Would the World Really Collapse If We All Got Paid Enough?
A voice-forward response to the fear that keeps working artists, educators, and so many others stuck.
There’s a fear running silently beneath most conversations about money…
It’s not just about the fear of not having enough; it’s also the fear that wanting more might ruin something.
Your community.
Your credibility.
Your character.
We’ve all heard the voices:
“If everyone got paid what they wanted, the world would fall apart.”
“Not everyone can make six figures. Who would clean the floors?”
“Be realistic. Be grateful. Be humble.”
But what if those were the wrong questions?
What if the world wouldn’t collapse?
What if it would correct for the better?
We confuse functioning with fairness
Most of us were trained in systems—religious, educational, artistic—that ran on devotion and endurance, not reward.
We were told the honor was in showing up. The sacrifice. The obedience.
And when we weren’t paid enough?
We were told to budget, not ask.
To shrink, not shift.
To “GeT a ReAl JoB!” and work harder, but not smarter, not louder, and definitely not more lucratively.
The result? A culture full of under-earning creatives, teachers, service-driven leaders and so many others trying to look grateful while quietly wondering why it still hurts.
Hence, I wrote my previous pieces regarding pay at churches and elsewhere.
But here’s what I want to ask now:
Would the world really fall apart if we all got paid enough?
OR would something more powerful fall apart?
Like the illusion that worth and wealth have to be separate?
Work wouldn’t disappear; exploitation might.
Choirs would still sing. But more singers would be compensated—well.
Students would still learn. But more teachers would have more agency, capacity, and possibly additional revenue models.
Coffee shops would still open. But the baristas would be equity-holding co-owners.
We wouldn’t stop working.
We’d stop accepting starvation disguised as service.
We’d stop confusing commitment with compliance.
Would the ultra wealthy really go broke? Or would they just lose control?
How many multi-millionaires and billionaires would really need to suddenly start going to the thrift stores, apply for food stamps, or have GoFundMes to stay alive and housed if everyone could earn enough to thrive?
I don’t know any. They wouldn’t necessarily feel it economically as much as they’d really feel it structurally and symbolically.
Because if artists, educators, and entrepreneurs stopped undercharging…
If working-class professionals stopped normalizing burnout…
If more forms of work stopped being discounted just because it feeds the soul…
The top 1% would no longer be able to pretend they and their agendas are the only things worth investing in.
That’s what they fear. Not collapse.
Equality.
And here’s the painful truth:
The people suffering most from scarcity aren’t just the ones at the very bottom.
They’re the ones who’ve been trained by curated media sources and other echo chambers to protect and advocate for the people or the agendas of their “side” of the top.
They’re the ones who repeat the rules louder than the ones who wrote them:
“Don’t get greedy.”
“That’s just how it works.”
“You should read the fine print.”
“You should check your privilege.”
“You should do what the Lord would do.”
“You should be grateful just to have this job.”
Whether its asking to get paid more, or negotiating terms of a contract, I’ve literally been told some rendition of all the above more than you want to know!
But I’ve also come to realize it’s not that they’re all inherently bad people. Some are just entranced.
They’ve been sold a version of virtue that keeps them tethered to systems that will never pay them enough to breathe, let alone build.
That’s the real indoctrination:
Compliance passed off as ethics. Scarcity dressed up as stewardship.
The fear is circulation more than recession.
If we all could earn enough to thrive:
We’d stop asking “Can I afford to rest?” We’d start asking, “What am I here to create?”
We’d stop selling our time and start structuring our value.
We’d stop playing small to survive and start playing precisely to scale on our terms.
And yes, it would be disruptive.
Companies that deserve to go out of business would rightfully go out of business—or would go through serious and lasting leadership and structural changes.
Some roles would inevitably change. Some systems would fall. Some job titles would dissolve. Some franchise owners might have to scale back their vacations and help out.
But we could also reform the silent contracts we never agreed to:
“Because I chose a calling, I must always accept less.”
“Because I care, I don’t need to earn.”
“Because I’m not doing it for the money… it’s okay if I have none.”
No.
Not anymore.
Income congruence isn’t indulgent. It’s infrastructure.
When you build a voice-aligned income system that holds, especially as an artist, educator, or service-driven professional, you’re not just helping yourself.
You’re proving that purpose and prosperity aren’t opposites.
You’re not hurting or disrupting the economy.
You’re revealing what a better economy could look like.
And if the world can’t hold that?
Then maybe it was never meant to.
AND LET’S BE CLEAR:
This isn’t anti-capitalism.
It’s capitalism at its most honest—where value is earned through contribution, not coercion.
Where surplus is built through alignment, not extraction.
Where freedom isn’t a perk for the few, but the outcome of a structurally sound income system.
This isn’t redistribution by force.
It’s self-resourced redesign.
I’m not asking for a bigger slice of a fixed pie.
I’m reminding you that we can plant more trees. We can grow more apples. We can bake more pies.
Because money isn’t limited—only the way we’ve been mostly taught to earn it is.
It’s not a scarce commodity to be hoarded or preserved—that’s time!
Money or its equivalent is created through value, through trust, and through participation.
And that means as long as we’re willing to contribute, to create, to lead—
There is always more where that came from.
So the real question isn’t: “Will there be enough?”
The real question is:
“Will you allow yourself to participate in enoughness?”
Not by waiting for permission.
Not by waiting for a better patron, a bigger grant, or a policy change.
Not by waiting for someone else to declare your voice, your work, or your contribution worthy enough.
But by recognizing how value isn’t just something you deliver on a stage, a canvas, a classroom, or a call.
It’s something you structure into existence—by how you build, protect, and price your work.
Because the people most committed to thriving in a new economy—the ones willing to build congruently instead of complying blindly—aren't selfish.
They’re strategic.
They’re resilient.
They’re creators of a new foundation.
One where:
Excellence is rewarded without exploitation.
Creativity is honored without compliance theater.
Leadership is grown through genuine earning integrity, not granted by gatekeepers.
Art, education, service, and innovation are valued as vital infrastructure—not treated as luxuries.
The old structures rely on you questioning yourself.
The new ones require you to question them.
And when you do, and when you calibrate your income to your true contribution, not just your conditioned compliance, you don’t just earn more.
You help prove a better economy is possible.
One where thriving isn’t the exception.
It’s the new minimum standard.
So would the world fall apart if we all got paid enough?
My prediction: NO!
It would finally begin to heal.
And we would finally begin to build.
Thanks for reading!
PS - For the entrepreneurs ready to make this summer be the summer they reach their next level in earning with integrity, my next group cohort starts May 15. It’s not too late to enroll. DM me if you have any questions or need any help.