TruthNotBS
Gold Member
- Mar 20, 2023
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You’re grasping at straw men. I never said a 10% wage increase magically translates into a perfect 10% dip in profits; I merely pointed out that boosting worker pay by a moderate amount doesn’t “torpedo” profits or suddenly knock you out of business. That’s you twisting the argument to dodge the real issue: workers who are paid better spend more, which can grow demand and ultimately benefit most industries, Henry Ford’s example included, yes, I know he wasn’t a saint, but he obviously understood the concept of paying a wage high enough to stabilize a workforce and expand a consumer base.You’re being pedantic about the “10%” figure
What's a more accurate number than 10%? Any ideas?
raising wages doesn’t inevitably torpedo profits.
Did you see the term "torpedo" in an economics textbook?
If your overhead goes up slightly, your profit margins might shrink by roughly the same percentage,
You don't have to keep beating the drum of your ignorance. I mocked you the first time.
Henry Ford’s wage increase may not have been purely philanthropic, call it whatever you want, but it’s no secret he understood that paying decent wages helped reduce turnover, boost productivity
It wasn't philanthropic at all, and it wasn't so they could buy his cars either.
The bigger picture is that investing in worker pay tends to strengthen consumer demand, which can more than compensate over time.
Right. Investing in them. Not just boosting their wages because some politician or bureaucrat thinks it would be fair.
Todd, what a silly question! “What’s worse than starvation wages? No wages at all.” That’s a false dichotomy if there ever was one.
Not false at all.
If you can only add $10 an hour of value, earning an $8 minimum wage is
better than pricing you out of ever getting on the employment ladder at a $15 minimum wage.
You never answered.......
Should an employer pay less, the same or more than the employee adds in value?
Your fixation on “if a worker only adds $10 in value per hour, a $15 minimum wage is unsustainable” is just another way to tell people, “Know your place, accept lousy pay, or go jobless.” You’re the one ignoring the bigger reality that wages and productivity aren’t fixed numbers; the very notion of “value” is fluid and can change based on training, automation, and overall market dynamics.
Moreover, you keep assuming that capitalism is the only game in town, as if advanced automation, AI, and robotics aren’t rapidly eroding the need for wage labor, and, by extension, for a capitalist class siphoning off profits. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.” :
Once machines can handle the grunt work, what do we need so-called capitalist “owners” for? The entire premise of hiring or firing workers for a profit starts crumbling when machines replace most human labor.
Bottom line: your smug questions about “value added” conveniently leave out that the system is rigged to benefit capitalists in the first place. The public good i.e., ensuring people have decent lives, access to education and housing, and the freedom not to be bound to starvation wages, doesn’t need to bow down to your beloved “bottom line.” You can stick your "bottom line" up your ass Todd.
If capitalism can’t offer a living wage without collapse, that’s all the more reason we should ditch it. Especially in an era where technology can handle much of production, paying a decent wage or even moving beyond wage labor entirely, won’t destroy society. It’ll simply mean fewer capitalist parasites at the top claiming the lion’s share while everyone else struggles to stay afloat. Fuck the capitalists, they can all go to hell. How about that Todd?
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