Physical Labor vs. Brain Power

On page 27 of Economix, Goodwin discusses profits. He states "high profits were bad, because you couldn't have high profits and high wages at the same time". Additionally, the comic has two groups pulling a rope, one side says "Your wages come out of our profit!" as the other side says "Your profits come out of our wages!".

This piece made me think about under-payed employees. Billion dollar businesses still lack the ability to pay many of their workers' labor's worth, not only so they can work but also so they can have enough to survive on. I used to work in retail at Marshalls and although I only worked there for extra money, some of my co-workers had been working there for years, in the hopes that the longer they worked there the more they would get paid. I worked there for two years and throughout those two years we had a total of a $2 raise. It was devastating to look at my check by the end of each week to see the little amounts I made for all the work I put in.

Although I was trained in the women's/accessories department (the largest section of the store), I was required to help switch out with the person in the dressing room. As I became better in my section, I was also trained in the men's and kids section then soon I learned to cashier. Some days I would only focus on my section of the store but most days I was barely in my section because I had to help out other departments. While I try to maintain my department, I would get called up to the front to cashier, called to be in the men's section for an hour, or cover a break in the dressing room. Often times, this sets me back on my own section and I still do it by myself. At the end of everyday of retail, my legs were tired and sore. Jobs like retail requires physical labor, constant walking, picking up hangers, hanging clothes, organizing clothes etc. My retail experience was not only physically tiring but mentally tiring. Physical labor is very strenuous, jobs that often require a lot of physical strength pay less than jobs that require more brain power.

In addition, many jobs that are highly paid often involve experience and a background consisting of education. As of today, we know education in the United States is far form affordable, limiting many people the opportunity to obtain these highly paid jobs. In the past I have heard talk about Mcdonald workers getting paid $15 an hour. How do you feel about this? Should we value physical labor over brain power (brain labor)? Does Mcdonalds make enough profit to provide this wage to their workers who helps them accumulate this profit? Large companies make crazy amounts of profit that gets "saved", how does this affect our economy?