Minimum Wage

[xsg]

Today, our federal government thought best to increase minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25.  I think this is a bad idea, but, of course (because you know me...) not for the same reason that conventional conservatives think

Comments

[vechan]

i completely and totally understand the reasoning that you have set forth for not supporting a minimum wage, but the flaw that i see in your argument is that you are assuming that all employers will be motivated in a positive way towards the life, prosperity and welfare of their employees. you are not taking into account that there are employers out there who would treat their employees like shit if there were not laws on the books telling them that the couldn't do such a thing. there are employers who treat their employees like shit, but i think if you took away the minimum wage and other laws meant to protect the workers' rights, less pay and more abuse would be heaped upon a segment of the population that already gets enough put on their shoulders

[xsg]

I'm assuming that employers will be motivated to set their price competitively otherwise their employees will disappear for greener pastures (in some cases literally) or unionize. I don't think any employer should be directly motivated toward the life, prosperity, and welfare of their employees, but rather, the employees should be motivated to find work and/or demand to work in a situation where the conditions fit their needs for life, prosperity, and welfare. Employers should pay for the kind of employee they desire, and if they desire cheap, unstable labor, they'll pay very low wages. With a minimum wage, the workers who perform menial work believe that that's all their labor is worth (or, more importantly, that's all they can reasonably expect to get), so they settle for it. Remember, in pure competition, labor has a bidding price and an asking price, and in order for a transaction to occur, the bid and the ask must eventually meet. Removing a minimum wage puts the power of demanding a reasonable wage back into the hands of the

[vechan]

disjointed thoughts, because that is all that i can really do right now

Just playing devil's advocate, here, but...

[stigant]

>>If there were no minimum wage, however, employers would have to actually pay attention to what they were paying their employees instead of saying, well, this is the minimum that I'm allowed to charge and that's all you'll get from me.

1. Employers would probably systemically undercut the current minimum wage by a long shot
2. Minimum wage may help protect a segment of the population who ordinarily wouldn't unionize and thus be victimized by their employers. Removing it may lead to increased unionization and therefore increased production costs.

[chipadeedoodah]

Disclaimer: What I'm about to say is one of those statements where race/class are so completely intermixed that you can't intelligently discuss one without discussing the other, but I'm pressed for time right now so I'm going to do just that.

What you're not covering here is the significant serf/slave population we have in America, via undocumented workers. Clearly there is a large market of employees willing to work what would otherwise be minimum wage jobs, for less than minimum wage. As long as this persecuted underclass continues to be a significant force in our economy, it is safe to assume that minimum wage is necessary to keep downward pressure from destroying the quality of life in the upper-lower and middle classes.

Or, to put it another way, as a society we have decided by silent consensus that it's important to keep the white people paid more than the brown people, and the minimum wage makes sure that happens.