Salary and hard work

Normally I don't take the bait, but I guess yesterday I was feeling a little feisty.   The bait I am referring to is when people make Facebook posts that seem designed so that people will comment on them.   Usually they are political and from my Mississippi friends they are normally something that would make Bill O'Reilly proud.  Anyway, like I first wrote I normally just let these comments come and go because I don't care to make a scene especially on the internet.  Yesterday must have been different.   Below is the comment with all of the comments that came about because of it:

Jordan Cole Wow. Some anti-capitalist idiot on the news just asked: "why would anyone need to make more than 500k a year?" Lady, it's called hard work... And clearly you have no idea what that means. I guess we still can't fix stupid.

11 hours ago via Facebook for iPhone · Comment · Like

Joe J. Powell III

Ancient saying: Ignorance abounds. Those that care for others often choose poor tactics but have good soul. Those that have right tactic can lose their source. Best to work together and appreciate unique gifts of other.
My best! JP 

11 hours ago

Kevin Malphurs

Does everyone who makes over $500K work hard? Does that person who said that comment automatically not work hard? I am confused. It seems like you are making a lot of assumptions based on one comment.

11 hours ago · Delete

Jordan Cole

I have made little assumption on the matter, yet you have assumed my initial intention based on your own. I can only speak from personal experience, and everyone I know, that makes over $500k a year, works pretty damn hard for it, and has worked even harder to just get to a level to where they can be in said position. I don't know how "hard" the anti-capitalist individual works, but she clearly doesn't earn 500k a year as a PhD student (she is). As JP has indicated... I am sure her wishes are geared in the right direction, she has allowed something else to cloud her capability of logical thought in the process. If I work hard, I hope to be rewarded for doing so. If I do not work hard, I am a fool to think I should automatically receive something merely based on a "fairness" factor. These are simply my thoughts... not assumptions.

10 hours ago

Kevin Malphurs

I didn't assume anything, but merely was asking clarifying questions. I don't think there is as much correlation between salary and hard work as you might believe. I know plenty of people who might not make a lot of money, but work very hard and vice versa. Overall I hope we all can agree on the saying that life isn't fair.

10 hours ago · Delete

Jordan Cole

The whole "life isn't fair" argument is pretty much played out. It's moreover a question of one's own mortality. Why am I lucky? Why am I better off? Etc.

I think this particular argument is more geared towards: why did I (or not) take advantage of certain opportunities and others did not? I've worked hard to get where I am, and I will never feel bad for doing so.

10 hours ago

Curt Griffin

I just want to make 500k don't care If I have to work hard or not. I don't stepping on people to do it.... Yeah I am ass so what

10 hours ago

Andrew Balthrop

you have the causality backwards. efficiency wages dictate that you work hard because you are getting paid in excess of your productivity. High wages are a motivator, but it is because they make you afraid to be fired.

8 hours ago

Jon Harris

Oh come now Jordan. You don't seriously believe all this fox news bullshit do you? No one is arguing against hard work, they are arguing against a broken system that makes it hard or impossible for the "hard workers" to reach those upper brackets of pay. And if this lady IS in fact stupid, well then do a google scholar search for Wage inequality and see how many educated folk out there think it is an equally large problem...and by your ASSUMPTION are also stupid.

I guess american CEOs "just work harder" than their foreign counterparts...
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~kjmurphy/Pauper.pdf

And those people working several jobs but still can't pay for basic human needs "just aren't working hard enough"
http://lsj.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/28/4/96

7 hours ago