When we say this, we mean something very particular: not just that it’s nice to have a lot of money but that our income is the source of information, crucial, decisive information, about our character, our intelligence, our moral fiber.

就是我們的收入代表了我們的價值。當我們說到這時，特別指的是：

In short, money is the key indicator of our worth in human and not just financial terms.

有錢不只是很好，我們的收入變成了

The more money we make, the more we deserve to exist. By extension, it feels impossible to imagine ourselves as good, decent – and still poor.

很關鍵且決定性的資訊能讓人知道我們的特質、才能及品德

But can all this really be true?

簡單來說，錢代表了我們生而為人的價值，而不僅僅是金融貨幣而已

Must we hate and deem ourselves despicable beings because our salary is not elevated?

賺得越多，越有資格生存在這世上。更進一步地說，很難想像

For an answer, we must look to economics and in particular, to the technical way that salary is determined.

我們條件很好、體面的同時很貧窮。但這些一定是對的嗎？

Here we find something striking: wages are not decided by the extent of someone’s human worth or social contribution per se.

我們一定要討厭自己，認為自己次人一等就因為薪水不夠高？

Wages are simply the result of the intensity with which certain people want a job done relative to the number of people who happen to be able to do it.

為了尋找答案，我們從經濟層面來看，特別來討論薪水的定義是甚麼

If many people can complete a task, however humanly important it might be, holding a hand on a cancer ward for example, little money will be offered for it.

我們發現了件驚人的事情：薪水不是由個人的人生價值

And if there are very few people able to do it, however trivial it might be (kicking a ball 60 metres into a goal), if there’s intense demand, salaries will be elevated.

或是對於社會的貢獻所定下的。薪水是依照資方有多大意願

Money is in fact no accurate measure of the human worth of the work in question; the determinant of wages is just the strength of demand in relation to supply.

想完成一份工作以及多少人能做到的比例所給予的

We may not be able easily to change how much people earn, but we can change how we judge earnings.

如果很多人能做的事，就算是具有人道主義的工作

This isn’t an issue of politics; it’s an issue of appreciation.

（例如在癌症病房提供幫助），也只會領到微薄的薪水

We can change how we assess what a modest wage means.

如果只有極少數人能做，再細小的事（例如 60 米進球）

We can use our imaginations to remember and hold in mind all that is not quantified in a salary – in our lives and in those of others; all the degrees of intelligence, care, dedication, empathy and creativity that may be present, undetected by the blunt aggregated marker of a wage.

有很多的需求的話，薪水自然就會提高。錢其實無法實際測量出

However tempting it might be to settle the question of the value of human beings in stark financial terms, the truth remains beautifully and redemptively more complicated.

人們在工作裡的價值；

As we must realise as soon as we’ve spent some time around a person at work and got to know what sides of their character their labours will call on through an average day.

薪水是依照市場供需所決定的。我們或許無法輕易的改變

We’ll then have no option but to reach a dauntingly complex conclusion: we are not what we earn.

人們的薪資水平，但我們可以改變大眾對於薪水的態度。這不是政治議題

We publish new, thought provoking, films every week.

這跟我們如何看待每份工作有關。我們可以改變決定合適薪資的依據

Be sure to subscribe to our channel and take a look at more of what we have to offer at the link on your screen now.

我們可以用更有創意的方法記得薪水無法量化一切