help me do my HW (whether min. wage should be raised) - Page 3

HotPants · #21 03-17-2006, 12:49 PM

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Raised to at least $10. It's hard to live off of less than that, it's nearly impossible with children. With the vast majority of the world's wealth being controlled by the vast minority of the population, there is a lot of room for give before a small raise in minimum wage would have any measured effect on employment.

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I'm surprised it took this long to hear from the special ed class. I expect weatherman and the other idiots from the politics forum to jump on this thread any second.

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America sucks

pkr2k5 · #22 03-17-2006, 12:52 PM

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Raised to at least $10. It's hard to live off of less than that, it's nearly impossible with children. With the vast majority of the world's wealth being controlled by the vast minority of the population, there is a lot of room for give before a small raise in minimum wage would have any measured effect on employment.

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I'm surprised it took this long to hear from the special ed class. I expect weatherman and the other idiots from the politics forum to jump on this thread any second.

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are you disputing the fact that the minimum wage in many states (and even more countries) is not enough money for someone to provide for themselves or their families?

ceczar · #23 03-17-2006, 01:11 PM

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are you disputing the fact that the minimum wage in many states (and even more countries) is not enough money for someone to provide for themselves or their families?

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even if this were the case, it is not a sufficient reason for a universal "living wage". many people in these minimum wage type jobs are teenagers or other part-time workers or people providing a second income for the family or someone working a few extra hours in a second job. if you mandated a wage on which a single parent could raise a family you are hurting the majority of people who work minimum-wage type jobs.

Gunny Highway · #24 03-17-2006, 01:13 PM

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Raised to at least $10. It's hard to live off of less than that, it's nearly impossible with children. With the vast majority of the world's wealth being controlled by the vast minority of the population, there is a lot of room for give before a small raise in minimum wage would have any measured effect on employment.

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I'm surprised it took this long to hear from the special ed class. I expect weatherman and the other idiots from the politics forum to jump on this thread any second.

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are you disputing the fact that the minimum wage in many states (and even more countries) is not enough money for someone to provide for themselves or their families?

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1 - Yes. I dispute this. You can live off minimum wage. You simply will not be able to live off minimum wage in the manner that you would like. If you're working a minimum wage job, then you don't deserve more because you haven't bothered to acquire any real skills and/or are not intelligent or ambitious enough to do so. If you want better for yourself and your family then prove it. Go earn it.

2 - If the only job you can get is a minimum wage job and you've started a family expecting to support them on that then you're an absolute moron.

3 - As a business owner it is not my responsibility to support your family. That is your responsibility. My responsibility is to earn a profit. You work and I pay you for that work. If you don't like what I pay you, then go someplace else. I don't lie to you. I don't cheat you. I pay you what I say I will, and you either decide to work or not. If I want loyalty from you, then I'll probably have to pay you more than the rock bottom wage that you'd be willing to work for. If there are 100 other people lined up to do your job, then I don't care if you're loyal or not.

4 - The minimum wage is immoral. If I own a business I should be able to pay people whatever I want to. If no one is willing to work for that then I'll have to raise my pay scale or go out of business, but to have the government effectively steal money out of my pocket and give it to my employees is immoral and is basically nothing more than theft. It's no different than someone robbing a convenience store because he's hungry. Just because the government has decided it's legal, doesn't change the fact that it's theft and it's immoral.

DCopper04 · #25 03-17-2006, 01:18 PM

Don't raise it. The cost of living widely varies depending on where you live. Let states and cities set their own "livable wage" standards.

DCopper04 · #26 03-17-2006, 01:22 PM

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4 - The minimum wage is immoral. If I own a business I should be able to pay people whatever I want to. If no one is willing to work for that then I'll have to raise my pay scale or go out of business, but to have the government effectively steal money out of my pocket and give it to my employees is immoral and is basically nothing more than theft. It's no different than someone robbing a convenience store because he's hungry. Just because the government has decided it's legal, doesn't change the fact that it's theft and it's immoral.

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I would dispute this. When you are starting a business, you know about the existence of the minimum wage. You know you are going to have to pay your workers x number of dollars per hour that they work. If you can't turn a profit paying that wage, then you shouldn't be in business.

HotPants · #27 03-17-2006, 01:36 PM

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If you're working a minimum wage job, then you don't deserve more because you haven't bothered to acquire any real skills and/or are not intelligent or ambitious enough to do so.

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So tell me, suppose you are very poor and of average intelligence, and you just finsihed high school. What do you do?

Gunny Highway · #28 03-17-2006, 01:38 PM

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I would dispute this. When you are starting a business, you know about the existence of the minimum wage. You know you are going to have to pay your workers x number of dollars per hour that they work. If you can't turn a profit paying that wage, then you shouldn't be in business.

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I also know about the existence of thieves that will come in my store and take things off the shelves. It doesn't make the fact that they do it right.

The point isn't whether I know I will have to pay the wage because jackbooted thugs say so, it's that I shouldn't have to.

Peca277 · #29 03-17-2006, 02:07 PM

The fact is we do have a minimum wage... however, it's pointless to set a minimum wage and then let it stagnate for 7 years. After that long the true minimum wage people are willing to work for may have increased, except that the government says it's okay to pay someone $5.15 an hour so people deal with it.

It should be raised to say $6.15 or $6.50 and then linked to inflation so it increases incrementally every year. It's the big jumps in the minimum wage every 5-10 years that really hurt businesses.

Gunny, the economy has grown tremendously over the past 7 years... since companies are making so much more money now than they were back then, why haven't they started paying these low wage workers more? I know, because the rich always want to get richer while not allowing anybody else access to the socio-economic ladder.

Shooternewt · #30 03-17-2006, 02:09 PM

Federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. How many jobs actually pay minimum wage? What would adding $1.35 an hour do?

A large majority of states already have a higher minimum wage and it has had no impact on unemployment. Look at SF, waiters make $8.25 an hour plus tips.

Increasing the minimum wage will impact a few sectors, but nothing terribly earth shattering. You might have to pay more for watermelon at Walmart, but such is life. Minimum wage should be higher than $5.15 an hour.