>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> 06/22/99 12:06PM >>>
Who hardly exist anymore. Today's rich, at least those in the U.S., typically work long hours. Even today's rentiers often put in 10-12 hour days at trading desks. As far as I know, pure coupon-clippers aren't a significant social force.
(((((((((
Charles: I can believe this. The rub is attributing such a high level of skill to their work. I don't know the exact rates of their pay ( Doug probably does) but it is not sensible that they add a hundred or a thousand times more value per hour to the commodity they "produce" than the average worker does.
A story on something of the flip side of this is in the News.
"Worker donates $ 1 million"
Ford forklift driver's latest gift is $ 200,000 for Wayne State
How much cash can you make working as an hourly employee at an autoplant ?
Enough to earn a decent living and donate $ 1million to charity.
That's just what Ford Motor Co. forklift driver Matel "Mat" Dawson did. His latest donation , a $ 200,000 scholarship grant to Wayne State University , will lift 78 year-old Dawson over the $ 1million mark in lifetime philanthropy. ..
"I just do this because I want to give back, the demure Dawson said. " I want to leave a legacy. I want people to say good things about me."
At age 78 and with 59 years at Ford, Dawson could have retired decades ago. Instead, he whiles away the hours in the seat of his fork lift at Ford's Rouge Industrial Complex.
He works 12 hour days, sometimes seven days a week, snapping up all the overtime that's available.
"It's easy money." Dawson says of his job....