Againsheila
Gold Member
- Thread starter
- #81
First, you are probably right. The minimum wage is probably going to be raised. To add to your reasons:
Part of the problem starts with the fact that we have a minimum wage at all. The idea of the minimum wage has infected people and businesses alike. The idea of a minimum wage tells businesses that they are justified in paying that low of a wage because it is the minimum wage. The idea of a minimum wage tells people that a business is justified in paying that wage because it is the minimum wage. People (especially low or no skill workers) lose leverage to negotiate their wage with the company because the company can just point to the minimum wage and say, "I'm allowed to pay that."
So, I'd say that the minimum wage doesn't only artificially raise wages, it actually keeps them lower over time.
Second, with regards to the increase rising up the pay scale. I was discussing that very point with some left leaning folk who came up with a very ironic argument against it. Their argument was essentially, "You wouldn't have to raise the other wages just because the minimum wage increased. If the people who were higher before don't like it they can just shut up about it or quit and find another job." It was ironic because virtually the same argument had been used by the other side about minimum wage workers. The only difference was one side was saying it about workers who had already worked their way up a pay scale and the other was saying it about workers who hadn't.
This is the part that concerns me. Are they really thinking that, or has this issue just not occurred to them?
I'm still hoping to get a clear and civil response.
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It really really is concerning. You get the general feeling that people who support the "living wage" argument fall into two groups: those who haven't thought about it much beyond the emotional or superficial, and those who know it won't really help anything but want to use it as a political tool to get themselves or their "side" re-elected.
Like you said, I could be wrong. Maybe someone really has thought it through and has some concrete reasoning for why it won't cause any problems. I just haven't heard them yet.
That's because you refuse to listen. Did you watch the video in the OP?