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Comment by whack | Hacker News Reader

Prices aren't set (solely) by value provided. If that were the case, toilet paper and other essentials would cost 10-100x more than it does today.

Prices are set by supply-and-demand. More to the point, companies will pay you the least amount of money they can, while still retaining you. Just like you pay the toilet paper company the least amount of money you can get away with, even if you get vastly more value out of it.

You're welcome to reject the above on principle. But then you'll have to settle for the next best alternative. And if the company's done its homework right, your next best alternative wouldn't be any better.

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This is something I've debated for quite sometime prior to the pandemic.

Why do janitors, and wait staff get paid so little? Two of the most important jobs in the world are to clean things and feed people.

I guess anyone can clean a toilet or cook a burger, but to what level?

What about teaching?

Our world is definitely out of balance. I don't know to what degree, or as to why.

What is there to debate? As the person you responded to explained, people don't want to pay $10 for a roll of toilet paper because people can buy one for $0.50. People don't pay a janitor or cook $200 per hour because people can buy one at $15 per hour.

If UBI existed and no one "had" to work, then people would probably have to pay a janitor or a cook $200 per hour.

I mean really you already nailed it on the "anyone can clean a toilet or cook a burger". This is only from my own experience working in a chain restaurant kitchen, but to a pretty high level. You don't need to be a great chef or anything to be a standard line cook, even if you don't know how to cook they can teach you in one or two training days, everything is timed to the second and all the equipment beeps to let you know when it's done. I was 18 at the time with no experience, my interview was "what days can you work, and are you comfortable staying until the bar closes" and for every one of me there were 30 people ready to take over when someone quit, including high school kids and people fresh out of jail without many other options.

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