I saw this post on my favorite fitness page, and, being my favorite page, I didn’t want to say anything, but the concept of the quote was so insulting that I felt I had to. While I won’t hesitate getting into a good internet argument on Politico, or any other of the news sites I read, I don’t really like to engage on Facebook on sites that I like, just because it seems unproductive, or generate bad feelings on my part. Other people had commented that it was insulting, and the page admin wrote back that people were taking this the wrong way, it was posted on a fitness page, but people will see the negative in everything.
I wrote: “This is my favorite page, which made me hesitant to post a critical comment. I know nothing you post would be with bad intent 🙂 It’s hard to unpair ‘minimum wage work ethic’ though from the work ethic of people who make minimum wage. It’s not a very abstract quote, and the culture blaming people who make minimum wage for their failings is very prevalent, sometimes subtle sometimes not, and the language used to justify it, looks very similar to the quote posted”
She later posted that the quote was deleted due to misperceptions, and appreciated everyone’s input. I was secretly pleased, and also amazed at how many people were commenting that those that were insulted took this wrong, get offended at everything, need to ‘get over themselves’ blah blah. Very few people agreed that this was offensive. Later on, I realized that the quote stayed, and the post saying it was deleted, was deleted.
The thing about a metaphor, is it has to be associated with meaning, in order for it to mean something. Being posted on a fitness page is irrelevant to the underlying assumptions in the quote itself. If I said, “you can’t have a coffee cup dream on a spoon work ethic” people would just be like.. huh? Because the associations make no sense. The assumptions pair dollar amounts to value. e.g. million dollars good vs minimum wage bad. Not only was minimum wage itself deemed bad, but a work ethic was attached to it. The first half of the quote wasn’t so bad. You could just say, I have “million dollar dreams” but can’t get there without working hard. That is still slightly problematic because it associates millionaires with positive values which may or may not be true, but at least it doesn’t use a comparison of the person on the opposite side of the spectrum. But it didn’t say that. It used a moral comparison to having an awesome dream, and not being able to achieve it if you only work as hard as someone in poverty. People who make minimium wage are generally service workers, fast food workers, cleaners, undocumented workers, more often than not minorities, and these groups are associated as people without dreams to move up in life. The image of the low wage worker is someone who just shows up, but doesn’t really care. Someone who does not bust their ass. Someone who has moral failings because they aren’t trying hard enough. They are in their shitty situation by choice. Because if they worked harder to achieve their million dollar dreams, with a million dollar work ethic.. than you could deadlift 400 lb. In reality, most millionaires inherit wealth and it is handed down in the family, as well as due to privilege of identity -eg white and male. Wealth is much easier to make if you start with some. That’s why loans are so important in business. Of course there are always the few exceptions of people who started from nothing, and those stories are trumpeted up to prove that it’s true for everyone. But it’s not. Those are the exception, not the rule.
This quote could be applicable to many settings – as can many. That is the point. But that doesn’t change the intent and meaning of the words. If this said, “you can’t have American dreams on a mexican work ethic” people would be all up in arms. Or “you can’t achieve like a man on a woman’s work ethic” my point is this: It makes no difference to what setting you then use this for inspiration. The only reason people get inspired by it, is because the words are attached to meaning and value. These other quotes just mentioned – using similar word associations are just as obvious and insulting. Why is it difficult to conceptually see the bias in class issues? I think because we are more aware of it, and the assumptions behind it. People think these types of quotes if they are shared on a fitness page are somehow not classist or racist or sexist. Of course they can be. And we know that. So in short, I found this quote offensive and factually inaccurate.
Musings over Coffee 
My apologies in advance if I did not review your site carefully enough (I clicked on about two other pages of your site to see if I could find your name), because I don’t know your name. I appreciate your response to the quote about million dollar dream and minimum wage, which I, too, first saw on Facebook. Before reading your response I thought it was a motivational quote. I am so grateful that you wrote this, because it definitely made me rethink things. Thank you.
Thank you Karlene for your comment, I really appreciate it
I saw this “motivational” quote posted on Facebook today by a housemate from college, who I also do not think at all intended it with the weight of this line of thinking in mind. She is not someone who comes to mind when I think of those who would perpetuate such a classist line of thinking. And yet, it undeniably does carry that value judgment, as you’ve so very eloquently discussed here. I saw it and it made me wince. At first, I did a double take, and I thought “wait, did I read that wrong? Maybe I should check my knee jerk response…” Because it seems it would be more factually accurate (and a piece of social commentary in an entirely different way) if it said “You can’t have a million dollar idea WITHOUT a minimum wage work ethic,” because indeed so many millionaires/billionaires undeniably profit immensely off the hard work of those who are struggling just to get by.
But I am not sure how to approach this, if at all. Do I say something to her? Do I post your very excellent response in reply? It feels awkward and passive-aggressive to do that, especially since she’s not someone I am in contact with any more, so I don’t want to preach at her. As you say, making arguments on Facebook isn’t always the most effective or productive thing. But, it also made me sick the more I thought about it. Thank you for putting this into words in a way that I was struggling to do. It’s helpful to read this kind of thing, because it makes me realize “oh, I’m not alone,” or I’m not crazy and overreacting, someone else saw it too. So, thank you.
Thank you for the insightful comment! I loved reading it. Especially the part that “You can’t have a million dollar idea WITHOUT a minimum wage work ethic,” Facebook is so hard. I have yet to decide for myself if it is effective or not. I often end up commenting just because it’s hard not to, but then I dread seeing what the responses are going to be. Even when I say it in the nicest way possible. I think the best responses have been when it is a close personal friend who knows I have good intentions. Perhaps posting something like.. “I’m really interested to hear what your thoughts are about this, but when I read it, this is how it sounds to me” And make it more about how you feel about it, rather than about what they are posting. Good luck! If you do post something, I’d be curious in hearing how it went. 🙂
Sooooo….I’m the guy that actually wrote this quote. I could go into the political correctness that didn’t exist in such a reactionary state as it does now, or that I come from a blue collar family from Chicago, or that at the end of the day, writers like myself have to take a few words, and turn them into life long lessons or nuggets of wisdom…or even that interpretation and perspective says more about the reader the writer… I’m the real Stephen C. Hogan, have written literally thousands of quotes including “The Good News is, the Dream is free, the bad news is, the hustle is sold separately”, along with a lot of other famous quotes that a lot of you share and have no idea it was me that wrote them.
I’ve been following my quote for years now, watching the reactions and responses from all over the world now. It’s pretty apparent at this point that the majority of the people that connect with this quote, also aren’t classist or elitist in any way. The same articles arguing against the quote, can be found supporting it’s meaning to THEM. And I guess that’s where this all boils down. That anyone feels they need to address someone over this quote, when they KNOW that the majority of people are NOT talking about minimum wage workers or wages in specific, but about hustle and never settling…? Should be enough for those in opposition to stop and look to see if maybe in fact it really IS them that has the issue, based soley on the wording and missing not only the message, but the value and connection others find in it. It became popular for a reason… Because it was written by an entrepreneur that KNOWS the struggle very well, FOR entrepreneurs that are working HARD for their million dollar dreams.
However, having said all that, this quote has also opened up real dialogue about minimum wages, financial disparity, along with classism and elitism. Bashing the quote is kind of silly, when the truth behind the quote is that it wasn’t written by some millionaire trust fund baby… It was written by me, just a Dope Soul from Chicago, who loves to write and inspire, and has learned LONG ago, write what sets your heart on fire, critics go hand in hand with self expression. Express yourself anyhow…
Sweet article though lol Compelling argument… until you realize that the author is not trying to be a “Guru” on life… just writes, creates, and inspires from behind the scenes… until now.
Hi Stephen, I appreciate the time you took to respond.
1) this post was written 5 years ago, so the political correctness dig was a little unfair
2) you say you meant no connection to minimum wage workers, but you literally wrote ‘minimum wage’ in your quote. Minimum wage refers to how much workers make at the lowest legal limit aka minimum wage workers. And that is my whole point in this entire post. You could have gotten your point across by saying any of those other things you just mentioned. “never settling” “hustling” “work hard” and maybe you do have quotes that express that. But that’s not what this quote says. This one says “minimum wage work ethic’ so in my post I took a deep dive into what that means in America.
3) People connect with problematic quotes all the times.
4) I’m sure you didn’t have bad intent, as someone who writes motivational quotes rarely does. But if you realized later that the intent many people were getting from it was negative, would that change your mind? For example, you can go to a foreign country and use a hand gesture that you didn’t know was a curse word and once you realized what it meant you would probably stop, because you didn’t want to be offensive, regardless of if it was absolutely meaningless to you.
You don’t have to have bad intent to accidentally use language that is associated with negative stereotypes, and there are manyyyyyyy negative stereotypes associated with minimum wage workers, and many strongly held negative opinions are held by people from working class backgrounds. There is a lot of shame involved with poverty and low wages. Its considered a moral defect, similar to what your quote suggests.
4) How would you even know if your followers who were inspired by this didn’t hold negative stereotypes of minimum wage workers? Its a very very strong negative stereotype in America, and exists across all income levels. You can even do this research on your own if you don’t believe me. Ask ten of your friends, from varying income levels. And without explaining anything else of why, or what the context is, just simple ask them to write down 10 characteristics that first come to mind of people who make minimum wage. Maybe even try it for yourself. I would be wiling to bet that over 80% of those characteristics would be negative.
5) so if you didn’t mean to refer to the work ethic of people who make minimum wage in a negative way… then why not just take those words out of the quote so there won’t be any confusion and just use ‘hustle’ instead, which has no relation to someone’s wage and assuming their moral character.
With all due respect, I think the quote is not insulting people who HAVE minimum-wage jobs, but saying that if you want big rewards you have to challenge yourself.
Yes, working minimum wage jobs can be tiring, but not as much to people with better attitudes, better health or better skills, that’s why they pay minimum wage. Go get more skills, better health or more knowledge, and you can get a bigger paycheck. Some people get promoted to manager, some stay stuck at the register.
If you’re talking fitness, then consider those who walk 45 minutes versus those who run 45 minutes. Both put in the same amount of time, but one is clearly trying to get a more challenging workout and better results.
Hi Greg! Thanks for your comment. In your comment, similar to the quote, you are equating a pay scale with how hard someone is working. That is actually insulting, and that is where we disagree. There is no evidence that someone who makes a million dollars works harder than someone at minimum wage. In fact it is the opposite. A majority of people who work minimum wage are adults with families and put in more hours of work than someone at the high end of the pay scale. Not to even get into union busting and retaliation and firing people who try to improve their living conditions. In a country where we have homeless veterans out on the street, immigrants who are lawyers and doctors who are forced to drive taxis because they can’t get the right papers, or millions and millions of hard working people who lost their jobs during the economic crisis.. it is hard for me to understand this concept of associating your value as a person with your income or your job. It just doesn’t work that way.
Your fitness example also doesn’t work on a physiological level. It does not take into account how hard the body is working. Someone who is extremely over weight, out of shape, or even sick would be working very very hard to walk 45 minutes. Versus an ultra runner who runs 45 minutes at a 6min mile pace on rest day. Just because they ran faster in that time doesn’t mean they were working harder. If the quote were applicable, it should say: “push yourself as hard as someone who works three jobs”
Perhaps I need to do a better job putting my thoughts down into words. I apologize. Let me try again.
I think the key here is “work ethic.”
That’s not a person’s value, that’s a state of mind. Also, the quote is not talking about how the world sees you, it is how you see yourself. This quote challenges you to think: What can I accomplish? Will I strive for greatness, even if I might fail?
Many of my friends and I worked in minimum-wage jobs when we were teens, but today we’re teachers, physical therapists, lawyers, policemen, editors, mechanics and more. None of us dreamed of flipping burgers or stacking toasters on shelves for the rest of our lives. We knew these were stepping-stone jobs, a way to make date money or to keep our beaters gassed up.
We knew we had much greater potential.
We knew we could do so much more with our hands, our feet, our minds. We knew we could get jobs that had a greater impact on society. Perhaps we would one day own a fast-food restaurant, employ other minimum-wage workers while using the profits to donate to the local Booster Club while also paying property taxes to improve parks and schools and roads. Or, perhaps we could run for office and create new laws that lower taxes and give people greater take-home pay.
That’s greater potential. That’s a million-dollar work ethic.
Yet there are people who think that if they work a minimum-wage job they DESERVE new cars, smartphones, Internet access and a 2,000-square-foot house. They want to live like kings but refuse all the responsibilities and scrutiny that come with it. THAT is a minimum-wage work ethic.
I know a lady at the checkout lane at the local grocery store who brightens my day just with her attitude and service, and I know a lady at the checkout lane at the local gas station who frequently complains about the world around her. I know a third lady who works as a custodian, but also volunteers at the school. I know a fourth lady who sits at home and watches TV all day. They all have great potential and great value as human beings, but only two realize it and are doing something with it.
You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic.
Thanks for your reply. I do understand your point of view, but everything you have said here is anecdotal. Lets try to get beyond that. I will try to do a better job to clarify what I think is missing here. Lets focus on first defining what work ethic is. From your comment, you seem to say that good work ethic means striving for success and greatness, and challenging yourself. From my perspective all of these qualities can / or sometimes aren’t achieved no matter what income level you are at. For example, you list of what you consider worthwhile careers. “teachers, physical therapists, lawyers, policemen, editors, mechanics.. or running for office” The latter example amused me, as I can list hundreds of politicians which corruption charges have been filed against them. These are typically the people who think they deserve to live in a 2,000 foot square home on the public’s dime. A profession is not equal to a moral equivalent or standard of conduct of behaviour. Police officers have also been sent to jail for murder while on duty, and teachers get fired for sexual offenses against their students. Catholic Priests recently went through an international abuse scandal. Anyone can have bad work ethic. And not even just the major stuff. Are there police officers just doing the bare minimum? Maybe some who had a higher vision of themselves in their career and aren’t achieving it? Absolutely.
But if we did want to delve into how much they make, these careers you mentioned don’t even make very much. Lawyers are all over the board, but public defenders with a fancy law degrees are considered part of the ‘working poor’ in many states. In Montana, my home state, starting teachers make an average salary of $26,000. Police on average make more, but not much. Certainly less than $100,000. Definitely not a million. What kind of salary does someone need to make to all of a sudden be included in the idea that they have a good work ethic and a worthwhile member of society? Striving to be a millionaire excludes quite a lot of professions. Does the millionaire who inherited their wealth and never had to work a day in their life have a great work ethic? I would say no.
My point is this. There are good and bad people in all professions. There are always people who do the bare minimum. No matter what scenario they are in. I agree with your definition of work ethic. If you apply it, you will find that people all over the spectrum of salary fit it. There are people who strive to be the best version of themselves, who volunteer their time, who treat others with respect, who are trying to make this world a better place, and this has absolutely nothing to do with how much they make.
I challenge you to go into a Hotel, ask the manager if you can interview their staff for a project. (This could include hotel desk, cleaning crew, dishwashers, etc.) Maybe buy them coffee. Ask them what they do in their free time, what their goals are, and how they treat people. You might be surprised how motivated and kind people are at the lower end of the income scale.
I think I agree with your points.
As far as the metaphorical comparison of the inspirational quote, I guess it comes down to this: It says “You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic.”
It does not say, “You can’t have a million-dollar dream if you think like someone who works a minimum-wage job.”
It’s not talking about your position, but your mindset.
That’s what I got out of it, which is why I like it.
We can agree to disagree then on metaphors and how they are structured in a sentence. I strongly believe and I think most people reading the quote, take it to mean the latter. I do appreciate your time to comment and I enjoyed the conversation. 🙂
Ditto
Well said… My million dollar dream, when I wrote this quote, had NOTHING to do with working hard for a million dollars. In fact, the use of money as the metaphor was simply used to define “Hustle”. As stated, it’s a mindset, not a title, not a perspective on others and their value, but your own. Yes a millionaire can have a minimum wage work ethic. The quote wasn’t meant to sum up all of life in a few short words… I already wrote that one “STOP FKN Procrastinating”… I’ve seen Dwayne Wade, JJ Watt and others get flamed, for quoting this, called “insentive” elitists, spoiled, out of touch… Dwayne Wade grew up in my city of Chicago, to a mother addicted to drugs and an estranged father. JJ Watt damn near gave up on football, until delivering pizzas one day, a kid answered the door and asked him wth he was doing delivering pizzas. Million Dollar dreams…
I was glad to see this because I saw this quote at my gym today and was very upset. It is offensive!! It implies that someone working for minimum wage doesn’t have a good work ethic or they don’t work hard. Really awful thing to say about the hard working folks that work for minimum wage – multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Interesting how some people take a totally different view. What I thought it meant initially was that if you want to be successful, you cannot reward the people that help you achieve success with minimum rewards or low wages. We need a different view of how we will find success in life. I can see everyone’s point above, but if we want success, we need to trust others to be part of that journey and help them achieve too, so they are part of your mission. Minimum wage generally tends to get minimal effort, and poor results as people lack the motivation to want to be part of your vision. I agree with Stephen, who created this quote whom I am just discovering more quotes of tonight as I complete tertiary research about how we can help workers in distress from COVID restrictions. From what I see, most of the quotes are inspiring, just depends on the interpretation.
Thanks John for the comment. I’m still fascinated at how people find this little blog post. I think your train of thought is more along the lines of pay people what they deserve? And certainly I agree that people are more likely to be more productive and deliver better work when paid fairly. Covid perhaps gives us a very clear example of people who are essential workers, being paid minimum wage or less, who had to show up to work every day and keep this country running, while other people were able to work from the comforts of their home. It’s hard to imagine a group of people with higher work ethic. It is also true that people do better work when not in distress, when they have a better wage, when they are learning and building skills at their job, are part of a team, and treated fairly. Both can be true. This post isn’t idealizing low wage, but rather trying to separate work ethic from pay scale, and to argue that people are not paid what they are worth. I’m interested in what your research has shown you how to support workers in distress?