[brownbat]

Switching contexts, you could say the same thing about garage bands.

"Why are these amateurs playing all these shows basically for free? They're stealing money from hardworking musicians!"

Some disciplines spark addicted, passionate individuals who get other benefits beyond the price. (In contrast, there aren't a lot of enthusiast janitors.) If you want to make a living and you opt to compete with abundance, you shouldn't be shocked when someone is willing to underbid.

[Jtsummers]

> (In contrast, there aren't a lot of enthusiast janitors.)

Totally unrelated, but this is the second time recently I've seen a remark like this. And I agree entirely, but I actually know one. Guy retired, wanted to help out an underfunded school, became their janitor. Retired military so he's essentially got a (much better than) living wage for the rest of his life, the income was irrelevant. He just wanted to see the conditions for the students improved.

[brownbat]

Ha, fun to see the counterexample, totally makes sense.

Definitely more accurate to say that, while volunteerism is pervasive in some fields, it's far less common in others.

I think the fields where it's more common have huge social or moral benefits to go along with the job. Or sometimes they function like a foot in the door in a lucrative field. I can easily see helping out an underfunded school fitting the former categories.

Coal mining will probably be my go to example from now on... ;)

[ksk]

>Switching contexts, you could say the same thing about garage bands

I don't know much about the music business, but as a layman, I don't think the two situations are comparable. I think that when a band releases free music they're thinking "I just need to put htis out for free and if my song goes viral THEN I'm going to get picked up by this huge record label, etc ,etc"

Its more of a "let me win the lottery" prayer, than any kind of volunteer type sentiment.

[Jtsummers]

I don't think GP was talking about releasing music for free. I think they were talking about bands that'll do a gig in a bar for $200 (or whatever's considered cheap) versus one that costs several times that, but is actually trying to make a living playing music.

[goorpyguy]

This is a good analogy, actually. You want a chance to do the work, and have people see your good work. You want that badly enough that you're willing to do the initial work for free.

[iMerNibor]

Which is basically the reasoning behind bidding 1$ then..

He got a lot of attention from just doing that aswell, so a success for him