[serverholic]

We are not payed what we are worth.

We are payed what the company can get away with.

It’s about power, not value. Value is much less of a factor than people like to think.

Same goes for people who are payed a lot (like CEOs). Sure they have impact on the organization, but they also have power.

[leetbulb]

I don't understand this argument. Ask for what you think you are (your time is) worth. If you aren't receiving that, you are (your time is) probably worth less

[serverholic]

Your argument doesn't take into account power dynamics. When negotiating price, each side comes to the table with bargaining power. If bargaining power is sufficiently uneven then you really can't claim they'll come to a fair agreement.

When an amazon warehouse worker has to pee in bottles to meet a quota do you think the worker and amazon came to a fair agreement? Or perhaps amazon had more bargaining power.

[hbrn]

> We are not payed what we are worth. We are payed what the company can get away with.

Is there a big difference between the two in a free market?

How exactly are you measuring what you're worth?

[serverholic]

Worth and value are inherently subjective. Price is an attempt to assign an objective value to something subjective. It kinda/sorta works, but it also kinda doesn't.

Let's imagine there is no minimum wage in America. Now let's say that workers in America demand $10/hour and African workers ask for $2/hour for the exact same job. What's the correct value for that labor? It's a non-sensical question.

You could say it's the minimum value at $2. But then some other worker asks for $1. Did you make a mistake? Was it not actually worth $2 the whole time?

[hbrn]

> Worth and value are inherently subjective

If they are inherently subjective, why are you claiming we're not paid what we're worth? This statement is meaningless, isn't it?

> It kinda/sorta works, but it also kinda doesn't

In what way it doesn't work? Clearly it has more utility than other attempts at measuring value. I can agree it's not perfect (nothing is), but that's very different from not working.

> let's say that workers in America demand $10/hour and African workers ask for $2/hour for the exact same job. What's the correct value for that labor?

The correct value is whatever someone is paying for that labor on a free market.

> You could say it's the minimum value at $2. But then some other worker asks for $1. Did you make a mistake?

The only mistake is treating value as inherent and static.