Just like most issues over the last couple years, we're still talking about the minimum wage. I feel compelled to write another post on this, because I sincerely believe it is one of our most pressing issues, and an issue, which if solved correctly, could, for all intents and purposes, turn this country around.
Bold claim? Let me explain why it's not so bold.
I've already mentioned in previous wage-themed posts how the educational system is abysmal, how CEOs are paid way too much, and how Corporate America needs to pay their con-flab taxes. I've even gone as far as mentioning economical statistics (cause, ya know, mathematics is kind of a big deal when it comes to making such a drastic decision as raising the minimum wage).
What I have not talked about is how the $15 minimum wage would logically work. So I will attempt to throw some logic at you in the event math and other actual problems in this country didn't yet work.
Something that not a lot of people seem to be talking about is accountability. For example: Why aren't CEOs being held accountable for lengthening the wage gap? This is a good starting-point question, but let's go a little further and start talking about the workers who would benefit from this increase.
For those of you out there who are on the fence or adamantly against the minimum wage increase, lend me your ears (eyes) for a moment. I have seen all of those adamantly against the wage increase say things like, "These workers should be held accountable! They need to work harder!" Sure, ok, fine. That's your opinion. I think you're wrong, since I've seen people with multiple jobs trying to scrape by and it sometimes still not being enough, but that's not the point. Let's dissect, if you will, the aforementioned quote.
"The workers should be held accountable." Let's stop there.
Here's where things get interesting.
Let's say that the federal minimum wage is increased to $15/hr. Without this increase, we currently have homeless people littering the streets. We have people living out of their cars. We have people struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table for their families. I won't speak for any of you, but my general reaction to someone who is this unfortunate is something along the lines of, "Wow, it's a shame that this country is letting this happen." I am consciously holding the country accountable for the millions of homeless people. (Especially homeless people that are Vets. That is, without a doubt, a systematic error. As Bernie Sanders has proclaimed time and time again, if we have the money to send these people to war, then we better have the money to take care of them when they get home. I digress...) I'm also holding the country accountable for allowing corporations to dictate how people should or should not live. For those of you unaware, we do not live in a democracy right now--something that Bernie Sanders is fighting so damn hard to win back--we currently live in an oligarchy. The reason for that is because the wealthy are so much wealthier than the poor that the poor hardly get a say in anything. If we continue to allow, as a country, corporations to have a low effective tax rate, CEOs to have higher and higher pay days, etc. then we are doomed.
If we decide that a $15/hr minimum wage is acceptable, then guess where all the accountability goes? It goes to the workers. That means it's exceedingly harder to feel bad for someone who is homeless. If you're someone who wants the workers to be accountable for their position--like actually accountable--then give them the tools to be held accountable. Yes, the skeptical part of me knows that there are people who gamble their lives away. Those people, dare I say, sorta deserve to be homeless if they get themselves in that position. Their lack of self control drove them into poverty.
Without realizing it, if the minimum wage is increased to $15/hr, we indirectly make every worker accountable. By providing them the necessary means to live, only they can screw it up.
Currently, the wage gap is so ridiculous that the wealthy are literally screwing up people's lives without really realizing it. I know some have realized this, and most just kinda shrugged their shoulders and said, "Tough shit. But hey, don't make me pay my employees more money, because that would make my life 'difficult.'" One Seattle CEO, however, did the exact opposite. Deducted his pay and, at minimum, pays all of his employees $70,000 per year. Which by the way, is a lot more than $15/hr. He actually cared about his employees happiness so much, that he researched that $70 to $75K wage is when people are the happiest in their lives. Talk about someone that makes sense. Hard work plus empathy equals success. Now, is this the perfect solution? No. It borders on communistic. If every company everywhere did the exact same thing, then it could cause more problems than solutions. That said, it's a great starting point. What the CEO did allows us to figure out how and why it works statistically/mathematically. His business is one of the first of its kind, so there's a lot to learn from it.*
To conclude, if you're against the raising of the minimum wage, but want workers to be held accountable for a life that is cornered between student debt and jobs without a living wage, then, I'm sorry, you just don't make any sense. If you want workers held accountable, give them a wage that holds them accountable.
A living one.
- PatInTheHat
* The company, if you're interested, is called Gravity Payments, and the CEO's name is Dan Price
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