to be fed up of hearing 'I've worked hard for my money'

[newbluesofa]

Lots of chat on MN recently about taxes on high earners. So heard lots of 'we have this money because we work bloody hard for it' and honestly I'm sick of it and think the people who say it are selfish.

Nurses work incredibly hard, long shifts, difficult job. Carers provide absolutely essential service, again shift work, difficult hours, difficult job. Teachers provide essential work, I know multiple teachers and they all devote evenings, weekends, school holidays to the detriment of their own families. All of these jobs also have huge emotional tolls. So 'I've worked hard for my money' means nothing to me, because a lot of people work a lot harder for a lot less.

I 'gasp' the complexity just fine thank you. I felt my post was quite clear that I was fed up of the ATTITUDE, but I'm surprised how many people have managed to miss that and think I'm saying that people shouldn't be allowed to earn a high wage. It's also been eye opening and saddening to see the number of people who genuinely think that it's as simple as 'the way to get lots of money is just to work hard'

I wondered who you were taking issue with when they told you that you don’t work hard.

I agree. It’s a bizarre attitude. We also will always need people to collect the bins, work in retail, clean the streets. All of these people deserve to be able to pay for a decent standard of living. It’s the gap in earnings that is the problem, of course some jobs will always pay more than other jobs but if wealth was redistributed more equally, it would be better for all of society.

Yes - in such a complex and unjust world it is meaningless to value people on how 'hard' they work. It's far too simplistic.

A lot of it is down to how replaceable you are. Easily replaced lower earnings, harder to replace because of your skills, knowledge, experience - higher earnings. You could be working as a consultant from your sofa in between watching Real Housewives and charging a lot purely for your brain.

Hahahaha ‘consultants’. Brilliant.

No, but nobody is completely self sufficient from birth. The point is that you are taking steps towards being as self sufficient as possible. Some very important jobs or roles will never pay enough for someone to be totally self sufficient but lots of roles do, especially if you work your way up. The reality is though that some people would rather have an easier life, enjoy a better work:life balance and be around for their kids more. Fine, but then don't ask those that don't have these advantages and trade it for more pay to then subsidise you.

I never said people who earn a lot of money don't work hard, some people are so wilfully ignorant 🙄

The point is that when wealthy people say they're wealthy because they worked hard it both devalues the work of people on lower wages and ignores any privilege they had. Yes people will come along and say 'I started with nothing and pulled myself up from my bootstraps' but the majority of wealthy people come from a place of privilege and it's disingenuous to act as if they got there through hard work alone.

I personally have no issue with anyone saying they work hard, regardless of their level or salary. People of all economic levels work hard.

My issue is when they use it as some sort of leverage, like they deserve a round of applause for doing a job they chose to do. Yes you’ve made sacrifices, you chose to.

Worse, when they are of the opinion that people should bow down to their superior tax input and show them endless gratitude.

“We keep this country running, people should be grateful for our mere existence.”

This isn’t Oliver Twist, stop treating people like peasants.

There are vulnerable people who genuinely need help and yes, leeches. The ones who do nothing, have child and after child and just take.

Our assets have been moved, they can attempt an exit tax all they want, they aren't getting shit from us.

You say people who earn a lot less work a lot harder in your original post. I disagree with that. I think I work as hard as a nurse and I give the same amount back to society - a nurse saves lives directly my taxes save lives indirectly.

Hard work and SKILL

Lower paid jobs are usually less skilled and that's why. There's a reason the doctor pay trajectory vastly surpasses the nurses.

Like some others, I don't have an issue with people saying, 'I worked hard for my money' and it doesn't necessarily imply that others didn't or that anyone in the equation is worth less than the other. I think what people generally mean when they use, 'I worked hard for my money', to say they're pissed off at paying higher taxes is that they're pissed off that they can't see/feel the value in the taxes they've already paid and therefore resent paying even more and getting the same or, more likely, less.

Do you know what nursing training actually entails these days? They're not wiping arses all day, those days have gone.

They get a starting salary of around £31k. That's perfectly fine as an entry pay. It's an honourable job I admit that. But doctors start on £38k and have a higher trajectory. That's for a reason

I think that's hypocrisy to be honest. We can't fawn over contributions of one sort, but admonish the mention of another.
The OP is all about how important nurses etc are and how hard they work, and they are and they do. But we need financial contributions as well.

It’s not about admonishing people for having anything, it’s about smug superiority.

There’s a reason some people don’t like “the rich,” and it’s because they’re arseholes shout it.

Agree.

Many are missing the point, that people who have the higher paying jobs, often (not always) have had more opportunities, such as private schooling. It's not that people don't want those jobs, it's more that they have not had the opportunities required to get those jobs.

Yeah, I wasn't really talking about their salaries, I was commenting on the wording of your post, which (to me anyway) felt like you were saying nursing was an unskilled job.

Nothing about superiority (though our incomes are numerically). It's about the tax we pay and the fact that we want to be able to keep more of what we earn. We already pay the most, and now the government want even more.

One persons smug superiority is another persons victim complex. People are allowed to think things about themselves without it being about you.

It’s about selfishness. Got it.

I’m not a victim. I’m a higher earning person who doesn’t feel the need to tell lower earners that I’m doing more for the economy than they are, or funding benefits, etc etc.

It’s essentially “look how much better than you I am 💁🏻‍♀️” and in all honesty, it’s cringy.

Well perhaps that's a reflection of your own insecurities then, because you're putting words in people's mouths. And again, you think its great to pay more tax, go ahead.

Selfish to want to keep what is ours?
But it's not selfish to take from someone else's earnings?