Marco.org

San Francisco Chronicle: How much money do you make?

Great article challenging why it’s taboo to discuss the specifics of your income. Via zachlinder:

Well, tumblr, how much money do you make?

To the best of my knowledge, Tumblr made $0 last year. There, that was easy.

But I won’t reveal my income. Sorry. And I don’t want to know yours. There are too many good reasons: most notably, I know people who work a lot harder than me but make much less, and I’d feel like a complete asshole if they discovered that.

Sure, you can argue all you want about how it’s “the market” and my skills are valuable and I’ve worked my way here from nothing, blah blah blah. And that’s all correct. But there was a significant component of luck:

• I’m lucky that I enjoy what I do.
• I’m lucky that I’m capable of doing it well.
• I’m lucky that what I do happens to be a well-paying career.
• I’m lucky that I found a great employer out of the sea of bad ones.

Bragging about the results of that would be like bragging about physical traits that people can’t control. “I’m taller than you.” “My eyesight is better than yours.”

And if nothing else, I don’t like revealing my salary because I think most hard-working people are grossly underpaid. It would be like pigging out on chartered jet to Africa, then visiting a starving village and complaining about how full I am.