1) Sorry for the late reply.

2) Is the independently wealthy person likely to choose work over other uses of time, say, volunteering? For the purposes of this discussion are we narrowing down the "independently wealthy" extreme to "only the independently wealthy who still want to work regular (if part-time), paying jobs"? In addition, though, what does the independently wealthy person have to do with whether or not we subsidize McDonald's wages? The rich person does not need or use those benefits, so that's not why they may choose to "lowball" their career options and work at McD's. I had interpreted your original line of questioning as driving at whether or not we, as taxpayers, subsidize others via public health (etc) benefits, thereby allowing McD's to pay low wages, and also allowing those who use such benefits to accept jobs at McD's that would otherwise be untenable from a monetary perspective. So, while the independently wealthy do still subsizie these benefits like the rest of us, they're not relying on those (one assumes) in order to make the McD's salary "liveable." I guess I took your quiz to be a little more politically minded than you intended!

3) I think, though, we should pause and consider the vast degree of difference likely to exist between the independently wealthy and the desperately poor currently reliant on benefits. The independently wealthy not only can afford to pass on a job offer, but they also have significantly more potential job offers and opportunities in front of them by dint of social station, probably education, money, etc. For instance if I were independently wealthy and decided I wanted to be a radio DJ one day, I could wait and try to find a job as one. Or I could go buy a radio station. The independently wealthy have the power to basically create the jobs they want for themselves.

I know very few people who went into wedding planning after they graduated college but I think I can say with confidence that none of them were raised in poverty or impoverished as a result of their career choice. Not because they were successful, but because you don't fucking graduate college - or graduate/drop out of high school - need money, and think "Oh! I'll just fulfill my dream of being a wedding designer!" The rich are able to dream.

Baby-sitting is often tax-free cold hard cash under the table. It may or may not be reliable but if I were poor, knowing I had hard cash in my hands after every job (or every week if recurring etc) with no taxes taken out, no bankman who could touch it, that might be preferable to McD's. Takehome might be comparable or more, depending on the area and accounting for that. I bet that babysitters on average make around or even more than minimum wage. - I think it could be psychological even. Do you want to hire the babysitter who charges $7/hour or $10/hour? Do you really want to leave your baby with the cut-rate hack? We see price and we think it means quality.

Anyway, so I respond to this comment because I'm going to tie back to this thread. One of the benefits that it struck me one would have working at McD's or Walmart or similar is that these are all gigantic nation-wide corporations. That means that they have formal structures, policies, procedures, etc in place - there will be a set advancement structure. There is an HR hotline for sexual assault complaints. They probably have certain programs designed to "train young managers" or whatever. Companies that operate on a large scale are machines - but I think that can be a giant benefit. If I walk into a McD's and am hired, I would feel I could trust that it will be a relatively prepared and OK working environment where I will probably be safe and paid on time. And if that's not the case, that there will be resources for me that will in general help me get what I deserve, or am owed, or so on.

If I walk into a bodega, though, there is no corporate structure, no guarantee of any sort of premise of professionalism, no guarantee the owner knows how to do insurance or taxes right, no guarantee he's not going to do something shady like say I'm a contractor and short me on my insurance, and so on.

I actually prefer working for big banks over small banks. Big banks just simply have things much more streamlined and hammered out. For instance if I want to know my work cell phone policy, or my corporate card policy, or my days off policy, or my 401k, or how my bonus will be taxed, or basically anything that I as a worker might care about because it impacts me, I can find it probably within 3 clicks. I can identify potential career paths. I can post to other locations or positions internally.

So ThatsAFreeThinker, I would say: consider the lobster. By which I mean that yes, a company might be large and villified and even rightly (working at Comcast doesn't have to be awful but if you're on the phones it will be; I had a lot of friends do it - they actually turned me down) but HOWEVER, there is a certain assurance that basics will be met and readily available; that you will not be the first employee to ever ask any question; that you'll never experience "a funny situation in Payroll" because the lady had never had anyone ask to split their direct deposit between 2 bank accounts before, or etc.

I would be MORE assured taking a job at McD's, because of these things, than a no-name pop-up bodega or fast-food restaurant. With McD's, I can trust there's a corporate for me to turn to. With a no-name mom-and-pop, they really could get out of dodge and fuck me and the 3 paychecks they owe me if they wanted. McD's also can probably offer opportunities a small business can't - like different locations, more upward potential, etc.

Anyway, those have been my marinating thoughts that I was brought back to by the other thread.

EDIT: This is the first post for which I have used the draft function as intended. It was very convenient. No, I did not write this all in the 10 minutes between this and my last Hubski post. Half of it went into words-on-internet yesterday, and that was mad convenient.