Quote:
Originally Posted by twinklesweep
(Post 716576)
Some "generally speaking" questions:
This is post #65 in a long thread about the minimum wage, and no one has given a moment of thought as to WHY there is a mandated minimum wage to begin with. Could it have something to do with an attempt to "legislate morality"?
Why is it that some of those who recognize themselves as "realistic" seem also to realize that they come across at the same time as "unfeeling," that somehow "realistic" sounds like a good thing whereas "unfeeling" does not?
I too owned an extraordinarily successful small business and was fortunate that when it disappeared virtually overnight to India (and let's leave "greed" out of the equation), I was of retirement age and so it was all right. Maybe that is a selfish thought on my part, but what of those younger hard-working American business owners and their hard-working American employees: Where does it leave them?
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I'm "bumping" my own post because, as this thread continues with more about entitlement and minimum wage workers not worth even that much, no one has even addressed
why the necessity for legislating a "minimum wage."
Could this suggest that there are unconscionable employers who would pit one potential worker against another to get those who would feel forced to work for no matter how little, if a minimum wage were not defined by law? Really now....
Can anyone suggest other possible scenarios, particularly from those of us who had small businesses prior to retirement? I'm sure there are others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monkei
(Post 718886)
So by just looking at the photos you were able to determine that THOSE picketing all or some of them spit in food?
Also, you are not paying 15.00 ... You are probable paying pennies on the dollar. I read somewhere that if they increased their sandwiches by 48 cents they could double the salary rate and also include full benefits. To me .48 is a savings compared to what I am paying for emergency room health care.
And, you could choose not to eat at one of the fast food places that chose to take care of their employees ... In fact it would be healthier for you not to anyway.
That leads to an ideal question. Would you pay 50 cents more for a burger at seller A who pays more than min wage and provides full benefits vs regular price for seller B who does neither?
I choose to shop at Costco because of that very reason. Somehow they pay their workers over 40,000 per year and give full benefit to both full time and part time employees while SAMs club pays less than 20,000 and cuts hours to avoid paying benefits, yet Costco made over 500m in profits last quarter. How can that be? You tell me whose employees are more of a drag on the economy?
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We were all brought up with different values. And some of us rejected the values with which we were brought up. My parents would spin in their graves if I were ever to do such a thing. I was brought up to serve; some might find this laughable—and that's okay. It reflects on those laughing, not on me.
As a consequence, in a breath I would
happily spend 50 cents more for a burger knowing that employees of that business were respected enough by the fair shake their employers were giving them. My experience is that employees express their gratitude for an extra day off with pay to handle a family crisis or for a Christmas bonus that reflects not only the success of the business that year but also that they are much of the basis for that success.
Their gratitude came from
my attitude and only indirectly from my pocket! Confusing? Not to those who understand!
Some would say that the burger would cost too much. I would say that I can choose to prioritize, for example, having one less burger a month to be able to buy burgers the rest of the time that result in a decent wage for the workers of that business. If we support businesses like that, then employees recognize their value from outside the company itself; they already recognize it from within by the willingness of their employers to forgo some profit in support of them.
This is what I mean by "attitude." (And as I said in my original post, let's leave "greed" out of the equation....)
And I wonder if some would object to this as some kind of socialistic experiment (imagine paying a decent wage AND providing benefits!?) and refuse to patronize an establishment like this.... I don't know that this might be the case, but anything is possible.
I too shop Costco; and I too would be spinning in my grave in advance, so to speak, should I set foot in Sam's Club. (If I were a wagering person, I would bet that Sam Walton is spinning in
his grave!) The only time I shop at Walmart is when what I need is simply not available anywhere else, and even then I feel uncomfortable. "But things are so much cheaper at Walmart!" I'm told. Yes, I guess they are, and so what? In reality we all have a price, sometimes measurable in dollars and cents—and at other times measured in sense without the dollars....