If all jobs were compensated with the same hourly amount, which would be most popular?

How much would welfare be?

Impossible to know. I think there would be a lot of job switching around though.

Maybe more people would become teachers in the US, and people might go towards jobs with better hours or less stress. Mostly, I think people would be more free to pursue jobs and careers that they enjoy more.

It wouldn’t work of course. I’m all for flattening out the huge pay discrepancies in the US, but I would never be in favor of everyone making the same wage. For that to work many things would need to be different, and so far in history it has never worked and usually disastrous.

I once saw a TV show about one of the Nordic countries that the wages were much closer for many fields of work, and it did give people opportunity to work in jobs they preferred and seemed to give jobs usually viewed as lower status more respect.

I’m pretty sure that this would cause a severe shortage of medical lab technologists (I did that for 38 years). It takes BA degree and a one year internship to work your butt off everyday in a very high stress work environment. What made me stay to retirement was the high pay, 403b option, nice pension and health care. I always felt that they paid me more than I was worth.

I’d be a naturalist/guide at a National Park. Outside every day, meeting people, no worries or paperwork to deal with at end of shift.

But if all were paid the same, who would be cleaning out the crap at a chicken farm?

The jobs that had the least responsibility and allowed the least amount of effort.

Just because you feel that way, @seawulf575, doesn’t mean everyone does.

There are numerous professions that are avocations that require a lot of hard work and carry enormous responsibility.

@zenvelo People who like early hours, don’t want to take their work home with them, and like to work outside. They now are making $100k to clean the crap. I’m not arguing though, that same person might prefer to paint walls.

The TV special I saw featured a garbage man who was happy he had early hours and could be with his children in the afternoons without any work stress once home.

@seawulf575: “The jobs that had the least responsibility and allowed the least amount of effort.”

Love how the right slips up and gives us an insight into their own priorities. This reminds me of the “without God, what would stop me from murdering you?” line.

Completely unrealistic.

There will always be jobs that require more skill than others. Why would anyone, in your scenario, do anything that requires training and skill, if the compensation were the same?

Would you prefer a neurosurgeon who is paid well for his/her skill? Or one who makes the same as a Dunkin Donuts cashier?

The job that makes you feel most rewarded.

I have been an OverEmployed person for well over 10 years now. I am an FTE at one company and hold consulting and Board member roles at other firms at the same time.

For me it is not about the money, but about doing the things that challenge you and make you feel like you make a difference.

@elbanditoroso Because they might be more fun and interesting?

I’m not sure that I want an interesting Dunkin Donuts cashier to do surgery.

I would enjoy being an artist or maybe a novelist, good hours, work from home, of course I doubt that anyone would buy my paintings or read my books but what the hell, that doesn’t matter. I would never be the guy that cleans the tanks at the sewage disposal plant. I wonder who would do that?

I would love to do something crafty. If it paid well and I had a space at home and the work wasn’t dependent on the economy (people buying it), it would be great. I also dislike selling stuff, so there would have to be a way to market it without haggling or pushing it.

@longgone: “If all jobs were compensated with the same hourly amount, which would be most popular?”

@elbanditoroso: “I’m not sure that I want an interesting Dunkin Donuts cashier to do surgery.”

It sounds like you’re answering a different question altogether. What does compensation have to do with cashiers doing surgery? Or was this just a chance to bash cashiers?

Taste tester.

“Three weeks ago, I couldn’t even spell engineer, now I are one.” The skills of the individual have to match the requirements of the job. You can’t be anything you want without putting some work into gaining those skills. No one wants a low skilled worker performing surgery on them and no one wants to put the time and effort into gaining those skills if they are paid the same as the janitor. There are of course some exceptions but not enough to keep society afloat. That’s why socialism/communism doesn’t work.

^ I honestly love that the right is answering a completely different question.

Different people like different work, fortunately!

I would shift to doing pretty much all game development, and maybe some writing, and/or I might switch to doing work to help wild animals and other environmental causes.

I might also start a cat sanctuary.

@Zaku: I always had that as a dream situation – having a huge piece of property and having a cat sanctuary. The downside, from what I hear seems to happen, is that the people with the sanctuary start off with good intentions but then become overwhelmed with people dropping off their sick cats, old cats, etc.

@jca2 Yeah, it’s hard and sad caring for animals (and people) when they become infirm and need lots of attention and medical support and eventually die.

How did a wage equity question turn into an assumption by some of you that Dunkin Donut employees will be performing surgery? Geez.

@kritiper A friend of mine was a taste tester for Godiva chocolates.

@Jaxk You seem to be holding the rather strange assumption that this hypothetical implies that you could get to do anything without any prior training, like a barrista just having a go at surgery one day.

And from this utter absurdity you’ve imagined in your head, you then make the next laughable inference that “socialism/communism” doesn’t work. Not that I expect you know what either actually mean.

Writer. Fiction and nonfiction. Also textbook writers. Professors.

I’d work at rescuing and rehabilitating animals. It would be harder work than I do now, and it would probably take more time and energy, and be a lot more stressful, but I’d rather do something meaningful than what I do now.

@product I’m just stating what I see going on in the world. People not working because they can make money doing nothing. Now be honest…if you could make the same wage being a cop, a banker, a Brain Surgeon, or flipping burgers at McDonalds, which would you gravitate towards? Remember, it doesn’t matter what you do, your going to be paid the same. Are you going to be a cop and put your life on the line every day? Are you going to be a banker and be subjected to all the regulatory headaches? A brain surgeon where you could kill people every time you work and that requires you to go through decades of school? Or are you going to pick some other job that will pay you to do something with no real effort on your part. Go ahead…tell me a story about how the left thinks.

I think all three of the professions you wrote above all put in similar effort in their jobs.
The responsibility might be (much) different, but the effort is the same (potentially).

What’s with the capitalisation of the brain surgeon?
You gave him God-like abilities?

@seawulf575: “I’m just stating what I see going on in the world. People not working because they can make money doing nothing.”

Delusional.

I would work in a comic book store.

@Caravanfan Maybe that will be your retirement job. My dad loves books and that’s the work he did when he retired. He learned to read in third grade reading comic books by the way.

@JLeslie That’s the plan.

All the really stressful jobs would not get many takers. I would leave my job instantly and do something more relaxing like designing/building electronics.

Run the Merry-Go-Round with real brass rings.

Ooh, so hard to pick a favorite… But maybe like… a million per hour?

There are some jobs so shitty that they would get zero takers and thus there would need to be some incentive to bring people to them.