The Salary Conversation: Why America Doesn’t Talk About Money | More In Common

The Salary Conversation: Why America Doesn’t Talk About Money. Part 1 of a new three-episode arc. Keith opens with his mom’s birthday — the political conversation she didn’t want to have and the friend who pushed anyway. Gerren pulls the thread: politics, religion, money. The three things Americans don’t talk about. The first two we’ve covered. The third is this arc. Keith walks through what he found trying to trace when the silence started — the National Labor Relations Act, company towns, union busting, and why corporations had a vested interest in employees not sharing numbers. Gerren brings the Gen Z counter-pattern of posting salaries publicly on TikTok. Keith brings the research complicating the “transparency is always better” story — Norway’s public tax records widened the happiness gap, UC employees who learned they made less than peers reported lower job satisfaction, and one European pay-transparency law reduced overall pay by 2%. Also — the Mexico/India bargaining culture as the counterpoint to American money taboo, why the freelance world can’t afford the silence, and the SAG-AFTRA strike as the current-day version of the same fight. Hard questions. No easy answers. Part 1 of 3. IN THIS EPISODE: Keith’s mom’s birthday — the political conversation she didn’t want to have Politics, religion, money — the three American taboos The anthropology of shared currency — before the dollar, there were shells When did we stop talking about salaries? Keith looked. The answer is murky. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and 90 years of protected right to discuss wages About half of workers still report being discouraged from talking about pay Colorado, California, New York, Washington, Illinois — the pay-transparency laws Millennials started it. Gen Z made it a TikTok format. Norway’s public tax records and what happened to the happiness gap The UC Berkeley wage satisfaction study The pay transparency law that reduced overall pay by 2% Fairness perception as the real variable Mexico and India bargaining culture vs. the fixed American price tag The SAG-AFTRA strike as a current-day version of the fight Why the freelance world can’t afford the silence Setting up Part 2 — the class caste system America doesn’t name CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open — Mom’s Birthday and the Political Ambush 02:27 How Not to Carry Out a Political Conversation 02:52 This Is Why People Are Afraid 03:36 Different Wants, Different Needs 04:24 Introducing the Money Arc 04:49 Politics, Religion, Money — The Three Taboos 05:58 Why the Silence Exists and Who It Protects 06:48 Shared Currency, Defined 08:28 Loaves of Bread and Beer for Building Pyramids 10:08 The Industrial Revolution and the Centralization of Pay 11:40 The National Labor Relations Act — 90 Years of Protection 13:19 Why Corporations Benefit From the Silence 14:19 About Half of Workers Still Discouraged From Talking Pay 15:47 The Social Sorting Mechanism of Currency 17:17 Who Wields the Mechanism Over Whom 18:21 Pay-Transparency Laws — Colorado, California, and Beyond 19:28 Gen Z on TikTok vs. Millennials in the Breakroom 19:52 The Norway Tax Records Study 21:37 UC Berkeley Wage Satisfaction Study 22:43 Where the Mechanism of Sharing Occurs Matters 23:04 Why Talking About It Can Hurt Close Relationships 24:27 Mexico and India Bargaining Culture 25:37 Taboo AF in America 26:20 Freelancers, the Product 26:50 The SAG-AFTRA Strike of 2023 28:09 Silence Costs More in the Freelance World 28:38 NFL Quarterbacks Holding Out for Everyone 30:33 Teeing Up Part 2 — The Class Caste System THE ARC: 🎧 Part 1 — The Salary Conversation: Why America Doesn’t Talk About Money ← you’re here 🎧 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/3pkI3OA... FIND US 🌐 https://www.moreincommonent.com 📸   / moreincommonent   🐦   / moreincommonent   📘   / moreincommonpod   GERREN TAYLOR 🎵   / gerrent   💼   / gerrent   #MoreInCommon #EmotionalIntelligence #HumanConnection