As promised, I'm continuing the discussion from Part One.
One thing that has increasingly frustrated me in recent weeks is the amount of freelance writers who constantly complain about the lack of high paying writing gigs. They also complain how writers who agree to work for low wages are perpetuating the system and bastardizing the writing process, and go on to suggest that writers should band together and "strike" against those organizations who pay low wages for content generation, in an attempt to force those organizations into raising their rates.
Such naivete is frightening.
As I suggested in Part One, we (writers) can no longer afford to think of things in local terms. There is no such thing as local any longer. With the advent of world-wide Internet connections the work force of today is no longer constricted by the geographical boundaries on a map. The work force is the entire globe. Wherever there is an Internet connection there is a person on the other end who not only has the qualifications to perform the tasks required by employers, but in many cases are willing to work for wages that to others might appear as pennies. Why? Because there is no global currency.
It is extremely selfish to think that you (the writer) are somehow special. Are you talented? Sure. So am I. So is the guy in India. Or the guy in Bolivia. Or the guy in Argentina. Are you more qualified than those writers? Possibly. But can you be competitive in the world-wide market? That is something that is entirely up to you as an individual.
The worst is writers from the UK and the US. The reason for this is that during the 90's both of these countries enjoyed a period of being on the top of the food chain in terms of economic success. Enter the post-War-on-Terror world, and the US and the UK are no longer the booming economies that they once were. They are suffering from the highest unemployment rates, the highest inflation rates, and the highest level of social dissatisfaction. Writers who flourished during the 90's and even the early 21st century are suddenly finding that they can't charge the rates they once did, and that the work which was once only available to a select few is now being made available to a world-wide workplace that has potential employees from all corners of the globe vying for the same jobs. And in such an environment one cannot afford to be selfishly absorbed in a bubble, thinking that they are somehow special because they live in a certain part of the world or have worked for a certain wage for a period of time.
The work place is not limited to the US or the UK anymore. The global summit meetings now have 20 countries involved, up from the handful who used to be. Those global summit meetings are expected to continue adding countries every year from here on out as more and more countries meet the economical and technological standards required for membership. More and more of the general population is discovering the beauty of Internet content generation. And employers aren't stupid. They are getting quality work for a fraction of the price it used to cost, and that's just smart business.
Sure, if you happen to live in the UK or the US then a dollar per 500 word article isn't worth your time. So don't bother with those jobs. Look to the higher paying jobs that fulfill your target guidelines for "acceptable" rates. But do not presume to dictate to the rest of the world what rates are fair or unfair. To the person in a smaller country those rates are triple or more what they are to you or me. And while I myself do not necessarily think that such rates are "fair" in my personal view, I do not presume to tell the writer from India that they are somehow bastardizing my job and stealing food from my plate. After all, he is JUST as qualified and has JUST as much of a right to the work as I do, and if 1 USD to him is worth 10 of his own (an example: I do not know the rates off hand, I am just using an example to explain) and he can make 25-30 per hour of his own currency doing content from a US company who is only paying 1 dollar per 500 word article...then more power to him.
I do not have the right to dictate to another writer what rates are fair or unfair. Why? Because I cannot afford to be selfishly absorbed in thinking that I am somehow magically better than the rest of the world just because I happen to be from a certain country. My nationality and place of residence has absolutely nothing to do with dictating rates to my peers. What is fair to the guy from Pakistan might not be fair to the guy from Germany, but neither of those writers is more or less qualified than the other; they are equal. And from an employers standpoint, you can bet your ass they are going to hire the guy who is willing to do the work for the lowest bottom price because it's just smart business.
Writers cannot afford to be self absorbed and selfishly ignorant about the global work force. We need to be continually aware of the ever-changing nature of the career we have chosen and adapt accordingly. Continually bitching about how "unfair" it is that the work we've been doing for years is suddenly being farmed out to other countries is a waste of time. You cannot control the growth of the global work force, and you are not magically better than someone on the other side of the world. You have the same color blood, you breathe the same air, you eat the same food, you are both humans.
My suggestion to writers who spend so much time complaining about low rates is to adapt. Find other avenues for your talent. Spend less time worrying yourself about what others are making and forge your own path. Be aggressive. There will always be clients out there who pay you what you need or want to earn. But do not think that you are somehow qualified to dictate to the rest of the world what is fair or isn't. You are not God. You are not better than someone on the other side of the globe. You are a human being, just as they are. You may be unhappy with the fact that your job is now available to people from all over the world rather than just a select group who enjoyed a period of being "kings of the world", but that time is over. The Internet is opening doors that cannot be closed, and you can either hobble together a boat to ride the tide, sink underneath and drown, or you can fashion a sleek and sexy vessel to cruise the open waters as you explore all the opportunities this world has to offer by opening yourself to endless opportunities.
I'm aiming for the sleek and sexy. How about you?
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Another thing to think about is that as we evolve as a planet, some jobs become obsolete. Thinking back to the invention of the threshing machine in the UK all those years ago, laborers went to such lengths as burning barns and literally burning machines that farmers had purchased because they were so upset about how many jobs it was taking away from them. But it was human evolution, and you cannot stop that.
Were the farm laborers correct in their claims of "unfair, unfair"? Not really. It was human evolution at its finest. Someone came up with a way for humans to thresh wheat and grain at a far more reasonable pace through machinery. Yes, it eliminated jobs, but who was at fault? The inventor who invented the threshing machine, or the laborer who refused to adapt to the future?
Think about it.
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