| SamuelRSmith said: Why is it that the people who like to claim that money isn't everything, are so obsessed with getting equal pay? Why is it that many on the left, who say they stand for equality, only care about one element of equality - monetary. Why, to them, is everything about money? If I have a close family, good friends, a fulfilling job or hobby, and make enough money to survive (and usually, a little more), why do I care that the man down the road should have 6 BMWs on their drive? Sure, I can aspire to be like him, but at no point should I want to take that away from him, or be jealous of him. And, you know, it's usually the people like that who end up doing better in this world. My parents had it hard at the start - for many years my dad worked in a factory, for less than minimum wage (before minimum wage laws were introduced in 1998, the job was paying less than that law specified), for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I grew up on clothes bought from charity shops, and my dad drove a car that the Trotter brothers would be ashamed of. At no point were my parents angry with the system, at no point did they resent the rich, and (despite being tired), they were happy and loving. They always refused any help from family, and never owed any debt (except a mortgage - which were always within reasonable bounds of income). Of course, my dad's hard work and good attitude was recognised, and he slowly got promoted up through the company. It got to the point where his income was high enough for him to start buying shares in the company. He now is in the highest position within the company, and owns 66% of it. He also has joint investments in products with various other companies. As me and my brothers grew older, my mum also moved into the work place. My dad usually works 4 days a week, and finishes early at least once or twice. We spend a month+ a year on holiday in different countries. My parents have tens of thousands of pounds in savings, and my dad has recently set up his pension so that, when he comes to retirement, he'll have at least £1m pension. The point of this story is - capitalism works best for those who expect nothing from it, those who don't think they are entitled to anything, those who don't try to have more than they earned (either through welfare, or excessive debts). Also, that wealth isn't all that important, as long as you have security. Honestly, in the latter years of growing up, the best thing about my parent's position, was that I essentially had two parents that worked part time. That mattered far more than the money. It's telling that many of my dad's employees were already working there when my dad started. Why were they not promoted over him? Attitude and work ethic. |
Maybe it is just the groups I have observed, but the progressive groups that protest for "equality" rarely are protesting for true equality; and are really protesting that the economy rewards people for holding different values than the ones they believe it should reward. They generally have no problem with people being paid different incomes based on merit, as long as the merit they are being paid based on is one that perfectly matches their (often warped) values.
An example of this is often seen in how individuals in these groups react when you ask them about highly paid actors or writers compared to highly paid athletes. Even though both groups are in the entertainment field, and are paid based on how highly they perform to bring in an audience, many progressive individuals have no problem with "talented" (in their opinion) actors being paid what they are but believe that no athlete should earn more than an average salary because there is no merit in professional sports.
