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Making money is about exploiting economic opportunities. "Value" is an almost meaningless word. The garbage men who take the trash off my curb provide more valu
by z0r 16y ago
Making money is about exploiting economic opportunities. "Value" is an almost meaningless word. The garbage men who take the trash off my curb provide more value than a lot of white collar management, in my opinion. If you're either intelligent and skillful, you'll certainly have a better chance of identifying a desirable economic niche to fill and being able to work your way towards it. But is it right that many of the hardest working people in society, doing undesirable jobs, are compensated so much less than "knowledge workers"? Do you really think an 8 hour day sitting at a desk deserves twice as much pay as an 8 hour day digging a ditch? What the fuck is value? The compensation of a ditch digger has more to do with what a ditch digger can be offered to sustain himself than with any intrinsic 'value' of his work. That's true of a lot of shitty jobs, and it's bullshit that the people who have figured out how to exploit these shitty jobs to generate 'value' also somehow deserve respect, while the exploited are denigrated for their moral failures (such as laziness).
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- rick888 16y ago"The garbage men who take the trash off my curb provide more value than a lot of white collar management, in my opinion" The garbage men in my city get paid $50,000+/year (it's in the midwest). I think this is a pretty good wage. "Do you really think an 8 hour day sitting at a desk deserves twice as much pay as an 8 hour day digging a ditch? What the fuck is value?" It's not for me (or you) to decide. If someone is willing to pay a ditch digger $300,000/year, so be it. The market decides value and it's usually based on supply/demand. Since anyone who is under 40, healthy, and has two legs can dig a ditch, I don't see the wages being that high. "That's true of a lot of shitty jobs, and it's bullshit that the people who have figured out how to exploit these shitty jobs to generate 'value' also somehow deserve respect, while the exploited are denigrated for their moral failures (such as laziness)." Why don't you start a company and pay ditch diggers the same as office workers? I know you won't, because you would rather force other companies to do it instead.
- z0r 16y agoYour point about supply and demand determining value is well taken, and I acknowledge that is the way capitalist economies operate. I was criticizing it because I find the commodification of labor to be dehumanizing. If only there were some theory of value that took labor into account...