Work and pay in fantasia.
I had a thought-provoking dream last night. In it I was living in Fantasia – a place where people are paid according to their real value to the society. There are some striking differences with what happens in other countries.
In Fantasia, doctors are paid for keeping people alive. A doctor is well rewarded as long as his or her patients stay healthy. But when a patient falls ill, the doctor's pay is reduced by half; and if a patient dies, the doctor has to pay massive compensation to the surviving relatives. Average life expectancy in Fantasia is 132, although doctors tend to die young.
Soldiers are paid on the same lines as doctors: in peacetime they get a reasonable wage, but as soon as war breaks out the government stops paying them. Officers earn far less than ordinary soldiers, and generals get least of all. This is because of the Fantasian principle that power is its own reward: people can have either money or power, but Fantasians avoid giving them both. Members of the House of Long Sentences (the Fantasian Parliament) get expenses payments, but no salary; the Prime Minister gets the least generous expenses.
Teachers' pay is worked out according to their teaching ability (pupils vote), their pupils test results and the level at which they teach. On average, primary school teachers get double the pay of secondary school teachers, who in turn are wealthy by comparison with university teachers
Housewives or househusbands receive a basic salary from the state, plus an extra 16.500 Fantasian Grotniks (about $4.500 US) annually for each small child in the family.
People who do dirty, strenuous, dull or distasteful work (e.g. rubbish collectors, coal miners, factory workers or sewage workers) are at the top of the Fantasian wages scale. Other highly-paid workers include gardeners (Fantasians like looking at flowers), hospital nurses and librarians.
Among the poorest-paid workers are advertising agents, TV weather forecasters, traffic wardens and bank managers. Pop singers, who are all employed by the state, are paid starvation wages and allowed to give one concert a year (Fantasians don't like listening to loud noises)
The best-paid people in Fantasia are writers.
Guess what I do for a living.
Ex. 19. Answer the questions.
Where is Fantasia?
What are doctors in Fantasia paid for?
Who is paid on the same lines as doctors?
Why don’t Members of the Fantasian Parliament get a salary?
How are teachers paid?
How does the Fantasian government support families?
What kind of jobs are at the top of the Fantasian wages scale?
What jobs are poorest paid in Fantasia?
Do you think the system of payment in Fantasia is fair? Why?
READING II.
Salaries and wages in different countries.
An intriguing book World paychecks: who makes what, where and why, makes some interesting international comparisons. In Japan, for example, teachers earn far less than factory workers, but in Denmark they are near the top of the wages scale. A New York rubbish collector makes three times as much as an Indian army general. A German bus driver gets double the pay packet of a British bus driver. In China some university teachers earn as much as government ministers, but Chinese newspaper and television journalists are the most poorly paid ones in the world. And so on.
In part, says the writer, this is because of the law of supply and demand. New York rubbish collectors are well paid because it is hard to find enough people who want to do the job, and in India generals do badly because everyone (well, almost everyone) wants to be a general. But other facts – whether having a certain job makes you famous, for example – also make a difference.
It may interest you to know that the President of the United States earns three times what the Prime Minister of Britain does, but that the Prime Ministers of India and China get only about £40 a week. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
One of the other interesting bits of information in the book is that Britain pays its civil servants (the people who are paid to help the government run things like the tax system and the post office) more than America and most of Europe. Don't ask me who decides these things: no one asked for my opinion.
(from an article by William Davis in Punch)
Ex. 20. Work in pairs. Discuss the following:
True or false: in Denmark, factory workers earn more than teachers.
Who earns more, an Indian army general or a New York rubbish collector?
If a British bus driver earns £500 a month, how much does a German bus driver earn?
Who earns more in China, university teachers or journalists?
True or false: civil servants work in the services.
What has changed since the article by William Davis was published in Punch?
READING III.
Pre-reading task:
Which job has the highest salary in this country? In your country? Which job has the lowest salary? Why?
Do you know any people who made a midlife career change? Why did they change careers?
Is it easy or hard to change careers? Explain your answer.