> Plus, there's an obvious class component. The further removed you are from working with your hands, the higher value you're perceived to have.
I like this point a lot, and it makes sense, but then I thought, how come it doesn't apply to athletes ?
I like this point a lot, and it makes sense, but then I thought, how come it doesn't apply to athletes ?
The classical worker, the kind I believe the GP meant to refer to, is a commodity. It's the kind of workers it might make sense to hire as day labourers and, conversely, for whom collective bargaining is beneficial.
There has been a tendency for some businesses to treat programmers as this kind of workers, often leading to failed off-shoring efforts.
If you're great at operational work, but are no good with tactics or strategy, you won't ever get a huge salary, in the office or in sports.
After all, look at pro-sports salaries and you'll see that the highest paid players are the ones who are put in situations where they have the ability to make potentially critical decisions, and who have a history of being relatively good with those calls.
Read up on the Reserve clause and Curt Flood for more info about how this all changed starting with Major League Baseball in the 1970s.