I will briefly set out some assertions: McDonalds workers shouldn't earn £10/hour because it would disincentivise me to work. Labour will tax everyone because taxing the top 5% for their promises is unrealistic. Life is shit and then you die. A four-day week is unrealistic because people won't be more productive.
These claims, though depressingly pessimistic, are revealing and important.
I will address the McDonalds point first. This is interesting because it reflects psychological research which shows that people are highly comparative; they would rather see an opponent lose more than they would rather than see both gain - and to see themselves gain by a relatively smaller amount. I can't remember the study that showed this.
Similarly, my colleague (on a wage marginally above the minimum wage) would rather McDonalds employees didn't get more because it would look like he was relatively earning less. One assumption he seems to be making is that McDonalds employees making more directly makes him worse off, which clearly isn't the case to any reasonable extent. I think this corroborates William Von Hippel's point on the Joe Rogan podcast.
My colleague's point depresses me for a few reasons. Lower/lower medium earners particularly in his line of work are increasingly overworked and underpaid, all whilst dealing with pressure from increased housing prices and dilapidated public services. He is being underpaid under exactly the same set of circumstances as those who work in McDonalds, and being subject to exactly the same financial pressures.
Indeed, he's being underpaid for the same reasons - a decline in the power of collective bargaining, for instance, and increased job insecurity. Those at the top keep the value his labour creates whilst paying him less. Yet he doesn't express his resentment towards those at the top, but those at the bottom.
I will address more of these points in future posts.
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