We're in this together

Ìrọ̀rùn igi ni ìrọ̀rùn ẹyẹ. / The comfort of the tree is what assures the comfort of the bird (on it).

[Pursue the common good, always]

— Yoruba Proverbs (@yoruba_proverbs) July 8, 2016

...

"-- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.  (Applause.)
     If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable .. system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
     The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.  There are some things .. we don’t do on our own.  I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. "
- Guess who said this // Guess when/where at least

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On being overpaid (or underpaid) for work

The work of a management consultant is no more complex than that of a bank teller, a journalist, a musician, or a chef.  Yet management consulting is one of the high-paying fields in the developed world.  It's not for demand-and-supply factors either: there are millions of people who can do the work required - a little math, a little pressure, teamwork, powerpoint, and politics.  Why then does the difference in pay persist? 

Does excess pay create real problems in society?  Robert Reich argues that the work of highly-paid financiers, corporate lawyers, lobbyists, and management consultants ... zero-sum games ... amount to a mammoth waste of societal resources. 

As you know, he's a former US Secretary of Labour, who has a lot of thoughts on Work and Worth - an interesting topic that overlaps with politics.