What kills me about the whole us versus them when it comes to those who want cheap stuff and those who want respectable pay is the fact that those who are punching down should be punching up instead. Those at the bottom are facing reality; inflation has killed the minimum wage and trying to live on it is almost impossible. Those in the 'middle' don't want the minimum wage to increase because prices on the goods they enjoy will invariably go up too.
Small-picture thinking in action.
At work, the benefits package includes profit sharing and occasional bonus payouts, which is rather nice.
As a result of the profit sharing though, no one wants to buy new equipment. "Oh, you're spending money again? So how much of my profit sharing check did you just piss away?" (Engineer, so I have a hand in deciding what equipment gets bought.)
We're in something of a niche market, so there was a bit of complacency: Some of our processes were quite inefficient. Some new equipment was purchased, with a six-figure pricetag. This equipment's ROI time, which most other companies would cost out over a period of a few years, was met within the first 4
months. The rest was savings. Profit sharing payouts from last year were the highest I'd seen in several years at the company. Following its introduction into the production line, the first three quarterly finance statements were redone a few times because the profit margins had jumped enough that they looked like some kind of serious error.
(What's nice here is that the owner
does recognize the value of investing in the company
and its employees. The 401k match increased, and weekly health insurance deductions are still under $3/week for a single person, and it's a pretty good plan.)
Even in light of the quick payback times, quite a few people still don't want to spend money on anything. Maintenance on critical quipment is prone to lag, some people keep working with old tools and dying cordless drill batteries, work carts are always in short supply...
It's not just idly spending money though. It's
investing: It's investing in significant increases in the future profitability of the company. But all sights seem to be set on the short-term.
What's wrong here is that 'middle' is missing out on the fact that not only are executives screwing over the minimum wage worker, they are screwing over nearly everyone who isn't an executive or absolutely essential to the operation of the company.
And people wonder why it can seem so difficult to raise a typical family anymore. They're being prodded to maintain a certain standard of living on what is effectively an ever-decreasing paycheck, while often facing uncertainty at work, knowing that management is making every effort to outsource their job to another country. Widespread uncertainty and chronic worrying are also not good for an economy.
Even then the executives are going to push to get everything they can for as little as possible. Everyone else is an expense to be minimized, even the workers in the 'middle'. While you might feel that your wages are fair, you too have been shortchanged in the name of corporate profits and executive compensation. Everyone but the shareholders and those at the top, who often one and the same, pays to make their corporation profitable for them.
And who is more likely to get advance warning of an impending layoff, and more likely to get a nice severance package? Mhmm.
Rank & file is given a few seconds of advance notice, a reminder of any NDAs that may have been signed during their time there, and then an escort out the door.
Regarding executive compensation, how much is too much? From what I have seen so far from some people, there is no amount of executive compensation that is too much. It's as if they don't realize that part of the cost for the expensive item they want to buy is because of excessive compensation. In our corporate economy, the worker and the consumer get screwed both coming and going while the executives make out like bandits. Yet some people are stupid enough to cheer these rich bastards on, as if it's some competition and their team is winning. Here's a clue; they don't give a shit about you people who defend them.
They own the politicians you voted into office and they get what they want because they have the influence (money) to do it.
One yacht and one private jet aren't enough. I want to be able to have a lavish means of transport available within 10,000 miles at all times, and I will step on as many people as I need to in order to get it. That, and being able to afford the cost of having significant influence over my politician(s) of choice.
I think the mentality for defending the rich is, "
I want to be rich some day!" That, or it's like some kind of abusive relationship, where the abused starts to sympathize with the plight of the abuser.
"My tax burden last year was higher than your annual salary!"
A surprising number of people will start cursing the government for daring to take their dear leader's money.
A surprisingly small number of people will instead get out the world's tiniest violin.