Why We Look down on Low Wage Earners

Earning little money is a sure route to being neglected and patronised in modern societies. But why is this, and what can we realistically do to counteract the psychological humiliation this causes?

SOCIAL MEDIA

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CREDITS


Produced in collaboration with Mike Booth

[Kanonamos]

So basically it comes down to perceptions in society. In Australia teachers are looked down upon, in Finland you need a master's degree to teach, and in China teachers are seen with respect.

[MartinBluck]

“I was raised to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO” - Tom Hardy

[Graszczur]

I don't look down on them.
I'm one of them.

[LionLeosh]

I seriously feel the need to crack my knuckles and write down a thank you note to the makers of these videos, every time around. Every Monday, to be precise. There's a popular quote by Albert Einstein (perhaps wrongly attributed to him but still works for our purposes) in which he states, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Hence, imagine the work that has to be put in, in order to piece together such informative videos. It must be a tiresome but internally (&hopefully externally (-: i.e. financially ) rewarding practice. Good on you for all that you supply, SOL.

[LosgehtsFCB]

My Dad is 62 and has been working hard, minimum wage jobs since he was 17. He still has to get up at 5:30 every morning, 6 days a week and will not be able to retire for at least 5 years. He spends his spare time doing errands and looking after the rest of the family. What you earn means nothing about who you are.

[johnjosmith]

It's been a great year for The School of Life. You really are, in my humble O, the most important channel on YouTube. Thanks, thanks and ever thanks. John.

[randomtinypotatocried]

I love when people decide to treat me like crap because I work a minimum wage job. Why is it ok to tell me I have to deal with your abuse on my line because you "make more money than me"? Seriously, I can't believe people can actually say that to another human being. People suck sometimes.

[justintrovrt]

"Supply and demand." That is the simplest and best way of explaining wage differentiation that I have ever heard. This really makes me want to work on my skill set. Thank you for making these videos.

[bb]

Not everyone is good at business and self promotion. Many great artists died penniless.

[randy]

In the USA our identity is closely tied to "what we do".  Almost 100% of the time if you meet a married woman your very first question is "what does your husband do?".  Virtually anyone you know you will introduce to others as "Bill Jones, he's a Contractor or (fill in the blank).  We are closely tied to our occupation, and thus our Worth to Society.  I'm a DoD Guard and earn about what a Large City Police Lieutenant earns but if I simply say; "I'm a Security Guard" you can see your Worth crumble in a person's eyes.  It doesn't matter how intensive and diverse my training is I'm "just a Security Guard".  Tell a person you are a Security Guard or that you work for Walmart or Wash Dishes at Denny's and you can see your value diminish in people's eyes no matter how educated or talented you happen to be.  You are labeled by what you do for a living.  Thanks, Capitalism!

[artangel]

It would be interesting to see oil paintings of modern day fast-food workers, nurses, teachers, policemen, etc. in national galleries.

[lovablecharacter]

I see some comments saying that the reason why low wagers are where they are is because they choose passion over money as if that's a bad thing. Someone said that if you want to flip burgers be the CEO of a burger joint. However I disagree.

Take me for example, my passion is animals. Many people have stated to me that I should run my own zoo or farm, however, I know that if I were to do that, I would be working less with animals and more of the business aspect such as finances, marketing, etc. Which in turn, is not my passion at all and I would be leading a life that was never part of my happiness in the first place.

To summarize, I'd rather work and do something I love than to have so much money doing something that I never wanted to do in the first place. Maybe I'm just content with the small things in life that can bring me happiness. I am most definitely not a greedy person.

Any thoughts?

[mariawesley]

As a low wage earner I've been shamed about my contribution to society. Now I'm considered essential. It's amazing that it took a pandemic to make people see that being part of the food supply chain is of some significance.

[RahubaatNeteru]

I remember doing traffic flagging one day and some lady pulled up mad because the road was blocked and told one of the workers she makes more than them. When people ask "what do you do for a living" or "where so you work" what they're really trying to figure out is how to value you.

[BigMathis]

A hitman is paid more than a nurse not just because of differences in worker availability. If people didn't value the work done by hitmen, it wouldn't matter how few of them they are. Their wage would be zero. It is exactly because they people value the work of a super-assassin very highly that their wage is high (demand). In relation to the availability of hitmen of course (supply).

[drummerxkun]

omg now i feel inspired to use art to change the mindset of people towards low wage earners too (this channel is so good omg)

[skyearthocean]

With a few exceptions, ones contribution to society rarely correlates to their wages. Which is why I think flaunting material wealth is so grotesque.

[Mezurashii]

People who are paid low wages work harder than people with higher ones.
Thus, they have less time for themselves.
Because of that, they don't indulge in hobbies or deepen their interests too much.
The result is a person who's likely to be less interesting than someone who has more time to spend on things that aren't just problems of survival.

[Ninof]

Thank you for this. 
In my home care business I constantly speak about how discrimination against caregivers affects people's decision-making to pay a decent salary for home care services. Wealthier they are more discriminating they are against caregivers. Besides not wanting to pay the right salary, some people take advantage of caregivers by having them do the work that is not their job responsibility.
I could never understand how a human being who gives a loving care to another human being 24/7 be disrespected in such away. I had to start speaking about it, it affects my business but I can't allow one human being disrespecting or taking advantage of another human being.

Most people are not aware of their prejudices; they get offended when I point them out. I want to help them be mindful of their biases to correct them, but it's impossible; they are too busy thinking about their needs. People lack self-awareness, and it causes a lot of unhappiness.

[The_sound_Of_Thunder]

Having earned fairly well myself selling expensive items and having been surrounded by wealthy people, I can safety say I find more people that do whats considered menial tasks more interesting and of substance then those who rely on wealth as measure of their self worth. Such worth is an illusion and only granted by others impressed by such display, In reality who they are is who they are, some good, some decent but many are simply eternally busy building a grand facade to cover their insecurities.