[DAVES]

Originally Posted by fdthird

Goodbye Middle Class. I fear for our grandkids!

Perhaps this format. What will be. What should be. In one line-HUH? FEAR produces nothing. Success. Strange concept to TOO MANY. Some expect demand others give them-grandma? Others simply refuse to fail. The streets ARE lined with gold. You just need to see it and pick it up. Black cow a better quality manure. Poop with it's own jingle. Safe bet they are doing well

The Villages? No shortage of OPINIONS. Difference someone DID IT.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by MrLonzo

There's no abuse if the employee agrees to the wage. Some employees are willing to work for peanuts to get the training, experience, discipline, and the dignity of having a job. I was one of those people when I was younger.

As far as 'living wage', this society has it backwards. The government shouldn't be compelling a wage that fits the employee's lifestyle. It's up to the employee to adjust their lifestyle to their wage.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

The market is free to pay more than minimum wage now yet we still have minimum wage jobs. Is there really any doubt that if the minimum wage was reduced or eliminated that those jobs would also see a decrease in wages?

No. That's the whole point: They are artificially high.

If the minimum wage is barely enough to keep one above the poverty line then how much lower should a free (and arguably predatory) market be allowed to set it?

There should be NO lower limit. That's the definition of FREE market.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I have been in situations where I have “willingly” and “voluntarily” accepted conditions of employment because eating was more important than standing on principle.

Exactly. Funny how that works.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

At $100/hour I could afford .....

Pay me more, and I'll have more to spend.

Fallacy. The cost of EVERYTHING will go up, and so you will be able to afford roughly the same as you do now.

Everyone wins.

Fallacy. No one wins. In fact, many people whose retirement money is now worth way less and have reduced purchasing power actually lose.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by lpkruege1

Agreed. Look at CA. More people lost their jobs due to automation and their employers going out of business. How did raising the minimum wage to ridiculous level help them? If $20 is good, why not make it $100? $1000? We all know the answer.

Basic economics that sadly, not everyone understands. There are always UNINTEDED CONSEQUENCES.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Pugchief

No. That's the whole point: They are artificially high.



There should be NO lower limit. That's the definition of FREE market.

Or the definition of exploitation. There was a reason for the govt to set a minimum wage… human nature has not gotten better in all that time

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by sowtime444

For "the markets should decide" people who think a minimum wage is bad - how do you prevent people from being exploited?

How is it exploitation for a person to willingly accept employment for a wage they agree to? If the pays is too low, don't take the job. If no one takes the job, the employer will offer more.

During Covid, help was hard to find, so employers offered more than usual for workers. Workers who liked their job told their boss they wanted salary to match new offers or they would leave. Maybe 20% more. Is the employee exploiting the employer? Should that be allowed? Evil small business owners bad, overpaid unskilled labor good? Sigh

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Joecooool418

The lack of empathy from my fellow Villagers here is appalling. You got yours, make sure you pull up that ladder.

Yes, I'm sure no one here who is successful ever worked a lousy minimum wage job. /sarc

I also find it absurd that some of you think that the reason prices are going up is because that guy at the bottom is making $15 an hour, not the CEO making $20M a year.

Are CEOs overpaid? Their salary is set by market forces and competition, so it could be argued that they are paid what they are worth. Is a quarterback more valuable than a CEO? Who gets to decide? (Hint: the market)

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by DAVES

A shock to MANY. Life is not FAIR. You do not choose the cards you are dealt-you choose how you play them. Teasing a little- How you play them. Unfair, I can't play the guitar. I do recall a regular panhandler on the New York City Subways. He had a saxophone and was terrible. He had a sign TIP ME and I will leave. HUM did he do better than you?

Unfair advantage? Having been poor I appreciate what I have.

I averaged $10/hour back in 1983. I was pretty good. I didn't need a sign. People were smart enough to know that an open guitar case in front of someone playing guitar meant that person accepted donations.