Skip to main content
Gerry | Vanagon
Checking account...
← vanagon.com home · Continue the discussion in the forum
Subject:Re: Off topic: Proud (long semi-rant)
From:David Brodbeck
Date:Mon, 4 Nov 2002 15:12:25 -0500

On Mon, 4 Nov 2002, zolo wrote:

> Mr. Bulley,
> Thanks for putting a little light on a subject that seems to be taboo
> to talk about.  You were close about the wages in Romania, but it is
> far less in the far East where they make about $500 per year.  What
> industrialised nation's citizens prefer to mistakenly believe, the
> level of education is high and higher over there, and more
> importantly the level of enthusiasm to work without a hiss for long
> hours and day and night for practically nothing while they know very
> well how much their "co-workers" collect for the same job in the US
> and Europe, is pretty disturbing, disheartening.

Comparing wages makes no sense unless you also compare the cost of living.
There are some countries where $500/year is pretty comfortable because
food and other goods are much, much cheaper there.

A good analogy is that someone from California would find my salary low,
and if you do a strict numbers-to-numbers comparison it is.  But it's not
low to me because rents here are half what they are in San Jose.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "Only the government would call one half cup a
 |___/             reasonable serving of ice cream." -- Consumer Reports