Everyone Wants A Raise

There used to be a time where it was shameful to be on unemployment or welfare. In fact, Franklin Roosevelt implemented a national welfare system to combat the uncertainties of life with the primary focus being on single mothers who didn’t have the ability to care for a young child and work. As a nation, it was looked at as a necessary support system for those who really needed it and there were people who needed it but worked tirelessly to come off of welfare because of the shame they felt not having the independence to care for themselves and their familes.

Fast forward to today – we’re in a much different world than we were 90 years ago. Our reliance on government aid has turned what was once looked at as a support system into a litany of con artists and lazy fucks. It’s become easier to evade the truth about your situation and lie to the government to get free money than it is to get a real job so we’ve now created a vicious cycle of individuals who’d rather abuse a system then be a contributing member of society.

The problem with this is what’s called creep. Creep can be defined here as the slow spreading of an idea that entices more and more seemingly regular people to adopt this new way of living. From there it wears off through the social systems in one way or another. It creates unmotivated individuals because nothing is at stake.

It creates resentful individuals who watch people in their peer group not have to work but still able to get money from the government and enjoy life as if nothing has changed all that much. From there it creeps into those in the working world who have a job but look at things from the perspective of how do I do the least amount of work and still stick around long enough to the point where I can ask the company for a raise as if longevity equals an increase in pay. Aside from the standard 2% annual raise that is suggested as a part of keeping up with inflation, the absurdity surrounding the discussions around raises makes me want to puke.

People act like they should get a raise because the post office says they pay workers 16 an hour. As if it matters that government-run operation pays entry-level wages at that rate. But in today’s society, it creates a completely subjective anchor in people’s minds. It’s not just entry-level workers who go through this, it’s also the supposedly sophisticated individuals with three letters after their name who demand more because they either A) feel like they need to keep up with the Joneses next door or B) saw that in Nashville Tennessee they’re paying people 1/3 more than you’re making. So what is everyone missing? Quite a bit.

First off this whole notion of push-pull in organizations is not new. As an employee, you have a very defined amount of room when it comes to your pay range. You get paid in direct proportion to the value you bring the organization. It’s simple as that. Do you make the organization money? Is your skillset easily replaceable? If so less wiggle room. Are you a cog in a wheel or a snowflake?

Could you negotiate your way up? Yes of course but only to a point. You’re not going to walk into a place and say you’re a secretary and expect to make 100K this year. It’s not going to happen unless you can clearly outline how much value you bring to the company and why it not only justifies them paying you that but how even at that rate you’re probably underpaid. Additionally, you have to clearly layout that your pay increase is easily affordable to the company based on the work you do. What ends up happening at most of the larger places is the short-sighted water cooler chats permeate the organization and individuals come to one conclusion – look at everything going on here, they could definitely pay me more and they’re greedy for not sharing or kicking back some of this money with the employees.

Let’s be clear – some organizations are greedy. Some organizations do take advantage of their workforce but for every place that does wrongfully take advantage of their workforce, there are probably 10 organizations where employees talk shit about wanting raises all on the basis of a “just because” theory or some other very limiting justification. We’ve allowed these hollow justifications to push up minimum wages in states across the country. The argument surrounding minimum wage is not a new one, the players in the game have just gotten better at manipulating their local governments to believe they’re really working hard and can’t survive off of the wages they are currently making. We’ve taken a system that was essentially a ladder, i.e. work hard, improve and learn = make more money = do it all over again and try to increase your skills along the way, and turned it into a bed. There’s no need to climb the ladder because the floor has been lifted and now you can get comfortable in your lower-tier bed with no incentive to do more.

So now what? What do we do? How must we resolve this issue? A few ways to get back on track include removing handouts, increasing competition, and emphasizing the importance of American manufacturing and true independence. We cannot begin to assess the playing field if we do not know what people are capable of on their own. This means WITHOUT the internet. How does one think? It never occurred to me 17 years ago when I was looking at Wall Street hedge funds and assuming I should be able to get a job there easily. Their version of critical thinking was way different and although it took me a long time, it’s a skill I’m glad I figured out.