Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - The Minimum Wage Argument: Is it too Low?

pan6467 · 01-31-2005, 09:37 PM

Ok, with Wal*Mart they start everyone at $7.00. Raises are at most 25 cents in a year and department heads still make less than $9 hr. Store GM's make more but also rely heavily on bonuses.

Kroger's starts people at $6.50 part time (barely 20 hours) with raises and promotions very uncommon. What Kroger's is doing in Mansfield, Ohio and I am sure it is company wide, is bringing in high school kids because they can't be unionized and that's it.

By paying these wages they cut their overhead in pay and can keep prices dow. I understand that. However, the less you pay the less people can buy the more prices have to go down, yet overhead by nature goes up (merchandise, gas, electric, taxes, etc). DEFLATION is just as damaging to an economy as inflation.

What we have done is forced companies to cut the only way they can without raising prices, that is cutting pay and benefits. But that forces the workforce to continue to find cheaper prices and go deeper into debt.

Around here, Dollar General, Value City, Big Lots are starting to pull business away from Wal*Mart. Again, DEFLATION in prices while overhead goes up is going to destroy what companies are out there.

Look how Proctor and Gamble bought Gillette, or how Philip Morris owns Kraft, Nabisco, Miller Brewing, and so on. These mergers that started in the 80's and are just going wild are horrendous for the economy because the companies are heavily leveraged in the buyouts, the companies downsize workers and again, overhead for them keeps going up while prices are expected to stay low enough for people to buy.

I don't know how anyone can think this will last or that this is good for the populace as a whole. We need to find a way to break this cycle and get back to moving forward and having a growing economy. Factories, heavy tarriffs, HUGE education spending and the rebuilding of manufacturing maybe a band aid, but at least those quick term solutions can buy us time to prepare for long term.... which is what we should have done long ago before we got this bad.

And yes, every time there is a change in economy (from agriculture/rural - manufacturing/city) there is always a downturn, because the people and the government don't see it coming until it is too late. Or rather they see it but don't prepare for it.

If our economy grows at a rate of 1% and someone else's grows at 5%, how long will it take before they overcome us? Especially when we have massive debts (private and governmental) to these countries because we used their cheap labor. How long can we trust countries that are ruled by dictators and have very few rights for this cheap labor? Soon, these countries like Thailand, India, the Phillipines, etc will revolt. It has happened in the past and will always happen when enough workers begin to feel exploited.With Anti-US sentiment growing it could happen very soon.

01-31-2005, 09:37 PM	#28 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	Ok, with WalMart they start everyone at $7.00. Raises are at most 25 cents in a year and department heads still make less than $9 hr. Store GM's make more but also rely heavily on bonuses. Kroger's starts people at $6.50 part time (barely 20 hours) with raises and promotions very uncommon. What Kroger's is doing in Mansfield, Ohio and I am sure it is company wide, is bringing in high school kids because they can't be unionized and that's it. By paying these wages they cut their overhead in pay and can keep prices dow. I understand that. However, the less you pay the less people can buy the more prices have to go down, yet overhead by nature goes up (merchandise, gas, electric, taxes, etc). DEFLATION is just as damaging to an economy as inflation. What we have done is forced companies to cut the only way they can without raising prices, that is cutting pay and benefits. But that forces the workforce to continue to find cheaper prices and go deeper into debt. Around here, Dollar General, Value City, Big Lots are starting to pull business away from WalMart. Again, DEFLATION in prices while overhead goes up is going to destroy what companies are out there. Look how Proctor and Gamble bought Gillette, or how Philip Morris owns Kraft, Nabisco, Miller Brewing, and so on. These mergers that started in the 80's and are just going wild are horrendous for the economy because the companies are heavily leveraged in the buyouts, the companies downsize workers and again, overhead for them keeps going up while prices are expected to stay low enough for people to buy. I don't know how anyone can think this will last or that this is good for the populace as a whole. We need to find a way to break this cycle and get back to moving forward and having a growing economy. Factories, heavy tarriffs, HUGE education spending and the rebuilding of manufacturing maybe a band aid, but at least those quick term solutions can buy us time to prepare for long term.... which is what we should have done long ago before we got this bad. And yes, every time there is a change in economy (from agriculture/rural - manufacturing/city) there is always a downturn, because the people and the government don't see it coming until it is too late. Or rather they see it but don't prepare for it. If our economy grows at a rate of 1% and someone else's grows at 5%, how long will it take before they overcome us? Especially when we have massive debts (private and governmental) to these countries because we used their cheap labor. How long can we trust countries that are ruled by dictators and have very few rights for this cheap labor? Soon, these countries like Thailand, India, the Phillipines, etc will revolt. It has happened in the past and will always happen when enough workers begin to feel exploited.With Anti-US sentiment growing it could happen very soon. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"