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Someone figured out how to optimize their exchange of labor for money. I'm very happy for them, and hope we can all make such great exchanges. This fellow sound

Someone figured out how to optimize their exchange of labor for money. I'm very happy for them, and hope we can all make such great exchanges. This fellow sounds like a real go-getter, and we need more such inspirational people.

ayuvar 10y ago
The real disappointment here is that more people aren't paid proportionally to the amount of time they put in to their jobs.
- WalterBright 10y ago
  People are more or less paid for what they produce, how much time they spend at it is immaterial. (Despite ostensibly being paid by the hour, the rate is based on the expected value they'll produce in that time.) The idea of pay for time is the Labor Theory of Value, and is discredited.
- arjie 10y ago
  That's hardly a disappointment. A plumber who takes 4 days to fix my problem is a worse plumber than one who takes an hour. I can't imagine paying the first guy more.
Johnny555 10y ago
If he were working at a private organization, I'd say "good for him" - but since he's working for an essential public agency that receives significant tax funding then it's a little less equitable when the janitor earning $40K/year at a small office in SOMA is paying taxes and BART fares to help pay someone in his same position 5 times higher salary. That doesn't mean that the employee is to blame, this is purely a problem with BART management -- instead of paying one person 4X normal salary for a job (even if he's working 100 hours/week, that's still "only" 2.5 times a single worker), they should have hired 4 workers for that job, or if it's transient work that doesn't need a full time worker, then hire a contractor(s).
- pech0rin 10y ago
  Not sure it's a comparable job. Working at a small office is Soma is a much better gig than Bart. You would definitely have to pay me at least 4x more to work there than a small office job.
  - Johnny555 10y ago
    Indeed.com says the average janitor earns $28K in SF, I'm sure there are plenty of those janitors that would take a $50K+ job at BART. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=janitor&l1=san+francisco&tm=1 http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=janitor&l1=san+francisco&tm=...
    - kamaal 10y ago
      This might be both good and bad news, based on how you look. If one can overtime their way to 2-4x avg salary, so can anybody. The question is do you want to. If the answer is no, blaming the guy working hard to make 4x the base salary is unfair. Plus there is no social contract that if one worker makes less, so should others. You can't force people to be lazy, you can't force them to be hardworking. A lot of times the world is fair, and you get what you deserve.
sidlls 10y ago
Instead of expressing a more appropriate sentiment for members of the lower class--that it's shameful somebody who is highly skilled doesn't earn as much as an unskilled laborer--many people in this thread only express anger at "waste" or "undeserved" remuneration. It's one of the best illustrations of the "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" problem in America I've seen in a while. And make no mistake: almost everybody commenting in this thread is a member of the lower classes, even those of us pulling down six-figure salaries in the high $100k-$200k range. That some of us are relatively higher than others is immaterial to the immense wealth commanded by those in the class above ours. We have far more in common with the "lowly" janitor than these elites have with us.

ayuvar 10y ago

The real disappointment here is that more people aren't paid proportionally to the amount of time they put in to their jobs.

WalterBright 10y ago
People are more or less paid for what they produce, how much time they spend at it is immaterial. (Despite ostensibly being paid by the hour, the rate is based on the expected value they'll produce in that time.) The idea of pay for time is the Labor Theory of Value, and is discredited.
arjie 10y ago
That's hardly a disappointment. A plumber who takes 4 days to fix my problem is a worse plumber than one who takes an hour. I can't imagine paying the first guy more.

Johnny555 10y ago

If he were working at a private organization, I'd say "good for him" - but since he's working for an essential public agency that receives significant tax funding then it's a little less equitable when the janitor earning $40K/year at a small office in SOMA is paying taxes and BART fares to help pay someone in his same position 5 times higher salary. That doesn't mean that the employee is to blame, this is purely a problem with BART management -- instead of paying one person 4X normal salary for a job (even if he's working 100 hours/week, that's still "only" 2.5 times a single worker), they should have hired 4 workers for that job, or if it's transient work that doesn't need a full time worker, then hire a contractor(s).

pech0rin 10y ago
Not sure it's a comparable job. Working at a small office is Soma is a much better gig than Bart. You would definitely have to pay me at least 4x more to work there than a small office job.
- Johnny555 10y ago
  Indeed.com says the average janitor earns $28K in SF, I'm sure there are plenty of those janitors that would take a $50K+ job at BART. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=janitor&l1=san+francisco&tm=1 http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=janitor&l1=san+francisco&tm=...
  - kamaal 10y ago
    This might be both good and bad news, based on how you look. If one can overtime their way to 2-4x avg salary, so can anybody. The question is do you want to. If the answer is no, blaming the guy working hard to make 4x the base salary is unfair. Plus there is no social contract that if one worker makes less, so should others. You can't force people to be lazy, you can't force them to be hardworking. A lot of times the world is fair, and you get what you deserve.

sidlls 10y ago

Instead of expressing a more appropriate sentiment for members of the lower class--that it's shameful somebody who is highly skilled doesn't earn as much as an unskilled laborer--many people in this thread only express anger at "waste" or "undeserved" remuneration. It's one of the best illustrations of the "temporarily embarrassed millionaire" problem in America I've seen in a while. And make no mistake: almost everybody commenting in this thread is a member of the lower classes, even those of us pulling down six-figure salaries in the high $100k-$200k range. That some of us are relatively higher than others is immaterial to the immense wealth commanded by those in the class above ours. We have far more in common with the "lowly" janitor than these elites have with us.