Has been given a bad rap.
"We're going to take your hard earned money and give it to lazy people who don't want to bother to get a job." Listening to NPR a week ago I heard one of the guests on the Republican side respond to a caller who asked about raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
His response? "Hey, those rich people worked really hard for their money- they earned it. It's not fair to ask them to share it with others."
Not fair?
My husband made a great point the other day when I complained (something I've said many times before) "Why is my career worth less than someone else's? Why is a doctor more valued than a teacher?" Now that's what seems unfair to me.
It's all about the market, my husband told me. Simple supply and demand. Education jobs, for example, are a dime a dozen. We've had as many as 900 applicants for a teaching job at our school. Somehow, I doubt there's 900 doctors applying for one job. He added that in a sense, we've done this to ourselves- letting too many teachers graduate from college, flooding the market, driving our wages down.
John Nichols was on WPR this past week, talking about socialism. I often have thought of myself as a socialist (there- now I've said it and completely ruined my chances of ever running for political office). It goes back to my personality- the need to have things be fair and equitable.
Which leads to the second complaint I often utter- "How much money is enough for one person to make? Does a surgeon really need to make $600,000 when a teacher makes $60,000?"
I've heard people say that if teachers really loved children, then they'd be willing to work for even less than they do now-
Out of the goodness of their hearts.
Because it's really about the children.
I don't hear anyone saying that about doctors.
The anesthesiologist who put my daughter under for her surgery- a 90 minute procedure-
made over $1000.
But shouldn't he have done it for less?
You know, out of the goodness of his heart.
Because he loves his job-
and it's really about the patients.
Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's my husband's stance. So he's been looking for a new career.
As for me, I'm going to be reading up more on this socialism thing- make sure it's really the way I want to go. And I'll start here.
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteIf people really loved children, they'd be willing to pay a lot more to have the best quality teachers for them. The rich have no problem spending big bucks to place their kids in elite schools.