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The idea of the majority of people being overpaid would in effect mean that the majority of people have too much money and don't know what to do with it all. If anything the complete opposite of this situation is true, most people have just enough money to get by and not a lot more then that. There are billions of people living in poverty in the world today in fact there are more people living on less and the equivalent of a dollar per day than there are living above that figure.

The basic structure of any business is that it is roughly pyramid shaped. Take for example a standard factory, you would have the production line workers at the bottom, for an easy figure we have 100. Next there is one supervisor watching every 10 workers. And above them 1 manager for every 5 supervisors, and lastly the factory owner at the very top. The higher you get the more you are paid and the fewer people there are at your level. This is basically the same across any business or organization, and means that the majority of people being overpaid is simply impossible.

When you start in a lot of jobs these days the most you can expect a lot of the time is minimum wage, and little or no other bonuses along with it. Those being medical and dental plans, illness or extended leave pay etc. Coupled with that is the fact that a lot of the time there is no obligation on particularly larger companies to raise the amount that they pay their workers by he amount that inflation is going up each year. So for example if inflation is 3% in a particular year, it is very unlikely that most people will receive a 3% pay increase to match this. Meaning that in real terms their money will buy them less and that they have become poorer.

The kind of people who are being paid more and more every year are those at the very top of the earnings scales to begin with. Company bosses, directors, higher up officials and politicians are those who usually benefit the most from any salary increases. Often it is these people who are receiving the massive pay increases and bonuses while the majority of the people, who are lower down in the company, are losing their jobs or are struggling to live on the pittance they are being paid.

For example the British M.P's (members of parliament) recently voted in favor of giving themselves a 10% pay increase, even though they are already earning over 60k per year in most cases. As well as the fact that they can claim around another 50k in free expenses paid by the tax payers. At the same time they voted against backdating a police pay increase of 2%, which is still below inflation anyway.

Similarly it is accepted policy between corporation directors to receive a massive payout if the business fails and is forced to shut down. Often many millions of dollars while most of the companies employees aren't given anything, and for basically failing to do their job correctly as well. Not only that but they are then often simply given another job paying in excess of 500k per year by another similar company because of their connections within the industry and the fact that the very rich always look after each other.

So the fact is that the majority of people aren't paid enough, which is why many people these days have to take second jobs and why usually now both of the parents in a family have to work. Not so long ago the money earned by one parent was enough to support the entire family while the other partner stayed at home to raise the children. But these days that isn't usually possible, which shows in fact that people are being paid a lot less comparatively than they used to be.

Learn more about this author, Scott Heritage.
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