When you get good advice or find something you enjoy or use, how do you say thank you to the person who provided it? Do you compensate them at all?
Many people don’t.
Instead of thinking about what went into offering the advice or enjoyable thing (e.g., research, physical effort, time away from family, etc.), most people simply consume. This consumption, which is especially common online, happens for three big reasons.
What makes people consume without paying
Entitlement/Right
People rationalize that they are entitled to that consumption, free of charge, because according to American culture, they are supposed to be happy. It’s their right to joy. Because what one has a right to doesn’t require the person to pay for it, they don’t want to spend. The arts are probably the best example. In the worst case scenario, people intentionally pirate artists’ works that are clearly set up for regular, convenient purchase.
Busyness
To stop and send a payment or other token, the thinking goes, takes too much time. It isn’t important in the face of other priorities.
Playing the game
In American culture, people are supposed to go the extra mile — or as the cult classic film Office Space portrays it, commit to extra pieces of flair (forgive the finger in the clip). They’re supposed to continuously show up, do more than the minimum, and give for free to build trust. If they can do that and build relationships, opportunity naturally can flow in their direction. But often, the opportunities that come from showing up and giving are rare. There’s also no predictability to when they will come.
What happens when people don’t compensate
Especially today, people are on a quest for meaningful work. They don’t want to feel like cogs. They want to contribute and know they’ve made a difference. This is the design of God — people are meant to want to connect and have a sense of purpose. A simple thank you can be gratifying in this environment.
But in today’s world where money is so coveted, people routinely take their compensation as a measure of their inherent value. They can end up feeling like Kitty from That 70’s Show — as though they’re a used up and underappreciated doormat. Inflation also has become serious, with shortages in basic areas such as housing.
So, when people consume without compensating providers, when they essentially take advantage of those providers under the assumption that they will always be around and provide, it’s as practically destabilizing as it is painful to the providers’ sense of self and purpose.
Who can you compensate today?
When funds are limited, a person cannot compensate everyone well. They have to make hard decisions about where their money will go. But an attempt to compensate where one can is better than maintaining an attitude of entitlement. It supports the concept of social responsibility, which in an affirmation of the second commandment says that people ought to care about welfare beyond themselves. If we want a stronger, healthier world where people can slow down and not feel like they have to burn themselves out to survive, allowing people compensation –and as performer Amanda Palmer addresses in her Ted Talk, ensuring they know it’s OK and fair to ask for it — that’s necessary.