Michael Dirda Quotes

I must say that I do wrestle with the amount of money I make, but at the end of the day what am I gonna say? I took less money so Rupert Murdoch could have more?

People who work make the world live better and to reward these people well is normal. Yet they are not the people who are the wealthiest.

Unless you’re at the very top, you need a more equitable economy.

Income inequity has to be addressed.

It's morally wrong, and economically self-defeating, that so much wealth flows upwards towards the richest of Americans, while millions work full time but still can't provide for their families.

People who go to work every day and perform the services essential to keeping our economy functioning deserve to live above the poverty level.

Money creates a power relationship between the payer and the payee.

Our main task is not to see that people of great wealth add to it, but that those without much money have a greater chance to earn some.

There’s just too much money in the hands of too few.

A teacher works a lot harder than I do and her work is far more important, but she will never make the money that I do.

I don't think we can have democracies that work where most of the people are not benefiting economically, where most of the people are worried about their job security.

Being underpaid once shouldn't condemn you to a lifetime of inequality.

What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society.

It seems to be that more and more people are asking you to work for nothing on films, and that's unfortunate because you have to make a living. On the other hand, I don't do a better job because I get paid a lot of money. I'm never like, 'I'm not going to work as hard because I'm not getting paid as much.'

Average working people need more fresh starts. Big corporations, banks, and Donald Trump need fewer.

You destroy the initiative of the working people if they don't feel they have a fighting chance to be a part of the American Dream.

Once again, the Republicans in the Senate have rejected an increase in the minimum wage. They support tax breaks for multi-millionaires, but they oppose helping the working poor to earn a decent income.

I was making $50 a week as a house model at Christian Dior for nine months before I learned that photographic models made $50 an hour!

Equal pay isn't just a women's issue; when women get equal pay, their family incomes rise and the whole family benefits.

It would be great if firefighters across the country had the guarantee that they would be making enough money to support their family right from the get-go, but that's not the case.

No person can maximize the American Dream on the minimum wage.

It's hard to make a living in this business. Unions aren't as strong as they used to be. For a journeyman actor - someone who doesn't have a famous name but has consistent work in theater or film or TV - it has become harder to get through, harder to raise a family.

Today a minimum wage earner has to work a day and a half just to pay for a full tank of gas. That is simply shameful.

There are some people who have had no pay rises for a very long time, and, working in highly skilled and highly responsible roles and in the health services and education, they deserve to be properly remunerated.

I don't know of a Democrat - whether they're a conservative, a centrist or a liberal Democrat - that doesn't think that it's important to have quality jobs that pay decent wages so that families can support themselves, so that they can have the dignity of being able to afford health care, put money aside for pension, buy a home.