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Comment by adwhit | Hacker News Reader

Indeed, the value of keeping toilets sanitary is far greater than that of creating the next web app.

"This work is essential to the health of the population, but because of something to do with marginal economics and supply and demand and weak labor laws and class power and reserve supply of labor, I don't have to pay a proper wage, or even treat them like human beings!"

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Diamonds are also more expensive than water. But of course water is more valuable than diamonds.

Price is not about total value provided to society but about the marginal value of one more diamond, 1 more gallon of water, 1 more janitor or 1 more programmer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_value

Nature doesn't have a "proper" wage. The temporary moat of other countries being destroyed by ww2 and less efficient travel and lack of computers meant labor supply was constructed. The situation has now changed so there is more supply of labor (similar to when women came into the work force). You can't fight supply and demand, the people with lower quality of life (in developing countries) will work for less than the richer ones, so their product is cheaper, and in the marketplace people will buy cheaper products (as evident in our situation today).

I'd say most web app developers can keep the toilets sanitary, if needed, with little training.

Value can be defined as how much people are willing to pay for it. Based on that, some webapps are worth more.

I think it's useful to remember that the work of one webapp developer can positively affect the lives of millions of people. Tech yields a counterintuitive amount of leverage.

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