Make me coffee bitch!
I think one of the most graphic things that has hit me since moving to the middle east is the wage division.
I expect to get paid well for being over here, because I’m a capitalist wanker, but the stark realities of the wage situation just shocks me. The salary for the bloke who brings me coffee every morning (his title on the employee sheet is Coffee Boy) is fuck all. In fact I earn more than 20 times what he does.
Let’s put that in Aussie terms. Say I’m a lawyer or something and I earn $100,000 a year. That means the guy who brings me coffee earns $5000 a year. That’s $96 a week. And this guy is employed in a nice safe job. He told me that the poor buggers working the construction sites get about 1000 Dirhams a month. That’s $72 a week for working 12 hour days, 6 days a week in conditions that would make a nineteenth century coal miner think twice.
The worst part for these fuckers is that they are not earning $72 a week in Bangladesh, they are earning that in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, which are fast becoming the most expensive cities in the world.
I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, other than it’s shit that these bastards are getting screwed over in a country where the average personal wealth of an Emirati is $17 million. (It’s worth mentioning that the Emiratis make up about 20% of the population here).
I guess it just hits home a lot more than when I have bought a pair of $2 thongs. You know in your heart that for you to buy that pair of thongs for $2 there is someone in China working for fuck all a day, but there are a few degrees of separation to make you not think too hard about it.
But when it’s right in your face you kind of have no choice. When your coffee boy says that he can’t afford to eat three meals a day because it’s eating into his savings (for his four kids and wife back in the Philippines) you just can’t push it out of your mind.
If it’s any consolation, he makes a shit coffee.
I expect to get paid well for being over here, because I’m a capitalist wanker, but the stark realities of the wage situation just shocks me. The salary for the bloke who brings me coffee every morning (his title on the employee sheet is Coffee Boy) is fuck all. In fact I earn more than 20 times what he does.
Let’s put that in Aussie terms. Say I’m a lawyer or something and I earn $100,000 a year. That means the guy who brings me coffee earns $5000 a year. That’s $96 a week. And this guy is employed in a nice safe job. He told me that the poor buggers working the construction sites get about 1000 Dirhams a month. That’s $72 a week for working 12 hour days, 6 days a week in conditions that would make a nineteenth century coal miner think twice.
The worst part for these fuckers is that they are not earning $72 a week in Bangladesh, they are earning that in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, which are fast becoming the most expensive cities in the world.
I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, other than it’s shit that these bastards are getting screwed over in a country where the average personal wealth of an Emirati is $17 million. (It’s worth mentioning that the Emiratis make up about 20% of the population here).
I guess it just hits home a lot more than when I have bought a pair of $2 thongs. You know in your heart that for you to buy that pair of thongs for $2 there is someone in China working for fuck all a day, but there are a few degrees of separation to make you not think too hard about it.
But when it’s right in your face you kind of have no choice. When your coffee boy says that he can’t afford to eat three meals a day because it’s eating into his savings (for his four kids and wife back in the Philippines) you just can’t push it out of your mind.
If it’s any consolation, he makes a shit coffee.
posted by Sam Cox at
05:32
12 Comments:
There's surely no easy answer to this. Humans have spent most of their history (200,000 years) living in nomadic groups of up to 150 individuals, with (according to anthropologists) a reasonable balance of power. While there are leaders, there's no real class divides; everyone in the group contributes, giving a kind of rough equality.
Introduce civilisation, where we organise into much (much!) larger groups, and it's no longer possible to maintain a reasonable group identity. That means that it's only too easy for divisions to appear, and grow, until those at one strata in the society have a vast proportion of the wealth compared to those in strata.
In other words, humanity is still fumbling around looking for an effective way of fairly organising itself into very large groups. It kinda sorta works in some ways, but really stinks in others. There's no easy answer, and I suspect any kind of real equality in terms of access to essential resources will only occur once such resources are abundant. While there's any kind of constraint, it's inevitable that some will be better able to capture and hold that resource, denying it to others.
So, hope for a plague to bring down the population such that resources are abundant relative to those who want it, or that nearly free energy via fusion is made viable with the follow-on effect of resources of all kinds being more available to all.
By
Jason, At
28 April 2008 06:58
I like Jason's rather comprehensive analysis of the evolution from tribe to megalopolis, but I'm guessing he just overlooked the bit explaining when it is that society reaches that critical mass where a Filipino Coffee Boy is required to keep Sam in hot beverages.
Dare I ask...got a maid yet, Samboy...?
By
Teaboy Tom, At
28 April 2008 22:02
I want to know what would happen if you made your own coffee? Or maybe tip said 'coffee boy' some extra cash to help him out? Or maybe you could find out a way to do something helpful in your spare time with regard to this issue? I am sure there are many things you could do to make a difference.
By
Seppo, At
29 April 2008 02:49
Jason, we may be hitting the point soon where food shortages will give us a clearer reason for the rich-poor divide, but I don’t think that is the cause, nor less people the solution. We have more than enough food right now to feed everyone, it’s just that people can’t afford said food because they are paid like crap. [ignoring the current global rice shortage of course]
I think we can be a little more pragmatic about this situation. To solve problems like this we may need to fight against those urges that have an evolutionary base (greed, xenophobia etc), but then again we fight against evolutionary instincts every day. It’s part of being what we call civilised.
On a more practical level, poverty is caused by greed, corruption, ignorance, neglect, lack of will. The fact is that some people and governments are making a huge amount of money by allowing the exploitation of immigrant workers around the world. We can try to solve it (and are trying to solve it) the same way we try to solve other global problems like war, disease, famine. By global organisations working together to put regulations in place that ensure things like acceptable minimum wage and proper safety conditions.
I know I’m getting a little idealistic here, but what I’m trying to say is that we are a far cry from throwing our hands up and wishing for the next meteorite.
By
Sam Cox, At
29 April 2008 04:37
And no Tom, I don’t have a maid... yet. But according to this article I can get one for about $300 a month. Sweet. I might get two and make them fight, foxy boxing style, for 100 Dirham notes.
By
Sam Cox, At
29 April 2008 04:52
And Seppo, I do make my own coffee most of the time, but me not getting a coffee from him wont solve his problems, and if everyone did that it would probably lead to him being sacked because that's his job.
The issue is that the long fought for workers rights that we enjoy in Australia don't exist here yet, and I emphasise yet. But yes, I probably could do more than just talking about it.
By
Sam Cox, At
29 April 2008 05:16
word up g
By
Anonymous, At
30 April 2008 01:49
Teach him to make good coffee,
sign his American green card application,
send him to America,
help him start a coffee chain.
destroy Starbucks,
make the world a bitter place....
From little things big things come man, get with the program.
By
matware, At
5 May 2008 14:16
Make it a bitter place? Why? Because the coffee is acrid? Please explain.
By
Tom the Pedant, At
7 May 2008 18:35
Give him half your wages.
By
Sinbad the Socialist, At
7 May 2008 21:50
Matware, we started that plan today. Today we bought him some real milk, as opposed to powdered crap. Once he has mastered the cow skills the soy will follow.
Only when I see my apprentice make a chai soy latte with a dash of cinnamon will he truly be realy for America.
By
Sam Cox, At
8 May 2008 05:06
And are you fucking serious Sinbad? Have you seen the price of a 5 series nowadays?
Let's keep this discussion based in reality please.
By
Sam Cox, At
8 May 2008 05:13
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