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> how much you earn is based on how much value you provide This is laughable, not to mention naive. The easiest counterexample being a bank robber. But even if
by dvt 9y ago
> how much you earn is based on how much value you provide
This is laughable, not to mention naive. The easiest counterexample being a bank robber. But even if we stay in the purview of the law, we have the crash of 2008, where bankers -- the very institutions that dropped the proverbial ball -- were bailed out.
This reminds me of an episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia where Charlie tries to understand what Frank's company makes:
C: What does Atwater make?
F: Whaddya mean, like how much money does Atwater make?
C: Uh, no, I mean, *what* do we make?
F: I don't follow. We make money.
C: No, I know we make money, I mean, what do we create?
F: We create wealth.
C: No, no, no, I mean, what do we build? What do we design? Because I have some ideas that could really help the company...
F: Charlie, Charlie, we don't build anything. Leave that to the Chinks!
- snuxoll 9y agoThis dialogue is awfully reminiscent of a certain talk about Oracle.
- skizm 9y agoI realize the guy is getting downvoted for being so callous, but I agree with the sentiment. You earn what people are willing to pay you, and generally people only pay for things if they get something in return. In theory the bank literally provided so much value to the country that when the citizens could not pay to keep the institution going the government stepped in and paid to keep them in business. Also I'd argue the original point was that "earn" means someone is willing paying you, meaning the bank robber example doesn't apply. /2cents
- TimJYoung 9y agoYou should really do some more reading on what exactly transpired leading up to, and during, the bank meltdowns in 2008-2009. The banks "provided value" like a person with a gun to your head is "providing life".
- mturmon 9y ago"earn what people are willing to pay you, and generally people only pay for things if they get something in return" I'm sorry, no: this is taking some Econ 101 assumptions about supply and demand curves, and turning them around and claiming them as obvious empirical truths. In my experience, people are also willing to pay whatever other people are willing to pay for something. It's not always rational, and cartels and monopolies are major, perhaps dominant, parts of our economic system.