Posted by
voice_of_reason on Saturday, July 14, 2007 9:58:02 PM
This is about a friend - yes, really, this IS about a friend - who happens to be a very good engineer.
He charges $150/hr for his engineering consulting services, and often has to turn away projects because of the high demand for his skillset.
On weekends, he spends as much as 20hrs, building homes for Habitat for Humanity - because he 'believes in giving back'.
While consuming an excellent 15yr old Laphroaig single-malt scotch at his house the other night, we got into one of our congenial discussions.
[BTW, did anyone notice the clever product placement in the previous sentence? I am hoping to get a lifetime supply of Laphroaig with this innovative scheme. I'm open to offers from Porsche and Ferrari as well.]
Anyway, while luxuriating under the smoky mellowness that comes from (your name here) single-malt scotch, I suggested to my friend that he should consider working on additional engineering projects for 16hrs during the weekend. He could then use the extra $2400 to pay an out-of-work handyman $60/hr to work a 40hr week, building those homes. That would give an out-of-work handyman steady employment, putting food on his family's table.
The handyman would get a lot more home-building done in one week than my friend could do over a weekend. Also, since the handyman would probably have better skills in home-building than my intellectual friend, the recipients of this generosity would get better quality housing.
His response - it wouldn't be the same, I feel so much better while working on the homes that I know will help the poor. He also enjoys the camaraderie of working with other like-minded people, for a noble cause.
Question: Is he being selfish?
Certainly, he has a right to do whatever he wants with his time (and I wouldn't dream of abrogating that right). But isn't this a serious misallocation of resources - a common complaint that conservatives make against socialism?