Quote:
Originally posted by papermachesatan
When you're an unskilled laborer in a job market that is saturated with employees, you can't just "go find another job" if your employer isn't paying much. Minimum wage is an attempt to at least insure a somewhat decent standard of living for all employed workers. You're suggesting we okay sweat shops.
Additionally, what you suggest would put a even larger burden on our welfare system because it would put more people on foodstamps, etc.
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Actually, I'm not suggesting that we ok sweatshops, just that people get paid what they are worth. I am an unskilled worker in a market saturated with employees, and I don't need to find a different job, because I have found one that pays very well. Your assertion that it is an attempt to ensure a somewhat decent standard of living is a joke. Do some research, the minimum wage is the very least you can pay a worker, because it is almost always used for shiftless, lazy, transient workers who aren't worth half of it. Think about it the next time you see some moron employee leaning against a shelf at Wal-Mart, how much would you want to pay him? Only 2% of working adults earn the minimum wage in the United States. Total, out of all the adults in the country, not just head's of households. That means the single guy living in a small town where you can get an apartment for a few hundred bucks is part of that 2%. When politicians say that "you can't raise a family on minimum wage," it is pointless, because no one tries to. It is a trick to get votes from stupid people. When the minimum wage goes up, so do prices, so it is a wash for those making minimum wage. Everyone else who makes more than MW gets screwed because they lose buying power. Also, the unemployment rate always goes up when the MW goes up, so actually the MW places an even larger burden on our welfare system because more people are on foodstamps, etc. Produce for me an economist that thinks that the MW is a good idea and then I will agree with it. The bottom line is that employment is just like any other good or service, subject to the laws of supply and demand. When the government mucks around with business, things go horribly wrong. I don't have the time or room to properly debate this here, but if you really want to learn anything about this topic instead of just spewing rhetoric, email me and I'll send you some studies on the subject.