Two essays that popped up from my past:
September 24, 2013
If I earned what my wife earns we would qualify as being in the 1%. Now before anyone hits me up for money realize that while this is nether a lie nor a damn lie it is merely a statistical sleight of hand. For a two person household to make the bottom edge of the 1% the two wage earners only have to earn about $31.00 an hour.
Again, this is not a lie. If two people earn $31.00 an hour and work 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year then in the good old U.S.A. that income qualifies as 99th percentile earner or a one percenter in the common vernacular. That couple could even take a day off every four years or so as I did my math using a 365 day calendar and I did not include Leap Day!
Ridiculous?
You bet!
But that’s the way people win arguments in the court of public opinion; by making a statement that is true, such as my assertion that two folks earning $31.00 an hour qualify as being in the1%, without telling you “the rest of the story.”
We might say that no one can work 365 days a year and we know no one can work 24 hours a day but sometimes I think I get close. Liar? Nope, more shenanigans.
I work about 2,160 hours a year at my job: The one that pays me! I also work on theatre, writing and fitness for at least that amount of time in a year. Hey, people get paid to act, write, and compete in sports so those count as jobs too, don’t they? If your B.S. meter is becoming apoplectic then you begin to understand my point; we can come up with facts that support our theories but if we are not honest about what we are saying then the picture we create is very distorted. I “work” an average of just over 12 hours a day, 365 days a year; and that doesn’t include housework which thereby gets me “close” to 24/7!
The reason I don’t get paid for my other three “jobs” is because the market value for my work is zero. If you are reading this then you enjoy my writing; anybody want to hire me and pay me to create this clap-trap? Please contact me if you have a serious job offer but I am definitely planning on heading to work tomorrow to earn my daily bread! Musicians frequently complain about their low wages but the vast majority of folks in community theatre get paid nothing. There are hundreds of thousands of attention whores out there who act because they think it is fun, even important, but who know that their talent is not going to bring in one thin Drachma. As for my sports career I have had many podium places in races (for my age group, and probably in rather small turn-out events) but the most I have ever earned was a pint glass as a prize; and even for this I paid an entry fee! Other folks get paid for my three unpaid vocations so why are mine avocations that I perform gratis? Because that is there market value!
Okay, everyone is with me so far because I’ve been poking fun at myself but now it’s time to step on someone’s sacred cow dung: Living Wage.
All work is not equal.
All employees are not equal.
In the market place an hour of my time as salesman and bicycle mechanic has greater financial value than an hour of my time running a 10k race.
If you don’t think your job pays enough what do you think you should do about it? Unionize!? I humbly suggest that we all need skills in areas where there is market value. If you don’t have any skills you should acquire them if you wish to make more money. Another alternative is to work more hours; maybe a lot more if your goal is to have more money. Your job is only part-time? Really, you’re gonna’ make me say it? If you have no skills, have no innate abilities that allow you to shine among your peers then you may have to get another part time job! Does that seem fair? I don’t know if it’s fair, but it seems real.
If you work in a job that anyone can do, if it is a job that requires neither an education nor specific job training then your market value is low. I suggest you change your market value if you want to have a higher checking account balance or realize that there is way more to life than money.
Just don’t complain to me about being broke if you won’t change your actions but expect a change in your circumstances because this ain’t no Disney movie.
There are lots of folks who are disadvantaged and need to be encouraged to do what they can with what they’ve got; I don’t see how lying to them about their place in the work world is going to help them but I do see how helping them to acquire skills might.
I suggest we leave the market alone and help folks realize that they can rise and fall on their own but TANSTAAFL- there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
Don’t shoot the messenger, just look at the statistics!
Market Value, Living Wage and Tax Incentives: The Re-mix!
September 25, 2013
Yesterday I posted that if someone has a job that requires nary a skill and can be filled by virtually anyone with little or no training then the likelihood is high that said job does not demand a high wage: A simple case of supply and demand. I stand behind that statement but wanted to share a corollary employment scenario: Hiring workers with disabilities for which an employer receives a financial incentive.
My previous employer, BGI in Indianapolis, Indiana had an employee who was legally blind. Because of his disability this man was eligible for a full disability payment from Social Security which he received until he took the job at BGI. Once he began working, his disability payment was greatly reduced but he chose to work knowing full well that this actually meant a loss of income to him as his wage plus his reduced disability payment would equate to less actual dollars once expenses are figured in.
This man’s ability to perform his job was reduced because of his blindness. He was conscientious and a good worker but his inability to see slowed him down enormously. BGI is a business and was able to employee this man because of tax incentives that were available for hiring a disabled worker whose ability to compete in the market would have been a huge hindrance without said incentive.
This is my trifecta of private business initiative and government resources. First and foremost, in my mind this young man (he was in his twenties at the time) is a hero. He refused to be treated as a child who was incapable of providing for himself. Could he take care of himself totally on his own? Not at that time, (Hey, I don’t think I can either!) but he was working on greater independence. The fact that he was willing to sacrifice security for maturity is something which sets me all a quiver.
Second, BGI is making a sound business decision because it can make money with this man if they can pay him his market value. (They paid him minimum wage but the difference between what he was paid and the tax incentive to BGI effectively lowered his wage rate to something akin to market value.)
Third the tax incentive made all this possible.
This man received benefits from the taxes that I and the other citizens of Indiana paid. He chose to become less dependent on state aid and go out and work when he was in a position to simply receive his benefit check because he understood the value of standing on one’s own, even when standing on one’s own might require a little help from his friend.
I can think of few instances where I have been more impressed with someone trying to make his best way forward in a world that threw way too many obstacles in his way. Give up, sit back and let others take care of him? Not for that man and for this he remains a hero in my book.
Addendum:
2023
I still stand by what I wrote nearly ten years ago but would like to quote myself quoting Paul Harvey concerning, “The rest of the story.” People are starving, Capitalism doesn’t care, and poverty is a black hole with one hell of an event horizon that allows very few to get out of their own accord. UBI, universal basic income, is the way to redistribute wealth and provide for the needs of all while still acknowledging that all labor is most definitely NOT equal nor of equal value.