When I was younger I had very little money. My parents gave me a $5 allowance every month, and that was it. When I was 10 years old, or so, I talked them into increasing it to $10, and felt like an accomplished businessman. But this was also very little money, so if I wanted anything more than a little candy, I had to save up for several months. So trust me when I say that I deeply appreciate the value of every single dollar.
I got a paper route to supplement my meager allowance. It took me about an hour and half, twice a week, and I earned about $28 per month. That was a big deal to me, as it quadrupled my income. But when you do a little maths on that, it was 3 hours a week, and about 13.5 hours every month. For $28. That’s barely $2 per hour. Now, I get that this was a job that required no skill or brain power, but isn’t that completely illegal? Minimum wage laws, child labor laws…
Sure, the money meant a lot, but I was young and didn’t know any better, so they got away with it. And every job out there will do exactly the same; they will pay you as little as they can get away with. The greed inherent to the system of capitalism we employ is the first reason why I hate having a job.
But back to the paper route, it gets worse. The paper I worked for was a free one, funded by advertisers. So the recipients of the paper didn’t have to actually pay for it. However, some houses did not want to receive one, and some houses wanted more than one, and it was my job to remember which was which. However, I inherited the route from a family friend, and it wasn’t ever properly explained to me which house was which, and I was young and had a bad memory, so I made mistakes. And when I made a mistake, and people missed their paper (or got one they didn’t want), they would call in to complain. And then whoever it was at the paper would call me.
Imagine a full-grown man, on the phone, calling an eleven year old, yelling and screaming and cursing about how stupid and irresponsible and terrible a person he is. That actually happened to me. Where’s the excuse for that? How is that acceptable?
So I didn’t keep that job very long. But if you’re too greedy to pay a decent wage, you could at least try to be a little nice. I get that employers view their employees as nothing more than sources of income, and not real people, but you could at least try to hide it.
Having money is nice, and as I mentioned, I value every dollar, but it isn’t worth that kind of abuse. I did a number of odd jobs here and there for family friends while I was in school, but I didn’t get a real job until I graduated.
Picture someone who had grown accustomed to living on $10 a month all of a sudden working full time. The time commitment was similar to how long I spent in school, but without any homework, and I was getting paid for it. My entire world changed. I could do basically anything I wanted to. But being used to having so little for so long, most of my hobbies were super cheap. I like to write, obviously. Give me a notebook and a pen and I’ll be happy for hours. So I saved most of what I earned.
Do you know what’s better than working? Not working. Saving is good, but there comes a point when earning more money isn’t really a priority. Yes, I moved out of my parents house, and had to buy my own food and clothes, pay rent, all of that, so my money wasn’t going to last forever. But what I figured out fairly quickly? Working three days a week, I could pay for all of my expenses and still be saving money every month. That said, I see people the same age as me, unmarried with no kids or other debts to pay, working full time making the same wage I do, and still living from paycheck to paycheck barely getting by.
It completely baffles me that people are so careless with their money that they’ve dedicated a massive portion of their life towards earning. Money, by itself, is kind of pointless. But when you’re getting paid by the hour, every dollar represents some amount of time dedicated to working for someone else. Every dollar you throw away on some pointless thing you don’t really need is more of your life that you’re throwing away.
I have so many good things I can do with my free time. It is extremely important to me, and I think that most other people feel the same way. I don’t think I could ever work full-time for someone else again, and I find it strange that so many other people can. That it is the norm.
My weekend is four days long, every week. And I’m not trying to brag; I honestly think that every single one of you, with some adjustments, could do exactly the same. The normal work week should be 3-4 days per week, at six hour shifts. And if your job requires being open for a set number of hours more than that, just hire more people to make up the difference. Instead of having 6 workers working 40 hours a week, have ten employees working 24 hours a week. You’re still paying the same amount in wages, but if someone gets sick or quits you have way more people to call on to fill in. You have more flexibility to schedule hours, so you have happier employees, and with more time off they are better rested and more efficient. Literally the only downside is having to train more people.
Unemployment would basically end–anyone willing to actually have a job would have one. And because jobs employ more people, there would be more competition for workers, rather than competition for jobs. And that means employers would have to offer better work environments, benefits, and pay. And if you look at any of the big companies out there, they can afford to pay their workers more.
Now, I know what some of you are saying. You’re about to mimic the stupid argument that “if everyone gets paid more, it’s the same as nobody getting paid more.” Right? Admit it, you were thinking it. That’s the same argument used against increasing the minimum wage, and for granting a basic living expense. But you know what makes it obviously flawed? Not everyone is getting paid more. Only the people on the bottom are getting paid more. Which means the shareholders, who are the people who can afford it, are getting paid proportionately less. Which means there will be fewer private jets in the world, but more well-fed children.