Whenever I post about workers making fair wages (which is a lot), there is always at least 1 guy saying some people don't "deserve" it, based on a job title, experience, or some other excuse.

I always wonder: what is it about people making a living wage that offends some people?

— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) August 25, 2020

Investment in a hierarchy. If a “lowly” and “unskilled” barista or janitor makes as much or more than they do, then that devalues them (in their eyes), and destroys their putative status. They also object to someone getting something “for free” which in American eyes is worse than death itself. The thought that anyone, anywhere might get something they don’t “deserve” haunts American nightmares more than Jason, Freddie Krueger and Slender Man combined.