Paradox of the Paycheck

Have you ever wondered how the salary for different professions is decided? Why is it the way it is and more importantly who gets to decide? Why is it that an actor or a banker gets paid far more than say someone who who works as a social worker or a teacher?

If you think about it rationally for a second, you may come to the same conclusion that I did...that the wage distribution system has some serious flaws, regardless of which part of the world you happen to be in. I have always wondered why someone who plays an instrumental role in educating children or who contributes significantly to helping the downtrodden and the underprivileged in the society paid far less than someone who perhaps appears on a trashy reality TV show and basically does nothing valuable in terms of constructive development.

My history professor for a human rights class that I took while in college, asked the class to rank professions in a descending order of what they deserve to be paid. I remember that majority of the class agreed that teachers and doctors should be paid the maximum, followed by scientists and engineers. Apart from doctors, which is one profession that probably is paid closest to what it deserves (although some might disagree, since you can debate about the difference in the income for different specialties), most other professional fields are severely underpaid.

And while most students thought that a teaching job should pay as well as an engineering or science related job does, no one thought about the non-profit sector and certainly not about a factory worker. Why should they be paid less than other professions? This brings in the question of whether one should be paid depending on one's skill or depending on the amount of physical labor that one's job entails, therefore in the essence, its skilled labor vs unskilled labor.

Many would claim that skilled labor should definitely be given more importance, that is the reason after all why people go to college or graduate schools and it provides them with something special that others lack. However, that seems absurd because everyone could gain that something special, if only they could afford to go to college in the first place. It is not that they lack the skills that others have, rather the society is structured in such a way that only a few can afford to learn those special skills. More over, do you really think that working at a factory does not require you to have any skills at all? And even if you decide that skilled labor should be paid more, how do you decide which skills deserve a bigger paycheck? The prestige associated with these skills? skills that you stay longer in school for in order to acquire them or skills that simply require more intelligence and brains?

Its hard to answer these questions without taking into account various other social and economic factors, but it sure is interesting to think and be aware about what is the real significance and value of something that is so dear to us...our paycheck of course!

THE REALITY OF FAST-FOOD

I recently finished reading 'The Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser and it has provided me with a different, although an upsetting perspective on fast food. As with most things in life, where nothing appears to be what it actually is, this book gives an insight into the hidden and little known world of the fast food industry, all the way from production of fast food to its distribution and consumption. But before I go ahead with telling you what I learnt from this interesting read, I must mention that I am not against fast food. On the contrary, I enjoy it once in a while just like everyone else does. My aim of writing down my thoughts on fast food is to promote awareness about what goes into the making of the delicious fast food meal and although fast food may be cheap on the menu, its because of the various other costs which the consumers like you and me are not aware of and are deliberately not told about.

The first thing that crossed my mind while reading this book was the appalling way that the cattle and the poultry is treated from the time of it's birth to the point when it's slaughtered. Any rational and logical person would agree with me when I ask that shouldn't we respect the animals who ultimately will be consumed by us as food, a source of nutrition and growth? It is important to realize that these animals are living things as well...just because they can't express their feelings in words does not mean they can't feel anything. Industrializing the way they are kept and grown, with the only aim of slaughtering them to satisfy our food cravings comes across as blatantly inhumane. But wait a minute...why is important for you to know? Well because treating animals like this affects the health of these animals, causing them stress and making them sick. And if you remember, you are the one who will be consuming this meat in the end after all, therefore it's natural that how these animals are treated up to the point when they are slaughtered should concern you.

If you really don't care about the animals, then at least you might think about the fellow human beings who work in the various slaughterhouses across the country, often under horrible working conditions, with little or no workplace safety, meager wages, often no health insurance at a place where they may suffer work-related injuries from carpel-tunnel syndrome to amputation of a limb. Some of these workers perform jobs that may make you want to throw up, and yes although they are not being forced to do it, it is still our responsibility as consumers to ask the meatpacking industry to provide better and safe working conditions for these workers because they play an integral part of the process where meat is handled by them before it ends up as our fast-food meal.

Perhaps, the working conditions of these workers may not interest you either, and so may I take this opportunity to tell you how fast food can directly affect you and your health. Most of the fast food is rich in salt, fats and sugar...a lethal combination which is certainly not good for us. In fact all that workers at a fast food restaurant do is assemble different parts of a meal together, since most of the stuff is frozen when bought. Event the french fries are bought frozen by most fast-food joints, and all that the employees have to do before they serve them to you is to heat them up. No doubt they taste so good right? Obesity, which is soon going to overtake smoking as the number one cause of death, has already become a huge public health concern. And of course you can't and shouldn't blame fast food entirely for people becoming obese, since individual choice and responsibility should also be accounted for, fast food does contribute significantly to obesity because of it's unhealthy composition and also because it is quite addictive, so people want to have it more and more of it.

So while advertisements on TV will never tell you about these hidden issues related to fast food, they definitely misguide you about how fast-food is healthy and present to you a fallacious world of happiness and ever-lasting joy that you get when you eat it. As consumers, it's our responsibility to be aware of the real costs that go into producing the fast food, because while you may only pay a dollar for a value-priced dollar meal, its only because there are others who are paying the real costs so that you can enjoy that delicious super-size meal of a cheese burger and fries.

Graduation: A reflection

Yes! You did it!

Hearing these words at the college graduation ceremony recently reminded me of the four long years that I endured in college, that some how now don't seem to be that long after all, and I also wondered that although college graduation is considered to be a milestone in one's life, it probably is just a small step into the 'real' world out there, which you could either embrace or try your best to escape from...depending on what you think is best for you.

It is hard to put in words how I feel as a new college graduate in today's tough economic times. With the initial excitement of finally finishing college and celebrating this achievement with family and friends wearing off, I am tempted to look back and reflect on my thoughts. And the fact that I am doing this at one in the morning says a lot, doesn't it? Well, for starters, it definitely indicates that I don't have to go to work tomorrow morning, or else I would be in bed trying to get a good night's sleep. And this very example should tell you about one of the realities that a new graduate has to face...the job of finding a job!

With the dream of already having a well-paid job right out of college now just a dream for most people, one has to first dedicate his/her time looking for a job. And no matter how good you are, it's stressful and nerve racking to apply for jobs, and then just having to play the waiting game. You may or may not hear back from any of the jobs you applied for, and so you are back at square one and you start the whole ordeal again. Though it would be wrong to say that everyone looks for a job after college, a majority of people do, with only a few on their way to graduate schools or having other envious plans, say going on a world tour!

However, if you do not intend to do the above two things right after college just like I don't, you probably either have a job, are waiting to hear back from one, looking for one or haven't even given any thought to the prospect of looking for one (umm.. job? what's that?). Although, I started to apply for jobs months before graduating, I am still waiting to hear back from some and have had a few interviews and waiting for a reply...but what bothers me is the uncertainty of things right now. What if I don't get a reply from any interviews I have had? What if I have to apply for jobs all over again? What if I end up getting nothing, and have to pack my bags and leave for India? It's hard to keep things in perspective sometimes, and not get pessimistic, especially when I hear about the number of well-qualified people who are unemployed.

It seems like graduating in the 21st century is not hard, but to survive after you graduate and make your way ahead in this ever changing world is what's truly hard and the toughest exam you have to face, tougher than any other kind of exam you ever faced in the four long years you invested in college. And while you get the grade for the college exams within a few weeks, a grade for the exam you face after graduation can some times take years to know...with very few people realizing before hand if they eventually passed or failed.