 In the American colonies in the 1700s, pineapples were reserved as gold, or very close. Imported from the Caribbean islands, pineapples that arrived in America were very expensive. One pineapple could cost as much as $8,000 in today's currency. You heard that correctly, $8,000 for a pineapple. Because pineapples were that expensive, the only people who ate it was the extremely wealthy individuals. Fast forward to today. Today, as we make this video, one pineapple in my city costs less than a dollar. What happened? How could the same thing that cost $8,000 in the 18th century now cost less than $1? I'll explain what happened as I use this story to share with you the reason why your employer isn't paying you enough money. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe so that you won't miss other interesting videos like this. Now, why does your employer underpay you? Why does he give you little money when he makes millions? Well, the reason why your employer underpays you is that he believes you can be easily replaced. I'll explain this with a few analogies. Keep watching. The world where nothing is valuable. Let me start this video by explaining what most people don't know. And that's the fact that nothing in life is valuable. Do you mention gold, diamond, or oxygen? Do you think it's a big deal or make a million dollars or to be president of your country? No, diamond doesn't have any value except that it's scarce. If diamond could be found in every street of the world, would you pay a dollar to get one? Gold has no value except that it's scarce. If gold could be found in every street of the world, would you pay a dollar to have one? Oxygen, money, power, or anything you may think is important today is not important. The reason why human beings value anything is that it is scarce. No matter how important anything is, as long as it's available everywhere, it will not be valuable. If you agree with this theory, then you're about to know the reason why your employer doesn't pay you enough money. But before I explain this in some specific words, let me remind you what the first story I told you. Why Pineapple Was Gold The story I told you at the beginning of this video wasn't made up. It was a true story about pineapples. The same pineapple you eat anytime you want now. Now ask yourself, why was the same pineapple we buy for half a dollar or a dollar cost as much as $5,000 or $8,000 300 years ago? The answer to that question was simple. 300 years ago, the pineapple was as cursed then as gold is cursed today. And just the way only the rich use diamonds now, only the rich could afford pineapples then. The only difference between the pineapples some bought for $5,000 350 years ago and the one you bought yesterday for a dollar is in its scarcity. Now that I have made you see how things are valued by humans, not necessarily because of their value but because of their scarcity, let me now explain to you the reason why you may never be paid by an employer the amount you think you deserve. When Labor Is Scarce 70 to 50 years ago, according to the story I was told, in my country, if you made it to the university and graduate, then employers beg you with jobs and sometimes two or three companies fight because of you. We don't need to be a genius to understand that when three companies want you, you can get paid three times more than you deserve because of your scarce. Today, in the same country, hundred people are fighting for one job, just as you could earn three times more than you deserve when three employers fight to get you, well, I'm sorry, you're likely to earn three times less than you deserve if you would have to be one of the 30 people who qualify for a job position. It's that simple. The reason why your employer pays you less than you deserve is that he knows that he can replace you by tomorrow morning. But that's not fair. Now I've heard some people say, but that's not fair. And my response to you is, go and buy a pineapple for $1,000 or go and pay $3,000 to get the stones you could peak at the back of your home. If you can't pay $1,000 for pineapple and you won't pay $3,000 for the stone at your backyard, then you won't pay anyone you can easily replace as if he is a king. This is the truth, but I don't know how many people will take it. If you want to live a meaningful life, listen to what I'm about to say. Stop expecting human beings to behave like angels. It won't happen, because they are not. If you think that because your employer is a milloneer, he should pay you $300,000 a year, well, he won't as long as you are easily replaceable. But I'm valuable. Some employees think that they are valuable to the company they're working for. Well, pineapple is valuable too. It was valuable 300 years ago, just as it is today. The only difference is that pineapple is now very surplus. Your value is irrelevant as long as a million other people can do what you do, because how humans define value is in its scarcity. If you're not scarce, you're not valuable, period. Now, how can you be valuable? At this point in our discussion and convinced that I've been able to prove to you that the reason why your employer doesn't pay you enough is that you're not scarce. The reason why he doesn't pay you enough is that a million other people can do what you do. Why should he pay you $100,000 a year if he can employ someone else to more and more money to do your job for $30,000 a year? Now that I've proved that, the next question you want to ask is, how then can I get people to pay me as much as I deserve? The answer to that question is simple, but it's difficult to do. If you want an employer to pay you more than you deserve, strive to be more valuable than 99.9% of employees. It's that simple. When you have the skills most people don't have in your industry, you'll be able to solve the problem most people can't solve. When you're able to solve the problems 99.9% of people can solve, then your employer will cherish you more than his diamond. Not because he loves you, no he doesn't, but because he knows that you're very difficult to be replaced. I mean, this is very simple. If you work for me and I know that I can fire you today and employ a perfect replacement for you tomorrow morning, why should I bother about paying you more? But if I know that if I fire you or you're resigned today, it may take my company the next six months to find anyone who can be as good as you are, then you become a diamond to me. You can tell me it's impossible to be valuable as a diamond while working for a company because many employees all over the world are actually in those shoes. What you can tell me is that it is very difficult and I agree with you, but that's the reason why only a few people do it. It's just like being an entrepreneur. It's very difficult and most people can't do it, but that's the reason why the few people who do it and succeed at it make too much money. Being more valuable than everyone means that you have to read the books most people wouldn't read, research what most people wouldn't research about in your industry, attempt what most people wouldn't attempt. They fail more than everyone and are curious more than everyone. It could mean developing leadership skills by being a volunteer in communities or church groups. It may mean developing great communication and social skill that most people don't bother to develop. It may mean practicing than everyone. Whatever it means in your industry, the goal is to have the skills nobody has. Know what nobody knows and be able to do what nobody can. The harder it is for any company to replace you, the more money they will be willing to pay you. The easier it is for any company to replace you, the less money they will pay you. Let me leave you with the powerful words of Robert Greene. Robert Greene said and I quote, the end goal of life is to become irreplaceable If I can easily replace you, I wouldn't cherish you, neither will I pay you what you deserve.