And it’s not just rich people. We hear that big CEOs make thousands of times what their employees make and we don’t bat an eye. And so now, at least in America - this way of thinking has crept into the collective psyche as if it’s just completely natural and normal.
Consider installing some complex thing at your home. A contractor can purchase the materials for the job for say $4000. He then pays two of his techs $30-$40/hr to install it, it takes two days. So $4000 for materials and $1280 in labor. He thinks nothing about charging the client $12,000 for this work and so it becomes the new normal that this costs twelve grand when what it really cost, between manufacturing and installation - was $5280. It’s not that the guy who organizes it all’s time is worth nothing, it’s that his time is not worth more than what everybody else involved got.
But this is what everyone in America aspires to and is part of why we are where we are.
Yeap… Around 15 years ago there was a huge push for young men to enter the trades, with people saying stuff like a plumber or electrician is going to earn more than people with a higher education. That may have been true 20-30 years ago, but nowadays the only real employer out there is all through contract work.
Big business found a new market to exploit and started to edge out the mom and pop companies who would actually employ their trade workers. Now if you’re looking for a tradesman you either have to pay one of the nation wide companies or a mom and pop who has adopted the same methods to turn a profit.
In the end you’re going to overpay a company to hire an under paid contractor to do barely functional work. The only person winning in the scenario is the owner of the company.
And it’s not just rich people. We hear that big CEOs make thousands of times what their employees make and we don’t bat an eye. And so now, at least in America - this way of thinking has crept into the collective psyche as if it’s just completely natural and normal.
Consider installing some complex thing at your home. A contractor can purchase the materials for the job for say $4000. He then pays two of his techs $30-$40/hr to install it, it takes two days. So $4000 for materials and $1280 in labor. He thinks nothing about charging the client $12,000 for this work and so it becomes the new normal that this costs twelve grand when what it really cost, between manufacturing and installation - was $5280. It’s not that the guy who organizes it all’s time is worth nothing, it’s that his time is not worth more than what everybody else involved got.
But this is what everyone in America aspires to and is part of why we are where we are.
Yeap… Around 15 years ago there was a huge push for young men to enter the trades, with people saying stuff like a plumber or electrician is going to earn more than people with a higher education. That may have been true 20-30 years ago, but nowadays the only real employer out there is all through contract work.
Big business found a new market to exploit and started to edge out the mom and pop companies who would actually employ their trade workers. Now if you’re looking for a tradesman you either have to pay one of the nation wide companies or a mom and pop who has adopted the same methods to turn a profit.
In the end you’re going to overpay a company to hire an under paid contractor to do barely functional work. The only person winning in the scenario is the owner of the company.