Mister Poll: The Value of your Work

At the end of your day at work, have you made the world a better place?

Yes, what I do makes the world a better place.

No, I help produce a product/service that is trivial, but harmless.

No, I help produce a product/service that is bad for its consumers.

No, I help produce a product/service that makes life on earth generally worse.

No, I am ashamed of my contribution to global misery.

No, but I'm stilll proud to be a productive worker.

Do you feel that the customers of your workplace are being ripped off?

Yes, and I'm ashamed of my role.

Yes, but I'm proud to be a productive worker.

No, our customers benefit by what I do.

Which of these applies best to your job?

My work does nobody any harm.

My work gives immediate gratification to my customers, but bad for them overall.

My work is good for the world, even though it negatively affects people directly.

My work is basicly a useless rip-off.

Scenario: A welfare mom is retrained, and is offered a job as a telemarketer for a sleazy rip-off seller. Would you have more respect for her if she:

Took the job.

Refused it and stayed on welfare.

To what extent to you think about the moral value of the job you do?

Never occurs to me.

Sometimes I wonder.

I have serious doubts.

I know that I am being used for dubious purposes.

I enthusiastically rip the suckers off.

Bertrand Russell proposed a socio-economic order in which every person automatically receives just enough to live on, and those who wish more are free to work for extra income. There would be a natural balance between the need for production and the number of people willing to earn purchasing power. What do you think of this idea?

Absolutely morally wrong---everyone has a duty to work.

Worth thinking about, but it has flaws.

Sounds like a reasonable idea.

I think it would be a great idea.

Assuming that you would earn the average hourly wage, how many hours a week would you like to work, or need to work to maintain your preferred lifestly?

None. I can get by by my wits.

Less than 20.

20-30.

30-40.

40-50.

50-60.

More than 60.

Why do you work?

I need the money.

I want the money.

I need to keep busy.

I'd be bored otherwise.

It is unethical/unpatriotic/immoral to not work.

I'd be ashamed to be unemployed.

Consider the lifestyle you are committed to (mortgage, kids school, debts, etc.). What is the minimum annual income you could get by with?

Less than $10,000.

10-20,000

20-30,000

30-40,000

40-50,000

More than 50,000

Imagine that you win $1,000,000 in the lottery. It pays $50,000 a year for 20 years, about 35,000 after taxes. Could you retire, right now, on that?

No, I'm already in a committed lifestyle of a millionaire.

Yes, I could juggle things and get by.

Yes, that would be more than enough.

Yes, but I'd want to keep working anyway.

I would just put it in the bank with the rest of my money.