Working Hard

A recent survey came out that said among self described conservatives 77% agreed with the following:  "the hardest working people should be paid the most".  Among liberals that statement was only rated true by 49%.  The predictable reaction was see it's the 47% freeloaders who want everything handed to them, who want to be paid more for doing less.  Oh the horror!  I would contend that the liberals got it right.  The people who work the hardest (physical effort and time) are some of the lowest paid people in America.  They are the people who work in the fields, build the buildings, build the roads, stock the shelves, work a couple of jobs, cook in the restaurants,...  Whereas, the high priced workers sit in the office and stare at computer screens for a lot of hours.  You can argue that they work a lot of hours, that they pass on vacations, have to make hard decisions, but you would be hard pressed to say that they are working hard.  There is simply no comparison especially when you look at people who were paid to make the hard decisions and then when things didn't go as planned they end up getting bailed out or making money on the deal while the hard working workers are out jobs.  You have to look no further than Mitt Romney to see that this is true.  As CEO of many companies that went under he seems to have done well for himself while the workers suffered.