and isolationism, now publicly defend these reprehensible characteristics and when confronted claim they have been misinterpreted.

But White Nationalists are unapologetic in their incitement of violence, or their exhilaration that their agenda has been elevated to the national stage. Sites like The White Genocide Project, promote the myth that racism against whites is a fact and that white people are the only ones who have to give up the country they built. They believe that Asians get to keep Asia, Muslims and Arabs get to keep the Middle East, Jews should be exterminated, and Black people get to keep Africa. Because, according to them all across Europe and in America white people are being forced out of their countries.  But, here is the problem.....America was stolen from the Native Americans, built on the backs of African slaves, and expanded westward through the construction of Central Pacific Railroad at the hands of Chinese-Americans. This is not to say that many other immigrants also didn’t contribute, however, in the early decades of its establishment, the blood, sweat, and tears of these three groups built this nation.

Thus, there are no halcyon days when this was a 'white' country to 'take it back to' or even to make great again. There is only the historical evidence of the dark days of violence, openly legislated systemic racism and intolerance, which resulted in the murder of millions of black slaves, the near annihilation of the Native Americans, and the abject treatment and exploitation of many other immigrants.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the passage of the Brexit referendum is the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for Americans being swayed by nationalism, seduced by nativism, and ensnared by nostalgia. The referendum presented British citizens with the choice to leave or remain as member country of the European Union. Overwhelmingly, the country voted in favor of leaving, though many regretted the decision upon review in the cold light of the morning after, leading to over 4 million people signing a petition to hold a second referendum.

The measure passed in large part because of cunning pandering to fear and xenophobia wrapped in the illusion of restoration of days of yore, and the charlatan promises to rob from the rich and give to the poor. For those who voted in favor of leaving or simply to make a political statement of their dislike of the status quo, they were shocked to discover that the passing of the referendum would not lead to greater freedom, opportunity, and affluence. Instead, it ushered the country into a Charles Lutwidge Dodgsonian universe, in which the young people and immigrants are Alice in anything but ‘Wonderland.’ The minute it approved the referendum Britain had to confront the impending reality of diminished presence and participation in the global market space, as well as being excluded from the privileges and ease of mobility that came with being citizen of the EU.

For young people like Sarah Abbasi, there is a great deal of anger toward the older generation holding the future of her generation captive. In her op-ed in The Guardian she wrote that “The future of the younger generation in the UK has been decided against their wishes. A nostalgic older generation has shaken my identity and I no longer fully understand what it means to be British. The number of students wanting to pursue opportunities in another EU country is likely to decline; it remains unclear whether or not future generations will even have the opportunities that were made available to me, which moulded me into an outward-looking, inquisitive and ambitious British.”

In numerous interviews and polls of Brits over 60, they revealed that they wholeheartedly supported leaving the EU so that they could take back their country or return to the way things used to be. In essence they voted to leave so that they could return to the idyllic days of a bygone era. One is tempted to ask if these elderly British citizens also longed for the loss of wealth that occurred immediately after World War II? Or perhaps they wanted to return to the 1970’s when Britain suffered a long running period of relative economic malaise, dogged by severe inflation, strikes, and citizens being regularly targeted in deadly terrorist’s attacks perpetrated by Irish Republican Army (IRA). Maybe they yearned for the times when “Unemployment exceeded 1 million by 1972 and had risen even higher by the time the end of the decade was in sight, passing the 1.5 million mark in 1978? (Source: West Sussex County Times)

It was reported by The Telegraph that the pound has crashed below $1.30 and bond yields hit record lows as Brexit aftershocks rattle global markets.  With the pound trading at its lowest levels in thirty years, inflation is predicted to hit the country hard. This means that older citizens who voted for the measure, were so wedded to the past they failed to take into account the realities of living as a pensioner on fixed income. Now these pensioners must look at their unvarnished history, no longer obfuscated by hazy memories, to accurately recall the difficulties they faced in that ‘better past.’ They must grapple with the present reality of decreased purchasing power of their pensions forcing many to make hard choices, even to the point of forgoing basic necessities.

When British citizens voted on behalf of xenophobia, racism, and isolationism, they deceived themselves and willingly bought into an irrational assertion that it is possible to resurrect the past. These older citizens who live predominantly in areas of the country which suffer from high unemployment as a consequence of the loss of industrial and mill jobs, became willing participants in what can only be described as mass psychosis. They chose to believe in the absurdity that the anachronistic industries that no longer meet the needs of our technology driven world would magically reappear. They longed for and fervently hoped to return to the ‘glory’ days of the Industrial Era. An era as outmoded and inefficient as slavery, the horse and buggy, and gas lights, etc.

Similarly, during each U.S. election cycles, candidates up and down ballot promise the return of factory jobs that supported families and communities in areas of the United States known as the Rust Belt. Politicians count on these constituents looking backwards, resisting progress, acquiescing to complacency and apathy, instead of aggressively retooling their skill-sets to prepare them to compete and grow with technology advancements. They count on their refusal to work in other market sectors despite the evidence that manufacturing has been in rapid decline for decades. Particularly in the steel mills and coal mines 'pink slipped’ workers refuse to acknowledge that these jobs will never come back.

With regard to the fossil fuel industry, many countries, including Saudi Arabia, are planning for future decreases in demand for oil and gas. According to Bloomberg News, the Kingdom plans to invest $109 billion in technologies to harness renewable clean energy sources from solar panels, wind, geothermal and nuclear reactors. Here in the States, coal companies are shuttering their doors and moving their base of operations overseas where regulative oversight is less stringent, and occupational health and safety rules non-existent. Robert Murray, owner of one of America’s largest private coal company, mendaciously informed employees that his company plans to lay off as many as 4,400 workers, or 80 percent of his workforce, and that their only hope to keep their jobs is to vote for a coal-friendly political candidates.

The fact of the matter is the industry is obsolete, and cannot compete against natural gas and other renewable energy producers. But, this didn’t stop Murray or politicians from stoking fears, peddling false hope, and persuaded the workers to blame others for their inability to compete in the new economies. Instead of inspiring confidence in the future, or offering educational opportunities to enable these workers to become more competitive, they appealed to their resentment. They urged them to wallow in self-pity, play the blame game, and adjured them to eschew personal responsibility.

When politicians cynically display and profess empathy for the plight of manufacturing workers and miners, cajoling them into giving them their votes with the patently false and empty promises of bringing back their jobs, they too are guilty of avoiding personal responsibility. They know that they will not be held accountable for the things they promise, so they can say anything with impunity in this culture of irresponsibility. Yet, these jobs will never come back because America no longer has a need for, nor the appetite to, pay for the high costs of these materials when manufactured domestically.

Additionally, our economy is much more complex and driven by domestic and international market forces. We now trade across borders intangible assets, resources, goods and services that are sold at greater profit to emerging countries. Though the economy is not as robust as we would like, we are not in a Great Depression, and the huge infrastructure building programs which were implemented as part of a strategy to kick start our economic engines, are no longer integral to our continued economic stability. Thus, to posit that we are going to turn back the clock, reinvigorate the Rust Belt and put people to work on large infrastructure projects is simplistic a best and deceptive at worst because we live in a world governed by technology.

The past is irrevocably complete and there is something profoundly pathetic and inimical about trying to steer a present into yesteryear and selling it as the future. The time of isolationism is past, we live in a global economy in which working poor and middle class people, especially in America, couldn’t survive without access to the low-costs products produced in China and elsewhere and sold in mega-stores like Walmart and Target. The very idea that the U.S. can pull back from its role as a global leader, ignoring the positive impact of international politics, policies, and trade is absurd. We have become and are becoming an increasing pluralistic and culturally diverse country and this cannot be reversed. So the preposterous idea of expelling all Mexican immigrants, building a wall, or otherwise seeking to once again homogenize the power structure, is not only xenophobic, but would also economically devastate the country and set a dangerous precedent that is antithetical to the democratic ideals of our nation.  

According to the New York Times, if unauthorized farm workers are expelled from the U.S. it would result “not just [in] more expensive produce, but the collapse of American labor-intensive agriculture. Instead of milk from a nearby dairy, the only kind available would come from abroad, and it would be irradiated or powdered. Meat would come from Brazil, shellfish from Thailand, fruits and vegetables from New Zealand — and that's the good, expensive stuff. There would be plenty of inferior products too, and much much less of anything would be fresh.

But worst of all would be the jobs lost for Americans. According to economists, every farm job supports three to four others up and downstream in the local economy: from the people who make and sell fertilizer and farm machinery to those who work in trucking, food processing, grocery stores and restaurants. Do we really want to lose those jobs too? No one in America is going to benefit from expelling immigrant farm workers. And the cost won't be pennies: it will run to billions of dollars.”  

And then there are the technological advances that skilled and highly trained immigrants bring to the economy. Already a challenging process, further restricting or outright closing our borders to immigrants will negatively affect our quality of life and access to innovations which streamline our daily interactions.

The Hill recently reported that “More than 100 chief executives of major tech companies and trade associations — including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer — urged President Obama and Congress on Thursday to reform the existing immigration rules for highly-skilled workers. In recent years, tech giants have argued that the U.S. isn't producing enough graduates with the advanced technical skills needed to fill the several open engineering and research positions they have. In their letter, the tech executives note that IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Oracle combined have 10,000 job openings in the U.S.  

“We call on you to address the need for more qualified, highly-skilled professionals, domestic and foreign, and to enact immigration reform this year."

Once again, it comes down to personal responsibility. There are jobs in the country which Americans are unwilling to do – field workers, domestics, cleaning people, manual day labor, fast food employees, etc. Yet, we blame the immigrants who are willing to do what every other immigrant group has done who came to this country. You start at the bottom, you work hard, you save, poured your hard work and sacrifice into the futures of your children. These people were and are not afraid of responsibility. They did and do not shrink from the challenges of becoming captains of their destiny. They did and do appreciate the gift of democracy and freedom, and we would do well to return to this.

We shall fall as a nation if we chose to circle our wagons to the exclusion of the majority of people who do not look like us, pray like us, or talk like us. Emma Lazarus inspired us to enlarge our tents in the second and most famous stanza of her sonnet “The New Colossus,” in honor of The Statue of Liberty.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

If we chose to turn our backs on this path and shutter our borders, we shall dim that light of that beacon that will guide us through these uncertain times. If we start to single out groups of people and accuse them of being un-American, we risk reviving the “practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.” In so doing, the U.S. shall lose its moral authority, and become no better than other countries where differences are not tolerated and often violently eradicated.

It is up to us to bury the carcasses of mythos, inhumanity, and the shamefulness of a past that didn’t serve us well as a nation. We must at every opportunity disabuse those who extol a time when people could abuse, subjugate, and kill others with impunity simply because they believed it was an inalienable right. We must resist all attempts to force us into suspicion and distrust, and reporting on our neighbors. We must remember our recent past, when tactics disguised as policy were implemented to disenfranchise American citizens.

We must stand firm and denounce all efforts to implement a national registration system for law-abiding Muslim Americans. We must remember our history so we don’t repeat it. We need look no further than January 14, 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor to see the ruinous and un-American conclusion of this type of thinking and rhetoric.

Today, it is the Muslim Americans, but in 1942 it was Japanese Americans. First, was the War Department’s blanket Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt which authorized the physical removal and detention of all Japanese Americans into internment camps in the interest of national security, after having classified them as enemy aliens. 127,000 Japanese American citizens, some of whom were veterans, became subject to racism, violence, and had their houses, businesses, and other property stolen. Not just because of the executive order, but by being labeled as such, they were distrusted as potential sleeper agents who could turn upon their communities and country even unto future generations.

Let us not ‘Regrexit’ because we have blithely succumbed to fear mongering and hatred, or apathetically acquiesced to the belief that there isn’t much we can do. We are responsible for this American experience, and we are the people, who are for the people, and governed by the people who protect the best of this democratic experiment. We should not let a vociferous minority define us as the majority. We should continue to enlarge our capacity for tolerance predicated upon an innate desire to be compassionate toward ourselves and each other. We must continue to push ourselves and our Constitution to embody the best in us, because it is only in this way that we will continue to evolve individually and as a nation. We must take to heart and heed the timeless warning that all evil needs to prevail is for good people to remain silent.

Today, America is at a cross-road, we face a choice between two paths and the future lies on the one less traveled. It is within the boundless possibilities of the unknowable that we can reaffirm our commitment to protecting the ideals of democracy, diversity, pluralism, and freedom. However, it will require bravery, it will require honesty, and it will be difficult. People have grown accustomed to blaming others and outside circumstances for their personal failings. We must take responsibility and face reality - a man is born, he lives, and he dies. If we are unhappy with our life and desire for change, we should as Ghandi recommended, ‘be the change we wish to see in the world,” and this starts and ends with personal responsibility.

Editor-in-Chief: @AyannaNahmias
LinkedIn: Ayanna Nahmias

Are Women Considered Equal to Men in the Real World? Not Yet

U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

UNITED STATES - For those who are following the United States' election cycle, Donald Trump’s misogyny brings to the forefront of the national stage an often convoluted and hidden issue of anti-women’s rights sentiment. Trump is not unique in this sentiment, he simply doesn’t care enough to hide his negative opinion of a woman’s worth. He constantly assigns women to lower positions, and has asserted that women are incapable of operating at a high-level in any field, and deserve be judged upon their physical appearances versus their abilities.

 Is he alone in thinking this way? Not at all. Despite the fact that women’s role in society has exponentially improved compared to the rigid roles that were afforded to them in the last century, there is still a vast gap in access to higher education. Education is a prerequisite to securing high-paying jobs that would afford women the financial freedom to achieve upward mobility for themselves and their families.

EDUCATION

In fact, data shows young girls are routinely steered away from STEM education curriculum.  In 2012 an article written by Erik B. Robelen for Education Week, statistics indicated that “Despite the gains, experts say some gender divides are still apparent, especially with participation in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” His articles continues by stating that “Concern remains widespread about the relative lack of women pursuing advanced study and careers in STEM fields. Recent federal data show just one-quarter of people working in those fields are women; one in seven engineers is female. Also, women trailed men in earning doctorates in many STEM fields, as of 2009, including computer science, engineering, chemistry, and math.”

"Computing has one of the worst gender representations of any STEM discipline," said Lucinda M. Sanders, the chief executive officer and co-founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, based in Boulder, Colo. "When you do find computing in high school, and it is rigorous, girls are very seldom represented in the classroom." (Source: Education Week, Gender Gap Persist in STEM Subjects) 

Three years later in an article written by Janine Ingram, “IX Reasons STEM Needs Title IX: Lessons from Center Court,” listed ten reasons why girls participation in STEM based curriculum is important, of those, the two below are most applicable to this article:

1. Although women fill close to half of all jobs in the US Economy, they fill less than 25% of STEM jobs. So why is that a big deal? Read #2 …

2. Women with STEM jobs earn 33% more than women with non-STEM jobs (.92 cents for every male dollar compared to .77 cents for every male dollar in non-STEM jobs).

Now I’m not thrilled to know I am being out-earned by 8 cents simply by virtue of a missing ‘y’ chromosome — but it beats 23 cents." (Source: Huffington Post)

Thus, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics courses, are necessary to succeed in the increasingly, sophisticated technological world. Even though this is common knowledge, girls and women continue to be unfairly steered into educational opportunities that make them less competitive and less likely to secure scholarships to top-tier universities. Without scholarships post-secondary education is increasingly outside the grasps of the average American for whom the specter of huge student loans represents a deterrent because of the reality of being unable to pay these loans back given the current job market and the opportunities afforded women who graduate with less competitive degrees.

JOB MARKET

According to Inter-Parliamentary Union research data, There are only three countries in the world where female representation equals or is more than males. These are Cuba (49 percent), Bolivia (53 percent) and Rwanda (64 percent). Though these figures are high, the average representation of women in parliaments globally tops out at about 22 percent. It is worth noting that there are countries with no female representation in their parliament. But, even more unjust is the fact that there are still countries where women cannot even vote.

One would think with a former female Senator, Secretary of State, and First Lady, Hillary Clinton running for president, that America is doing better when it comes to women in elected positions, especially in the U.S. House and Senate. With 88female members in U.S. House of Representatives, and 20 in the U.S. Senate, the United States takes the 95th place on the IPU’s women in Parliaments list, since female representatives only comprise about 20 percent of the Congress which is slightly below world average.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, of the data collected from individuals over 16-years-old, 57 percent of women participate in the workforce in the United States, yet women comprise only 46 percent of the total work force. Additionally, though the member countries of the European Union are considered as having one of the most developed and progressive economies only 62 percent of the women were employed in 2012, by comparison of 74 points for men.  According to research results from National Bureau of Economic Research, in 1990 the United States was identified as number one in terms of women in the workforce. This figure has declined to17th among the world’s 22 richest countries.

The predominance of men in both the public and private sector in senior management and executive positions continues to be the norm. Though there are many powerful women who are heads of major organizations like Christine Lagarde, the CEO of the International Monetary Fund, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany,  Carly Fiorina, former 2016 U.S. presidential candidate, and Oprah Winfrey, American billionaire media mogul, to name a few. However, by and large the average woman lacks access to the finances, education, social contacts to push through the discrimination that persists and hinders their advancements despite many gains in women’s rights.

WOMEN’S HEALTH AND FAMILY LIFE

According to Laura Bassett in her article titled “The U.N. Sent 3 Foreign Women to the U.S. To Assess Gender Equality. They Were Horrified.”  A delegation of human rights experts from Poland, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica spent 10 days touring the United States so they can prepare a report on the nation’s overall treatment of women. The three women, who lead a United Nations working group on discrimination against women, visited Alabama, Texas and Oregon to evaluate a wide range of U.S. policies and attitudes, as well as school, health and prison systems.

The delegates were appalled by the lack of gender equality in America. They found the U.S. to be lagging far behind international human rights standards in a number of areas, including its 23 percent gender pay gap, maternity leave, affordable child care and the treatment of female migrants in detention centers.” (Source: Huffington Post)

Their  3 women delegation’s overall negative assessment of the treatment of women was punctuated by a disturbing experience at an abortion clinic. They recounted how women who had chosen to exercise their reproductive rights afforded them by Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision were verbally berated, spit upon, and physically blocked as they tried to enter abortion clinics. The United States Supreme Court ruled 7–2, on January 22, 1973 that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion. The right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting women's health and protecting the potentiality of human life.

But, women continue to be systematically denied the right to exercise control of their reproductive rights. Now, in addition to making one of the most difficult decision of a woman’s life, the decision to terminate a pregnancy, they are increasingly at risk of losing access to securing abortions in safe, clean, medical facilities with trained practitioners. According to NARAL Pro-Choice research, in 2015, 22 states enacted 41 anti-choice measures.

“Arkansas enacted the most anti-choice legislation in 2015, with seven measures. Indiana and Texas followed, enacting four anti-choice measures each, and Oklahoma enacted three anti-choice measures. Since 1995, states have enacted 876 anti-choice measures.”

On the contrary, 19 states and District of Columbia passed 31 pro-choice measures in the same year. Currently, across the United States, religious conservatives have successfully waged battle against Planned Parenthood, one of the only organizations which provides free wellness care to women - including annual breast exams, pap smears, contraceptive, and STD treatment and awareness.

Planned Parenthood, dating back to 1923, has been one of the unique organizations in the United States, providing contraception and other health services to women and men, funding research on birth control and educating specialists; and educating the public about the results of advancing access to family planning. As the presidential election cycle took off, the organization has become one of the main targets of the Republican presidential candidates after the Center for Medical Progress released its video footage of its undercover investigation on selling the human body parts by Planned Parenthood officials.

In many cases, although these services are not as widespread in many countries other than United States, there are other organizations such as International Planned Parenthood Federation continue to educate and help people in need.  

A woman’s right to control her reproductive rights is not the only area in which women are routinely discriminated against because of their sex. According to a report from International Labor Organization, United States is one of only the three countries in the world that does not guarantee paid maternity leave for the working women. The other two are Papua New Guinea and Oman. Most of the developed countries mandate by law that employers grant maternity and paternity leave without risk of losing their jobs. In addition, employers must provide latitude to employees in cases where a family emergency arises by guaranteeing job security for employees who may require time off for illness. Some companies must also provide stipends to help employees more easily support preschool education for their children.

With regard to recognizing the importance of family, and that the quality of work and happiness quotient for employees is very much lacking in the United States. It is so rare that in 2015 Forbes featured the Top 10 Companies Doing the Most to Make Their Employees Happier. Some of the benefits afforded to these companies employees are common in the E.U., but so foreign in the U.S. workforce as to be noteworthy. A research conducted by White House showed in today’s America, in 60 percent of the families, both father and mother are working. In 1965 this was 40 percent. Despite this increase in 50 years, The United States failed to develop policies to enhance family unity as well as providing healthcare, the smallest unit of the society. On the other side, many of the European countries have started the basics of health insurance as early as 19th century. A World Health Organization report on transition towards universal health care coverage shows Austria resolving the issue as early as 1967, Belgium by 1969, Germany by 1988.

Until two years ago, national health insurance wasn’t easily available or affordable, and not guaranteed to every individual in the United States while in the E.U., U.K., and Canada, a national healthcare system provides mandatory care to the citizens. Although Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has provided health insurance to many people who has never had insurance before, a recent Gallup Poll showed that 12 percent of the American people were not covered as of the end of the first quarter of 2015. It is an unfortunate fact that despite the spirit of the law, employers found ways to exploit the loopholes that exists in the law to justify not insuring their employees. Though the law has provided insurance for many people who were previous unable to secure coverage, it continues to be criticized for weakening the workforce indirectly. Many of the reasons pointed out that it is causing undue economic burden on small businesses, causing employers to decrease their workforce or reduce the hours their employees work so that they are considered part-time and therefore ineligible for company provided insurance coverage. Secondarily, because it mandates that all Americans have the right to have adequate health insurance coverage which was denied to many prior to the legislation, it has unfortunately ended up penalizing individuals for a failure to maintain health insurance by increasing their tax burden and forcing them to pay monthly premiums.

One of the main problems with not having insurance, especially for women is the consequences. National Center for Biotechnology Information has studied employer's’ benefits from workers’ health insurance. According to several studies, poor health can be related to increased absenteeism. Accordingly, poor health reduces earnings significantly, when compared to workers with access to health insurance, hence good health. In many cases, women have the double responsibility for household work and outside work. According to another study on health and productivity, poor health means, in many cases, loss of income for the female body of the family as well as additional expenditure to fulfill the commitments of the women. As a result, in order to keep an equal status to men, women end up sacrificing a part of herself most cases her femininity in order to eliminate additional responsibilities that comes with being a woman, and not being compromised for it.

Inequality against women is not limited to health issues. Gender inequality, like in the rest of the world, exists in the United States in many levels. Women in the U.S. get paid significantly less than their male counterparts for the same work they do. At a roundtable event on April 12, Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton questioned the lower pay U.S. women soccer team members are receiving when compared to male soccer team, even after winning the World Cup and Olympics.

“We cheered when they won the world cup, and we cheered when they won the Olympic gold medal. And, we noticed that our men’s team hasn’t yet done that. Yet somehow, the men are making hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the women,” she said.

There is no question why U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a speech during the dedication of the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in honor of Equal Pay Day. Though not directly tied to pay, the event highlighted the gains realized after the passing of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women’s suffrage, or the right for women to vote. The monument paid homage to activist and suffragist Alva Belmont, who was a major benefactor of the National Woman's Party, and Alice Paul, who founded the Party and was the chief strategist and leader in the Party’s ongoing fight for women’s political, social, and economic equality. (Source: The White House)

President Obama stated that “I am not here just to say we should close the wage gap. I am here to say, we will close the wage gap. If you don’t believe me, If you don’t believe that we are going to close that gap, you need to come visit this house,” he said in alluding the all of the women who work in his administration, as well as a nod to the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

According to a census survey the gap between the wages paid to women and men has not improved for 11 years as of 2013. According to this data, women gets paid about 25 percent less than their male counterparts working full time, year round jobs. This fact was so apparent that since taking office, President Obama has made equal pay a top priority and “has taken a number of steps to fight for pay equity. In addition to signing his first piece of legislation as President, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, President Obama has created the National Equal Pay Task Force, called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, issued an Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees who discuss or inquire about their compensation, and worked with the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to better target enforcement of equal pay laws though enhanced employer reporting of pay data.” (Source: The White House)

In the light of the data, it is safe to say gender equality is a complex issue of social-economic dynamics, stereotypes, and overt efforts to impede women’s equality. Without addressing all of the problems, one cannot hope to achieve comprehensive improvements. Though this is a gargantuan task, and one that cannot be solved by one stroke of the pen, it is something which needs to be front and center in the national dialogue of equal rights.

A large part of the solution requires improvements in the healthcare system and the Affordable Care Act, legislation to provide more transparency in the workplace with regard to salaries, and a realignment of family values to reward versus penalize women who must balance both the home and work life. It is going to take a collaborative effort through public/private partnerships, validating and supporting organizations fighting for women’s rights and equality, and above all a sincere effort on the part of men and women to understand each other. Hopefully, through these efforts, and many more, we will enable women of 21st century to achieve an equal living standard afforded to men of 21st century. And if for no other reason, though it may seem quixotic, Donald Trump’s misogyny has sparked a national debate which has long been overlooked and vastly under-reported.

Contributing Journalist: @ElvanKatmer
LinkedIn: Elvan Katmer