The Great Misconception
One of the most common misconceptions we have today, is that people are paid for the work they do. If two people work at McDonalds and one obviously works much harder than the other isn't it unjust of them to both make minimum wage? (While I think minimum wage policies are an issue in and of themselves I won't discuss them here). So often we think of prices as the just rewards for our work. Quite frankly, they aren't.
If pay isn't for the work we do, then what is it for?
Why do CEOs get paid tens of millions for the work they do? And why do Actors and Actresses get paid hundreds of millions? Obviously there are many people who are paid minimum wage and yet are arguably working much harder. But let me ask a simple question.
Why are well known actors chosen to play in movies over no-name actors?
Put simply, actors are paid based on the amount of money they bring in. Most studios choose actors for movies based on how much money they will bring in. For example, "Beauty and the Beast" wouldn't have made $350 Million at the global box office had Emma Watson been out of the movie. If they'd taken a less well known actress, she may have played the role just as well, but she wouldn't have brought in the same kind of money. Emma Watson's value as an actress is what she's been paid for, not necessarily her skill, though that is part of what got her to the place she's in today.
On the other hand, movies which already have large large fan bases and are previously well established, are allowed to get away with less popular actors and still make large sums of money because of the franchise name. An example of this would be the more recent Star Wars movies. Daisy Ridley wasn't really one of the big names out there when she was cast for the role of Rey in The Force Awakens. In this case it helped the film since viewers could see Ridley as the character and not just as the actress playing a role.
Most movies don't have this advantage however, so they pick actors and actresses to give their movies a boost. If we claim this is unjust we are essentially condemning people for the way they spend their money. It's like saying "how dare you pay money to see an actor you know well and are certain will perform well?" Of course no one means to say it, but to claim the amount of money those actors make is somehow unjust, is to condemn the amount of money that is earned for the studio by that actor. Everyone who goes to see the movie has made a choice about seeing that movie and about spending their money on said movie. People have a right to do what they will with the money they have assuming it's not illegal... and let's be real no one really thinks movies should be illegal.
The True Meaning of Pay
People often think of CEOs as greedy businessmen who are undeserving of the the salaries they earn. There are two things we often fail to realize in this regard. First is that the greed of a CEO has nothing to do with the amount the CEO is paid. Simply because a CEO wishes to be paid a certain amount doesn't mean he will be hired for that amount. A CEO doesn't choose his/her own salary (perhaps contrary to popular belief).
But why then, are people willing to pay CEOs so much for doing what seems like very little work?
The answer is simple. The average pay of a CEO is around 10 million dollars a year. The amount of money that a good CEO can save for a company by managing things well and efficiently is often between 90=120 million dollars. In other words, the amount a CEO is paid is actually a fraction of the money they save for the company. The value of one's services is not always equal to the amount of effort they put into their work. A person is only ever paid based on the value of their service to their employer.
A good CEO can save a company millions and a good actor/actress can do the same for a studio. Quite frankly, your average waiter/waitress at a diner isn't saving the company millions. They are paid based on the benefits they provide with the service they provide.
A man can spend his whole life building typewriters. He may work 12 hours a day 6 days a week, and he may never be paid a dime. That's because the product he makes is virtually useless to the average person. They simply don't need typewriters. To think that man ought to be paid for his work is to say people ought to buy his typewriters. Work doesn't translate to value, even though we often think this way. A person can only earn what people are willing to pay for their product or service.
This being said, there is still value in working hard, we simply must realize that not all work is equally worthwhile. One benefit of working at a minimum wage job is the experience it provides. Experience is something that serves to increase one's human capital. In other words it makes your work more valuable. Don't disregard the value of a minimum wage job, just don't expect your pay to be in the form of cash. A majority of the pay gained in a minimum wage job will be in the form of experience as a general rule. For the record, having work experience can be incredibly valuable and can make the work you do that much more valuable in the long run.
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