This blog is from a slightly different angle, but I will try to make it easy to follow.
As a kid I worked in the fields and orchards picking crops. We also camped in the fields and orchards too. We were what was then called "fruit tramps". We followed the harvest from spring to fall when we had to go back to school. I did not see anything wrong with the process. I had a good time and learned life long skills and ended up with money in the bank. By the time that I was 10 years old, I had over $500 in my bank savings account. Today, that would be worth at least $5,000 today. Tell me how many 10 years olds do you know who have earned and saved $5,000 today? Not many. This was all done on "piece work". That means that I did not work on the basis of how many hours I worked, but on exactly how much I produced. It is a fact that I made more than most other kids at the time and that was because I "produced" more. Even today, I can not think of a system that was more fair. To me social justice was served because I was paid what I was worth. Now, look at today.
Today, there is almost no jobs that pay on the basis of piece work. Most are by the hour or month. It is the clock and the calendar which determine how much a person is worth, not what they actually produce. As I have stated in prior blogs, the range of what people produce with physical work does not vary too much. The difference between the best a worst worker might be only a difference of 50% with most near the middle. For management simplicity it can be easier to pay by the hour rather than by the piece even though those the few at the bottom get a free ride and those at the top get screwed. For most people who only look backwards, they saw the by the hour system as being more fair and more in line with their idea of social justice. The problem with only looking backwards, these same people have a hard time dealing with the current situation or the future.
What has happened is that there has been a major shift in the "currency" of economics. Historically, the currency had been a person's physical attributes like strong back and good eye sight. Now, that has all changed. The currency of today is intellect. For those who were being screwed by the old by the hour system, they can now be paid on the basis of what they produce. Here is what is going to happen. The median family income is going to go down and there is little that can be done to change that fact. If you are not familiar with the term "median family income", it is that family in the middle where there are as many families that make less than you do as there are families who make more than you do. It has little to do with the growth of the economy. If in terms of social justice, all families got an equal percentage raise in pay, it would have zero affect on the median family income. What those on the social justice band wagon want is for those below the median to get a bigger raise in pay than those above the median and that is never going to happen. I think that most people understand why the top technical people make so much more than those who do physical labor like drive a truck or cook your meal in a restaurant. The difference is going to get even worse. What is happening is that most technical people are paid on the basis of piece work or what they are able to produce.
School teachers are paid on the basis of how many hours they work and how old they are. If anyone thinks that is a system of social justice, they need to stop smoking something. Technical people are not paid on the basis of how old they are and in many cases younger technical people earn more than their older counter part. Would it be an example of social justice if the more productive young technical person earned less than the older technical person? Any social justice system that I have seen proposed screws someone, either at the top or at the bottom. In the case of piece work, no one gets screwed!!
PS--What if salesmen were hired like school teachers based on their grades in Salesman School and then paid on the basis of their age. Do you think that any business would put up with that? Why is it that our colleges and universities do not offer degrees in Salesmanship? Salesmen are paid on a piece work system which is fair and assures that we really do have social justice!
As a kid I worked in the fields and orchards picking crops. We also camped in the fields and orchards too. We were what was then called "fruit tramps". We followed the harvest from spring to fall when we had to go back to school. I did not see anything wrong with the process. I had a good time and learned life long skills and ended up with money in the bank. By the time that I was 10 years old, I had over $500 in my bank savings account. Today, that would be worth at least $5,000 today. Tell me how many 10 years olds do you know who have earned and saved $5,000 today? Not many. This was all done on "piece work". That means that I did not work on the basis of how many hours I worked, but on exactly how much I produced. It is a fact that I made more than most other kids at the time and that was because I "produced" more. Even today, I can not think of a system that was more fair. To me social justice was served because I was paid what I was worth. Now, look at today.
Today, there is almost no jobs that pay on the basis of piece work. Most are by the hour or month. It is the clock and the calendar which determine how much a person is worth, not what they actually produce. As I have stated in prior blogs, the range of what people produce with physical work does not vary too much. The difference between the best a worst worker might be only a difference of 50% with most near the middle. For management simplicity it can be easier to pay by the hour rather than by the piece even though those the few at the bottom get a free ride and those at the top get screwed. For most people who only look backwards, they saw the by the hour system as being more fair and more in line with their idea of social justice. The problem with only looking backwards, these same people have a hard time dealing with the current situation or the future.
What has happened is that there has been a major shift in the "currency" of economics. Historically, the currency had been a person's physical attributes like strong back and good eye sight. Now, that has all changed. The currency of today is intellect. For those who were being screwed by the old by the hour system, they can now be paid on the basis of what they produce. Here is what is going to happen. The median family income is going to go down and there is little that can be done to change that fact. If you are not familiar with the term "median family income", it is that family in the middle where there are as many families that make less than you do as there are families who make more than you do. It has little to do with the growth of the economy. If in terms of social justice, all families got an equal percentage raise in pay, it would have zero affect on the median family income. What those on the social justice band wagon want is for those below the median to get a bigger raise in pay than those above the median and that is never going to happen. I think that most people understand why the top technical people make so much more than those who do physical labor like drive a truck or cook your meal in a restaurant. The difference is going to get even worse. What is happening is that most technical people are paid on the basis of piece work or what they are able to produce.
School teachers are paid on the basis of how many hours they work and how old they are. If anyone thinks that is a system of social justice, they need to stop smoking something. Technical people are not paid on the basis of how old they are and in many cases younger technical people earn more than their older counter part. Would it be an example of social justice if the more productive young technical person earned less than the older technical person? Any social justice system that I have seen proposed screws someone, either at the top or at the bottom. In the case of piece work, no one gets screwed!!
PS--What if salesmen were hired like school teachers based on their grades in Salesman School and then paid on the basis of their age. Do you think that any business would put up with that? Why is it that our colleges and universities do not offer degrees in Salesmanship? Salesmen are paid on a piece work system which is fair and assures that we really do have social justice!
