$15 Dollar per hour minimum wage your Thoughts?

[MehGuy]

The last will be first, and the first will be last.

 

[MehGuy]

Remember when Lot went to hell and saw all those rich people?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Remember when Lot went to hell and saw all those rich people?

Lot?

 

[MehGuy]

Yeah Lot. From the Old Testament.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Yeah Lot. From the Old Testament.

I can't recall any story about Lot going to hell. Do you mean his time in Sodom?

 

[MehGuy]

No after that. When he returned to the dust.

 

[MoreCoffee]

No after that. When he returned to the dust.

You'll need to give a reference and a quote because I simply do not know of any passage in holy scripture that speaks of Lot being in hell and seeing any people there.

 

[MehGuy]

All I remember is my pastor doing a 6 part series on the story.

I don't know the verses.

 

[MoreCoffee]

All I remember is my pastor doing a 6 part series on the story.

I don't know the verses.

Maybe he was preaching from some work of pious fiction like The Pilgrim's Progress?

 

[MehGuy]

He said it was a bible story.

I always found it to be the most important Bible story. It warns people about greed and how hoarding money is a great evil.

 

[historyincognito]

I don't understand what you saying.

 

[SnowyMacie]

If wage increase solves poverty. Why is there any left? This isn't the first occurrence of such a thing.

We can get rid of absolute poverty and people not being able to have their basic needs met, but the only way to get rid of relative poverty is to have everyone make the same amount. It's like saying "we want everyone to be above average", that doesn't work. Sure, hypothetically the median income in the U.S. could be $100,000, but in order for that median to exist there has to be people at the bottom, that's how just how numbers work.

 

[sundewgrower]

When I was living in Lafayette, CA, I paid 1,300/month rent but I was earning $15,000/month after tax so the cost was not too bad and I had plenty of money to spend on what I wanted rather than on the necessities of life. That translates to about $90/hour after tax. But even so, a CEO gets well over ten times that much and some get 100 times more. Can anybody's work be worth that much while the people who make the electricity grid work and who grow the food we eat get $15/hour and less?

I do think some jobs are grossly undervalued and need some attention. But sometimes stability outweighs a larger paycheck perhaps?
I "work" (rest is R&D plus eventual college) 40-60 hours a month, but can pull in a few grand in net.
But it's very volatile, I own machinery, market, buy supplies in thousand or two thousand increments, and stuff.
So is that $20 an hour job better? I run on the premise I can grow, and work full time but I don't think I'd want to bank a family on what I have now that's for sure.

 

[Near]

I'm currently making $11 an hour, 40hrs a week. I drive a stand-up forklift, and I'm constantly on my feet. I'm currently in a program that will switch me over from a contracted-temp worker to a full-time worker plus a promotion to leadership making $15 an hr.

I've heard that although the min. wage will increase... the increase to $15 an hr will happen over the next 5 years. Is that going to really help?

If you're making $11 an hour right now, do you really want to wait 5 years to stay at minimum wage anyways?

I would rather think of increasing my skillset, and furthering my education rather than wait that long...

Really though, I don't think it's a raise in the minimum wage we want, we want our own raises. What we want is to be above the minimum wage, for ourselves, so we can feed our own families, and further our own goals.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I do think some jobs are grossly undervalued and need some attention. But sometimes stability outweighs a larger paycheck perhaps?
I "work" (rest is R&D plus eventual college) 40-60 hours a month, but can pull in a few grand in net.
But it's very volatile, I own machinery, market, buy supplies in thousand or two thousand increments, and stuff.
So is that $20 an hour job better? I run on the premise I can grow, and work full time but I don't think I'd want to bank a family on what I have now that's for sure.

But these massive pay differences do not lead to stability; even in the middle ages the serfs would occasionally rise in revolt and there'd be blood on the ground. The nobles needed to keep private armies to be safe from their serfs and from other nobles. Societies with gross inequalities are not stable.

What's happened to the USA. When I was a child my father was working as either an architect or a carpenter depending on the availability of work and he was paid handsomely in both roles but now it seems that gardeners, house keepers, cleaners, shop attendants, carpenters and a host of other trades get rather poor pay compared to the past (allowing for inflation). The USA average wage is rather low compared to the same measure in Australia. Is the USA trying to become a poor country for the vast majority of its citizenry or is there still an "American dream" that includes a good living for everybody?

 

[MoreCoffee]

I do think some jobs are grossly undervalued and need some attention. But sometimes stability outweighs a larger paycheck perhaps?
I "work" (rest is R&D plus eventual college) 40-60 hours a month, but can pull in a few grand in net.
But it's very volatile, I own machinery, market, buy supplies in thousand or two thousand increments, and stuff.
So is that $20 an hour job better? I run on the premise I can grow, and work full time but I don't think I'd want to bank a family on what I have now that's for sure.

But these massive pay differences do not lead to stability; even in the middle ages the serfs would occasionally rise in revolt and there'd be blood on the ground. The nobles needed to keep private armies to be safe from their serfs and from other nobles. Societies with gross inequalities are not stable.

What's happened to the USA. When I was a child my father was working as either an architect or a carpenter depending on the availability of work and he was paid handsomely in both roles but now it seems that gardeners, house keepers, cleaners, shop attendants, carpenters and a host of other trades get rather poor pay compared to the past (allowing for inflation). The USA average wage is rather low compared to the same measure in Australia. Is the USA trying to become a poor country for the vast majority of its citizenry or is there still an "American dream" that includes a good living for everybody?

 

[MoreCoffee]

I do think some jobs are grossly undervalued and need some attention. But sometimes stability outweighs a larger paycheck perhaps?
I "work" (rest is R&D plus eventual college) 40-60 hours a month, but can pull in a few grand in net.
But it's very volatile, I own machinery, market, buy supplies in thousand or two thousand increments, and stuff.
So is that $20 an hour job better? I run on the premise I can grow, and work full time but I don't think I'd want to bank a family on what I have now that's for sure.

But these massive pay differences do not lead to stability; even in the middle ages the serfs would occasionally rise in revolt and there'd be blood on the ground. The nobles needed to keep private armies to be safe from their serfs and from other nobles. Societies with gross inequalities are not stable.

What's happened to the USA. When I was a child my father was working as either an architect or a carpenter depending on the availability of work and he was paid handsomely in both roles but now it seems that gardeners, house keepers, cleaners, shop attendants, carpenters and a host of other trades get rather poor pay compared to the past (allowing for inflation). The USA average wage is rather low compared to the same measure in Australia. Is the USA trying to become a poor country for the vast majority of its citizenry or is there still an "American dream" that includes a good living for everybody?

 

[blackribbon]

How about you try living on $600/week and see how you manage your rent, food, clothing, power, transport and other expenses?

Um...I've done it with two dependent children...it is possible...

 

[E.C.]

Come on Los Angeles a minimum wage of $15 will only make things go up. What are you thoughts?

The "problem" with mandating it to be that high is that small businesses will not be able to afford it and will shut down. The last article I read from home (WA state) about this in Seattle I believe said that over fifty small businesses are being forced to close simply because they will not be able to pay their people $15 an hour. The big guys like McDonald's, Starbucks, Costco, Burger King, etc; can afford it, but your mom and pop pho joint down the street? Gone. That bagel place that's been in the same spot for twenty years? Gone.

So, while I do in principal almost always support a raise in the minimum wage, I don't think I can support this simply because I've already heard about dozens of stores closing before the law has even come into effect. Unemployment is already rising because of it.

 

[redblue22]

if you make more money then you can afford to buy from the mom and pop shop.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Um...I've done it with two dependent children...it is possible...

And because it is possible it ought to be the norm? I do not think that would be what people in the USA would say about themselves. Paying the labour force of the USA at $15/hour while paying CEOs something between $1,000/hour $10,000/hour (or even more) is not what folk vote for when they vote for congress, the senate, and the president.