Well, I have to admit I feel a bit underpaid here as an on line writer. Yes, I admit that I am poor according to Western standards, but then I realized some things.
We may consider our earnings too low and I understand that a scholar will not write a 500 word article for less than a dollar.
Many do not like their earnings here and some are leaving Triond for better jobs. But those are Western writers.
I also see a lot of Indian, Philippine and Pakistani writing here. Also some Africans. Now if I look at wages there, a dollar might mean a lot more for them than for me.
Also a dollar is less than a euro, where I pay in. Maybe that is why many of my currency zones might not write here.
If writing is not your livelihood and you do not mind scrap, it is OK. But for Western professionals that have bills to pay, I understand that on line writing paid by view is not for them.
But I also understand that many who need to hire a writer, might actually think twice before hiring a freelancer that asks a lot of money for a job somebody in the Third World would perform for much less.
This might be it: the Internet might make clear we might have to lower our standards.
Can you blame assigners that will not spend more than a dollar per article, if they can find people at that price? Yes, it might be wrong and it might be better that they would pay more, so the foreign writer might also get a better living and standards their might go up.
A friend lately told me that Internet business is nothing more than begging for scrap. Maybe he is right. We beg for views to get a few cent. Yes, artists are beggars. Think of musicians. What do they earn from a 99 cent song they sell? Not much more than we might earn on our articles.
If they sell a full CD of let’s say twelve songs for 15 dollar, what is their real earning?
Writers are artists, even if we produce info, report facts or share opinions. We create with our words.
So freelance businesses on line might change the world. Maybe in time this Third World writer will not accept this dollar anymore, but like a raise, if the standard in his country raises.
Maybe development of poor countries might be a way to save ourselves. For ages we, Westerners have exploited those countries, colonized them and milked economically them dry.
Now the odds are changing. Due to Internet the world is becoming small. There are no frontiers anymore for many jobs. Working at home is more popular than ever.
We are paying the price. While the greed of our wealthy elite have produced a financial system that is colliding, the Third World has found a way to benefit.
The freelance market is open to all who can write and have access to Internet, also to those in that poor countries that are happy with the scrap others refuse.
It is like importing foreign workers here in golden sixties to do the dirty, underpaid jobs we felt not worthy off. Accept this time we import out money to them in their own countries.
I understand that many foreign content writers here do write for money and might be happy with the cents others might consider underpaid.
Yes, web publishing is slavery according to Western standards, but it might help to develop the Third World.
