There was a time when getting paid like Bill Gates or Jamie Dimon was shopped around as a goal one should have, a true measure of self worth. It was fallout from the movie “Wall Street” which launch a shortened version of the quote into our cultural conscience
Greed is good.
People missed out on the fact a father was driving his son to prison telling him it would probably be good for him at the end of the movie.
Culturally, at least in America, we have a large section of the population that if you aren’t rich you are worthless. While it may be true that financially you are worth less, this does not make you worthless. As I’ve gotten older and worked on many large scale projects along with writing books like “John Smith – Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” I’ve come to realize those paid the least are worth the most when it comes to keeping this biological organism called society alive.
In truth the Jamie Dimon’s of America could all die tomorrow and the biological entity known as society would never miss them. They contribute nothing to the betterment of either the species or the organism. Conversely, the lowest paid jobs in America (or anywhere for that matter) are the most essential.
Farm workers habitually earn at or below the poverty line. If they were all to disappear the species, for the most part, would starve to death. How many people in any major city really have enough real estate to grow enough food for themselves, let alone their family? Most would have no idea how to do it. Oh sure, you grow some spices, herbs and a few tomatoes in those planter box things, but that isn’t enough to feed you for a year.
Not a citified enough example for you? How about the people who empty the trash and clean the bathrooms where you work? Once again this is traditionally and incredibly low paying job. Just how nasty of a place would your high rise office building be with nobody to clean or unclog the toilets. Oh, a couple of you might take it upon yourselves to keep a stash of cleaning supplies and a plunger at your desk so you could clean a stall just before using it, but, how long before you stop dragging that nasty stuff back to your cube? Once the first toilet clogs and overflows without anybody taking care of it how long do you think it will take before every floor in the building no only reeks but becomes an extreme health hazard? It won’t be months, it will be days.
How about all of those food services workers? What if they disappeared overnight? You couldn’t pop out for lunch because nobody would take a McJob. There would be nobody waiting tables or working the kitchen at any restaurant so you couldn’t go out for any meal, you would have to cook them all at home. Just how big of a hit would society and the nation hit without the ability to have the social and business interaction which happens over a meal?
When you think about it, the more someone is paid is really a badge of just how little they are worth.