The value of a person’s work
Just yesterday, here is what one person said to me: “Frankly, I think the value of the service I provide is worth a lot more than…(long pause) a website (said very derisively)!” This person, a health care provider, was comparing her job to that of my husband’s (web designer). So tell me, dear readers – would you agree that some people’s time and efforts are simply of more value than another person’s? And who is to say which person’s work is more worthwhile?
Here in Costa Rica, I sometimes see workers toiling in the fields for very little money. Or even garbage men/women, picking up smelly trash on a hot day. Frankly, regardless of the amount of money these people make for their efforts, I can’t imagine myself saying that my work is intrinsically more valuable than theirs. I mean, most of us work hard at what we are able to do to support ourselves and our families. If we are lucky and we own our own business (like Arp and I), we can set our fees based on market value and what we need to survive. Arp and I long ago gave up on being rich.
What determines the value of a person’s efforts? Do we rate each person’s job by value to society? Or how hard he worked? Or is it just by how much money he makes? Or is it how much he or his family had to sacrifice in order to do the job? Or does the value come from how happy it makes the person to do it, or how happy it makes his family when it puts bread on the table? I’m not sure I’m comfortable sitting around rating the value of a person’s efforts.
So I didn’t sleep much at all last night, and I don’t think Arp did either. Even though Arp does the web work, I was insulted personally by the quote above because it actually devalued my own contribution to the family. The work my husband has been able to do in the last year or two was done because I am here to support him. I work at home, raising our children during the hours he is hard at work. I work really hard, too.
But health care providers are Gods, right? Their work is intrinsically more valuable than mine, eh? Maybe you remember the “I am God” speech from the movie Malice? If not, enjoy…
You pose an interesting question. I know that womens work is traditionally devalued even though we know without it the work in the private sphere would fall apart. Simply because something does not produce a product that can be sold on the open market does not mean that it is not essential to the functioning of our society. This is all the more reason that we need to move away from this kind of system. Who is to say that a an athlete is worth more than a stay at home mother? Who is to say that an accountant is worth more than a nanny? I believe the judgments and separations that we create are done specifically to make sure that the same people keep getting richer and the same people keep getting poorer.
Renee’s last blog post..Legendary Latinas Wings To Fly
This is one of those questions without any answers. I considered such a question a long time ago myself. Obviously, the value of a persons work would depend on its effect on society and mankind if for whatever reason they stopped working.
Doctors and healthcare workers are up in the top, because without them, the population would not be healthy or healed.
People who do menial jobs such as deliver pizza, work fast food, and sell unnecessary items would be towards the bottom. If they stopped working, it wouldn’t have a very profound effect on the population.
The rest of the working population would score somewhere in the middle.
That’s an interesting question, indeed!
Thomas
That’s a gross oversimplification. Plastic surgeons make a LOT of money and the world will go on fine without them. Garbage people don’t make a lot, but quality of life for everyone suffers when they stop working. What about people who work for non-profit organizations? They make less money but make positive contributions to society.
The whole notion of equating someone’s value with a monetary figure is wrong. Athletes (often worthless cads) are overpaid because someone else makes a lot of money off them to offset their salaries. People who stay with their children and are there for them make nothing but well-adjusted children are much more likely to become productive members of society – can we put a value on that?
I make more than most doctors in Costa Rica so am I better than them? I see people working in fast food and many of them work very hard for what they make, much harder than I do. It’s honest work and I appreciate their efforts. Or maybe I should just run with this idea and double my fees because I know CPR.
I forgot about lawyers. They don’t save lives, but they can charge up to $1000/hr and the cost of legal fees & lawsuits are accounted for in just about everything we buy. If lawyer salaries come down to more humane levels, it should result in a lower cost of living for society as a whole. If they disappear altogether, it would be a financial windfall for society. Read more at the NY Times.
And there are investment bankers. Or the overpaid financial execs who’ve brought the world to the precipice of financial collapse. The list of the needlessly overvalued goes on & on.
How can someone who spreads poison by way of judgment and condescension call her/himself a “health care worker”… What a ridiculous notion.
All jobs contribute, all are valuable. Does it bring satisfaction? Provide for your family? Allow you sanity and peace? Those are my criteria.
Saratica’s last blog post..Sorry
I think there are two separate arguments here. One is that level of pay somehow equates to job importance (obviously NOT true, just look at athletes, supermodels, lawyers, CEOs, etc). The other argument seems to be simply that some jobs are more important and useful to society than others. While it could be said that doctors “save lives”, let me also remind you that iatrogenic deaths are the number one cause of death in the U.S., so medicine is a great example of a profession that can do as much harm as good. Let’s not go putting healthcare workers up on a pedestal. I know many nurses that have a fraction of the knowledge base I have, and I am an English major. How can that be? Because I can read. I read all kind of health books and information. I keep my family very happy and healthy because of my knowledge and common sense. I think mother is the most important job in the world and it pays nothing. We juggle all kinds of jobs in one. And dads too, of course, but in my family, I am the knowledge-seeker and the big decision maker, and my husband brings home the paycheck.
Every worker has an important function in society. Without all of them functioning, something would have to give. We succeed precisely because we are all integral parts working together. If not for all the lowly workers of the world, doctors would not be able to demand their high rates. As it is, do some research – people are delaying healthcare and hospitals are laying off people by the droves everywhere as a result. Remove money from the lower stratas of society and the higher ones feel it. Make life harder on those who already squeak by and everyone from doctors to lawyers to store owners are going to feel it too. As for the importance of doctors, sure healthcare is important, but it’s clear more people are taking their own health into their own hands by necessity. If you take good care of yourself you can help avoid needing a doctor. I recall a lot of elderly people in Costa Rica NOT on 8 or even 1 or 2 prescription drugs. Gee, how are they still alive some might ask. Medicine doesn’t shine in that area. I would say that for emergencies and necessary surgeries, medicine is at its best. In the area of preventative care and drugs it gets a big F in my book (and looks at the stats that support this failure). I think if people took a larger share of responsibility for their own health they wouldn’t need doctors, and then how important would doctors be? I would even go as far to say that avoiding doctors can be better for one’s health. I have seen a lot of people get on “necessary” drugs that caused all kinds of secondary health issues without really addressing the primary issue. But I have digressed quite a bit here. I think farmers are amongst the most important workers, for without them we don’t eat, but their pay certainly doesn’t reflect their importance. If store shelves were to go empty next week, would you be ready? Probably not, but you might find yourself heading to the nearest farm. I don’t know why anyone would even waste their time discussing the importance of someone’s job. Geez, my parents both worked at the post office. They were an important part of the mail system. I was never ashamed of what they did, and we got by just fine. My husband doesn’t make much money but he’s been a great contributer in his company in terms of the ideas and solutions he’s brought to the table. He doesn’t get compensated monetarily, but he is clearly appreciated. Why is anyone made to feel less important? I respect the cashiers at my local supermarkets. I respect janitors. garbage men, teachers, fast food workers and everyone else that makes our modern life as comfortable as it is. If someone criticizes you for your job, it says a lot about their own issues. I may not agree with the way you do things but I don’t dare to presume my way is better, just different. It isn’t for anyone to judge you. They may not relate to you, but that is fine and normal. Our job is just to make our families as happy and healthy as possible, including ourselves, and it’s not anyone’s job to judge how we go about that. I don’t have a blog prescisely because people in cyberspace are nasty and mean-spirited. I got enough of that on mothering.com and other places to know that the last thing I am going to do is reveal myself on the internet. If I do someday go back to that, it’s probably going to be a fluffy stuff because I am very private and I don’t like people to know much about me. I applaud you guys for putting such personal things out there though, knowing it invites criticism. Just don’t lose sleep over it, it’s not worth it. The only thing that matters is your own family and what works for you and what makes your kids happy. As for money, happiness is more tied with income here in the U.S. than in Costa Rica. I respect the Ticos for their ability to make the very best of their tough situations and to still manage lots of smiles and laughs and putting family first. Lots of miserable, well-off people here. Now, that said, I would have gone to Costa Rica with a lot more money than perhaps you did, but I also think it’s great that you set a date to go come hell or highwater and you took the plunge and just did it instead of waiting for that day. Lots of people also waiting for the right time to do things that are in their hearts, and sadly, that day never comes. Hang in there, I know it’s tough in the beginning but if you stay long enough you’ll remember fully well why you wanted to go there in the first place and your kids will acclimate. Takes some time but they are so resilient. Keep us posted, I love to hear your perspective on Ticolandia and all the crazy, annoying and beautiful things there.
Renee: Yes!
Thomas: Maybe it isn’t that the question doesn’t have any answers. Maybe the problem is that we are even asking the question. When we ask the question, are we not setting up a hierarchy that basically values some people more than others? I’m not really comfortable with doing that. Perhaps that’s why I’m so uncomfortable and angry that this person who I quote said the things she said to me.
Saratica: I called her a “health care worker” to protect her identity. She actually has an even bigger title, perhaps one that you can guess, in the realm of healthcare.
Sarah: Yes, I see those two arguments you speak of. And I’m not exactly sure which one was the aim of the speaker I quote. Either way, I’m upset.
You know, if someone compared me to Gandhi (or someone similar), I’d probably have no problem accepting my “less than” status. But for anyone else, I can pretty much only say, “f@ck off!”
http://www.tinygrass.com/2009/04/the-value-of-a-persons-work/
Thanks for inspiring a blog post!
Thomas’s last blog post..Abandoned Farm
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