Seeing your boss do it teaches you to become the boss. Seeing your neighbor do it teaches you to switch jobs and work 1/3 as hard. The reason this doesn't wor

Seeing your boss do it teaches you to become the boss. Seeing your neighbor do it teaches you to switch jobs and work 1/3 as hard. The reason this doesn't work is the same incentives people are discussing. If there are high-paying easy jobs, people will demand them and theoretically the wages will fall until demand for the job tapers off. All of this is a bit unfair though, because "having a social safety net where poor people can have vacations and a happy life" is a lot different than the myopic, mean-spirited conservative reply of "but my neighbor is a lazy jerk who makes more than me!"