mininmum wage in America

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handofdave H
handofdave Apr 4, 2015 17:54:22
Replying to billding68

1. The presumption that corporate America can't afford to give their lowest paid employees a substantial pay raise is a fiction. Just for example, the Walton family, who owns the WalMart chain, have a personal fortune that is equivalent to the combined wealth of every household at the bottom third of the economic ladder. That's ONE FAMILY. They can well afford to give their employees a big pay hike, but that would mean they'd have to be 'mere' millionaires, instead of multi-billionaires.

2. While obviously a burger flipper should not be paid the same as an educated professional, this meme that only teenagers staff these minimum wage jobs, or that the job market will willingly and gladly accommodate healthy wages for everyone who 'works hard' and climbs the ladder, is a lie.

Wage suppression hurts people of all ages. There are local economies all across the USA where there's nothing but minimum wage positions to be found, and families are forced to take this work or go homeless. And claiming that with a college education, everyone can escape this trap... well, that's a lie, too. There are college graduates reduced to working for these low wages. And as for even getting a college degree, these days, it's a stark situation... public financing of higher education in the USA has been gutted, and tuition and fees can run you up to a hundred thousand dollars in loans, or more. Graduates who fail to repay these loans on time do not have the ability to write them off in a bankruptcy... the privileges of such options are reserved for failing corporations. Defaulting on a student loan WILL incur wage garnishment... for life... with no guarantees of employment.

3. And finally, corporate American giants like the Koch brothers don't merely want to stifle a minimum wage raise. They want to ELIMINATE the minimum wage altogether, so that corporations can pay people even less than they do now.

The economic elite are out to create nothing less than the second gilded age, where the vast majority of individuals are mired in a hopeless grind of lifetime indebtedness to a small minority of outrageously wealthy families that can pass this wealth onto their children, creating in effect the same sort of entrenched and stratified society that America broke free of in the first place, when it became a sovereign nation.

I IanB
IanB Apr 4, 2015 21:36:12
Replying to handofdave

Post. Bravo.

B billding68
billding68 Apr 5, 2015 01:38:21
Replying to handofdave

handofdave wrote:
1. The presumption that corporate America can't afford to give their lowest paid employees a substantial pay raise is a fiction. Just for example, the Walton family, who owns the WalMart chain, have a personal fortune that is equivalent to the combined wealth of every household at the bottom third of the economic ladder. That's ONE FAMILY. They can well afford to give their employees a big pay hike, but that would mean they'd have to be 'mere' millionaires, instead of multi-billionaires.

2. While obviously a burger flipper should not be paid the same as an educated professional, this meme that only teenagers staff these minimum wage jobs, or that the job market will willingly and gladly accommodate healthy wages for everyone who 'works hard' and climbs the ladder, is a lie.

Wage suppression hurts people of all ages. There are local economies all across the USA where there's nothing but minimum wage positions to be found, and families are forced to take this work or go homeless. And claiming that with a college education, everyone can escape this trap... well, that's a lie, too. There are college graduates reduced to working for these low wages. And as for even getting a college degree, these days, it's a stark situation... public financing of higher education in the USA has been gutted, and tuition and fees can run you up to a hundred thousand dollars in loans, or more. Graduates who fail to repay these loans on time do not have the ability to write them off in a bankruptcy... the privileges of such options are reserved for failing corporations. Defaulting on a student loan WILL incur wage garnishment... for life... with no guarantees of employment.

3. And finally, corporate American giants like the Koch brothers don't merely want to stifle a minimum wage raise. They want to ELIMINATE the minimum wage altogether, so that corporations can pay people even less than they do now.

The economic elite are out to create nothing less than the second gilded age, where the vast majority of individuals are mired in a hopeless grind of lifetime indebtedness to a small minority of outrageously wealthy families that can pass this wealth onto their children, creating in effect the same sort of entrenched and stratified society that America broke free of in the first place, when it became a sovereign nation.

1. no one said they cant raise pay but should they be forced to double it?

2. a burger flipper is not a career its not meant to be regardless of the age of the person or their needs a burger flipper job can only pay so much.

3. minimum wage is not going to go away.

4. there has always been an elite group throughout history who has the majority of wealth that hasn't changed.

5. Id love to see minimum wage go up but to double it overnight is not reasonable.My first job was 1.34 hr and I think that was extremely low however it was what it was I got a better job and made more.