[LadyNavyVet]

As for jealousy: I have my own business and couldn't care less..."

And yet, you've brought up CEO compensation in two posts I've seen so far.

Is your business unionized?

[LadyNavyVet]

Whoops! Posted too soon.

I meant to add...if your business is not unionized, is it publicly-traded? Can I buy stock and then dictate your compensation? Or even, as some here would have it, get a job working for you, band with my fellow employees, and then dictate our salaries and benefits based on what we think we're worth, and demand you pay it whether your company can support that or not?

[B-Chan]

Our business is a family business. My mother-in-law owns it, my wife runs it, and I do whatever scut work is needed. (I also have my own separate business). Our employees are not unionized. Instead, my family pays them as much as we can afford to pay them (far above the minimum wage or the "going rate" for the same work) plus bonuses, advances, emergency loans, etc. And where does the money for the higher wages come from? Out of my family's pockets. We all live modestly so that we can pay our employees as much as possible.

Note; While I agree with A. Pole on many issues, I'm not a big fan of unions as they currently exist. I support something more along the lines of medieval guilds. But bringng back the guilds would require the restructuring of our entire society, which won't happen until the whole unsustainable house of cards comes crashing down of its own accord. Until that happens, the best workers can hope for is to find work at businesses owned by geerous people like our folks and avoid working for slimeball con artists.

Non ligabis os bovis terentis in area fruges tuas ("Do not bind the mouths of the kine that tread the corn") — Deuteronomy 25:4