Money Not A Gift,But A Result

Do Smart, Hard-Working People Deserve to Make More Money?

“Sounds like someone doesn’t know how to manage their money. I would bet they are making car payments and eat fast food at least 3 times a week. Probably have cable T.V. and deluxe cell phone plans. They probably get a new car like every two years. What happened to their reenlistment bonuses?”

Here is a response:

“I think quite a few readers owe an apology. But I am also sure those readers are so locked into their Calvinist mindset that they will find some basis for criticizing this family. Some people seem constitutionally unable to admit that success and prosperity are not the result of hard work alone.”

First, I want to agree completely. There is the obvious fact that a person’s income as an adult is highly correlated with his or her parents’ income. (There was a recent debate about why in the blogosphere, but as far as I know no one contesting that this was the case.) But beyond that, we all owe a tremendous amount of whatever fortune we have to luck, pure and simple.

Where would Bill Gates be if IBM hadn’t decided to outsource development of the operating system for the first IBM PC? Rich, no doubt, but $50 billion rich?   I have worked hard at enough things, and failed at enough things, and succeeded at few enough things, to know how much luck is involved.

Second, I want to go beyond that to another point that seems obvious to me, but that some will probably find controversial. Even if differences in outcomes were entirely due to differences in abilities and effort (which they’re not) — would that make it OK?  

I think most people would say that it’s fine for smart people to make more money than other people. But why? Why are smart people any more deserving than anyone else? It’s true that in many jobs being smart can make you more productive and valuable, and as a result for many high-paying jobs being at least somewhat smart is a prerequisite. But the fact that a capitalist economy functions this way doesn’t make it morally right that the “winners of the genetic lottery” have better outcomes than the losers.

Surely at least people who work hard deserve to do well. In the hierarchy of American moral virtues, hard work must be right at the top. But I’m not convinced of that, either. The ability to work hard is something that you either inherit from your parents or that you develop in your early childhood as a function of the environment around you. Either way, whether or not you have it is as much a matter of luck as is your IQ.

Again, it’s obvious that working hard increases your productivity and therefore the wages you will be paid, all other things being equal. A small part of that differential seems “deserved,” since you are forgoing leisure for work. But the differential goes far beyond that.

For example, doctors don’t just make more money than other people to compensate them for studying hard in school and working 36-hour shifts in residency; studying hard and 36-hour shifts are hurdles to clear in order to become a doctor and make a lot of money (if you’re a specialist, that is — some people do go through all the work and then make comparatively little).

Take me, for example. I’m smart and hard-working. I don’t know if it’s because of my genes, or because my parents brought me up right. But whatever the cause, I didn’t do anything to become smart or hard-working. And that’s the reason why I was able to go to good schools, get a good first job, and make more money than the average person, at least for a few years there (before quitting to go to Diploma school).

When I was young and frankly immature, being smart gave me a sense of entitlement. Now I just feel sort of lucky (“sort of” because I’ve learned that there are many more important traits than intelligence).

I’m willing to acknowledge that morality simply isn’t a factor when it comes to compensation. Seen from a utilitarian perspective, whether hard-working people deserve more than other people is a distraction. The key issue is that to maximize output in a more or less free market system, it has to be that way, since labor is supposed to be paid its marginal product. But there are still two implications of realizing that everything — even your initial endowments — is a matter of chance, not something you deserve.

The first is that you shouldn’t look down on other people (1) because their parents weren’t as rich as yours, or (2) because they aren’t as smart as you, or even (3) because they don’t work as hard as you. I think most people agree with (1); I think you should agree with (2) and (3), too.

The second is that the moral argument should be on the side of redistribution.   I am willing to listen to utilitarian arguments against redistribution (e.g., high marginal tax rates reduce the incentive to work ); I may not agree with them, but they are a plausible position. However, I have little patience for the idea that rich people deserve what they have because they worked for it. It’s just a question of how far back you are willing to acknowledge that chance enters the equation.  

If you are willing to acknowledge that chance determines who you are to begin with, then it becomes obvious (to me at least) that public policy cannot simply seek to level the playing field, because that will just endorse a system that produces good outcomes for the lucky (the smart and hard-working) and bad outcomes for the unlucky. Instead, fairness dictates that policy should attempt to improve outcomes for the unlucky, even if that requires hurting outcomes for the lucky. But given that society is controlled by the lucky, I’m not holding my breath.

Hard work is important... but unlike what every Disney fairy tale has ever told you, "hard work" isn't enough to achieve your dreams. Hard work is needed, but NOT a guarantee to success. I KNOW this from my own personal experience. When I first started IM, I thought of a few ideas to make money, and then dove into a mad frenzy of focused work. I didn't even mind all the work, I was excited. The problem was even thought I was working so damn hard, I wasn't working smart. No matter how many hours I would sit behind my computer working, I was putting MORE MONEY IN than I was earning! I had focused ALL my attention on WORKING WORKING WORKING!! I didn't stop to think "hey, maybe there's a better way to do this...". But stupidly, I just kept trudging along because "hard work will always pay off", right? NOOOO! If you're just starting this IM stuff, and you're not making making more money than you're putting in...

TAKE THE HINT !

What you're doing clearly isn't working. Before you continue, try looking at what you're doing from a different perspective... It's just a fact that you're automatically biased to yourself, and it's harder to see your own flaws. So take exactly what you're doing to try to make money online, and pretend the person you hate the most was doing it. Seriously pretend you were watching over their shoulders as they did exactly what you have been doing. This might highlight your problems...

Be smart, take it slow. Have a side job at Starbucks when you're just beginning. Because you're NOT going to get rich instantly. Use the BASIC methods at first... I'm talking about selling e-books and building a list. Then email out your affiliate offers.

Once you're making a stable income, THEN try adding your own twist, or head in a completely new direction. But it's important to try the BASICS first!

HARD WORK Vs SMART WORK

As you know whenever we talk of views there can be two views – for and against. Let us take work for instance. The Key to lasting joy is to work hard Academics of the Gothenburg University in Sweden have come up with an interesting proposition : hard work is the only path to happiness. Their research, conducted over three years, shows that money, love and success bring only temporary joy, whereas the effort taken to achieve goals provides lasting satisfaction.

The researchers have pitted their findings against the claims of the tourism industry. Which tells the potential customers that a break from work is the best way to be happy. You needn't be an Einstein or a Max Weber to know that the Swedes have made a "bulls eye" shot. Happiness can't be bought with money, neither can the leisure industry sell it. Happiness has to be earned by pursuing it in meaningful ways, and what is meaningful varies from person to person.

For a scientist, the engagement with a scientific problem is the most meaningful aspect of his existence.

In the case of a writer, it is his struggle with words, plots, images, ideas that define happiness.

A musician discovers joy when he manages to express himself in his music. In each case. the journey is what matters and not the destination. Taking a break from whatever it is you've been doing will probably make you feel apprehensive. All your fears about how much you have to get done, you're wasting time, what if I don't want to go back to doing this, are likely to surface. It's a natural reaction, but the fear is usually much worse than the reality.

Work becomes a tyranny for a person when it becomes a chore, forced by eternal factors and conditions. It then ceases to be a pursuit of happiness. In our times, the dialectic between work and happiness is very often misunderstood. When the link between the two is ruptured, we try to find a solution elsewhere. We try to heal the symptoms while leaving the cause un attended.

The idea of a holiday as a break from work refuses to recognize that happiness can be found in work. Tourism industry plays on this confusion and offers leisure as a solace to those in pursuit of happiness. Could Kalidasa have preferred an idle weekend in the Himalayas to chasing the cloud in his imagination while writing Megha Sandesha ? Or would Michael Angelo have traded his love for marble with sailing on the Adriatic .

Sometimes you just need to take a break or have a rest from what you're doing and your inspiration may well come back. This break also allows you to re-assess what you've been doing and not doing. Perhaps then you'll see there are some changes you want to make, perhaps deciding to implement a different strategy or action plan. Taking a break will mean different things to different people and you need to determine for yourself what this break will be.

Perhaps, you'll decide take a day or a week off work, to play and have fun. Or you may decide to go for a brisk walk. I'm even inclined to suggest to you that, while taking this break, you tell yourself that you're not allowed to do or think about anything related to work or whatever it is that you're taking a break from.

It's surprising how much most of us react to being told we can't do or have something. The rebellious part of us often surfaces and wants to fight it. You need to trust yourself, face up to the fears and know that you can handle any situation. After a break, you'll feel refreshed and when you feel refreshed, your enthusiasm and inspiration will return. Then, you'll be ready to start moving forward again.

Now, by no means is the merit of good old "hard work" being dismissed outright. As anyone who appeared ill-prepared for an examination will testify, the only sweat could effectively replace that uniquely bitter-sweet agony. But what proponents of monotonic `work is worship' credo also refuse to see is that much great human achievement, and certainly the more beautiful of the lot, has largely come from a statement of detachment and leisurely contemplation. Indeed, even great scientific breakthroughs have been born of this condition.

Yet Thomas Alva Edison, for very long the "99% perspiration' poster boy for the rigorous work ethic, is projected far too often to students as an example of hard work. This is sad. Further, with great art exactly how much went into the inspiration of, and perspiration for, the masterpieces ? Indeed, which path would hard work follow if inspiration had not pointed the way ? These are questions well worth pondering for a country that venerates both the life and teachings of Krishna the gleefully playful God for whom happiness was to be found in the abandon of pure worship.

And to push the argument further up by advocating the stepping up to a higher state of happiness, one need only refer to Bertrand Russell's essay. In Praise of Idleness. Do read it at leisure. The Recommended Work not just hard, but hard and smartI'll not be the first nor the last person in the world who would tell you not to work hard. I'll also not be the first one nor the last one to remind you that working hard must also be tempered by working smart, or you might just be wasting a load of effort.

There is a reason why we were born with both muscles and brains. Consider the story of two lumberjacks in a tree-cutting contest. Both were strong and determined, hoping to win the prize. But one was hardworking and ambitious, chopping down every tree in his path at the fastest pace possible, while the other appeared to be a little more laid back, methodically felling trees and pacing himself. The go-getter worked all day, skipping his lunch break, expecting that his superior effort would be rewarded. His opponent, however, took an hour-long lunch, then resumed his steady pace.  

In the end, the eager beaver was dismayed to lose to his "lazier" competition. Thinking he deserved to win after his hard work, he finally approached his opponent and said, "I just don't understand. I worked longer and harder than you, and went hungry to get ahead. You took a break, and yet you still won. It just doesn't seem fair. Where did I go wrong?" The winner responded, "While I was taking my lunch break, I was sharpening my axe."Hard work will always pay off; smart work will pay better.

Remember the days when you were a student, there must have been kids who worked hard studied all day and all night, but still had to struggle to pass exams, get the percentages? On the other hand you would have seen there would have been some more kids who would have also studied hard yet, also found time for a game of cricket or football or table tennis or basketball, or any other game to cool it off, and still aced in every test, they appeared.  

Both, these sets of students studied the same material, attended the same lectures taught by the same professors, and took the same test, yet, there is a difference in the out-come. You will find this well even in the workplace. There are some who work very hard, night and day, Saturday and Sunday too, and there are a set of people who just put in that many hours needed and smartly, take off early in the evening to catch some leisure – games or gym, stay put on weekends go out on drives, weekend holidays, movies fun friends and games.

Is the second group of people just that much more brilliant? Maybe, but my money's on the way they approached their material and learned how to deliver the goods. They were smart, they applied those same principles after graduation, when they got into a career and work.The Principle they applied was : Not only work hard, but also work smart.I end this essay with good to work hard. It's great to work smart. But it's best to work hard and smart.