> Is it fair that software engineers make several times as much as teachers just because the thing they're good at happens to be in high demand right now? I would say no.
I disagree. Nobody forced anyone to be a teacher: people have chosen that job knowing full well they’d make less money than an engineer. People aren’t assigned careers like they were in a the Soviet Union: they pick what they want to do. I used to be a photojournalist. The pay sucked so I ended up doing software. Nothing is stopping a teacher from making similar choices. People complain about the pay, but they keep joining lower paid professions. It’s supply and demand.
yeah maybe it would be better if everyone were just paid the same regardless of job, as long as they put in a 30 or 40 hour week. Why is one person more valuable because they went to school isn't all life valuable? how mad would you be if you went to starbucks and had to make your own coffee?
Shouldn't everyone at least have enough for the basic necessities in life if they're willing to work (at anything not just professional jobs).
So while nobody is forcing people to work x job for shitty pay, I don't see how just because someone is famous or a CEO that warrants being paid 500x anyone else. There's a lot of shitty CEO's who definitely aren't worth 500x a software a developer, yet there they are making it regardless because the rich lookout for the rich.
Do you think it's actually okay for the person teaching your kids algebra to be making barely more money than the cashier ringing up your groceries at the store, while having to pay for supplies for their class out of their own pocket?
I disagree. Nobody forced anyone to be a teacher: people have chosen that job knowing full well they’d make less money than an engineer. People aren’t assigned careers like they were in a the Soviet Union: they pick what they want to do. I used to be a photojournalist. The pay sucked so I ended up doing software. Nothing is stopping a teacher from making similar choices. People complain about the pay, but they keep joining lower paid professions. It’s supply and demand.