Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Should People Deserve to be Paid by How Hard They Work?

No, for two main reasons:

1) No one "deserves" anything beyond whatever has been agreed upon between consenting parties. Anything beyond that falls into the categories of charity, welfare, or extortion.

2) All other things being equal, working hard is inefficient. Which oral surgeon would you pay more for: One who "works hard" to pull a tooth in half an hour, or one who does it effortlessly in ten seconds? And if you would pay more for the person who works less, why shouldn't anyone else?

When people work hard, they are wasting resources that could go to an alternative use. All other things being equal, hardly working is much better than working hard.

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