Re: Don't raise the minimum wage!!!
Alden, it has nothing to do with being motivated. They live here for the same reason I live here, it is a great place to live. The price to be paid for this great place to live is the lack of industry. So we do what we can to stay here. Perhaps I should have made that part clear, sorry about that.
It still comes back to my original post. It doesn't matter how motivated or educated you are. There are only so many good paying jobs, I don't understand why people are confused on this subject. Yes, there are lazy people out there who only want to do the bare minimum to get by, I get that. There are also people who work their butts off doing what is available to them. In case people havn't known this, it costs money to relocate. Often times the jobs that are at another location that pay more are few and far between, or the cost of living in that area offsets the increase in income. In anotherwords, people get stuck. Its easy for us to sit here and argue this point. The fact that we are here means we make enough money to enjoy the luxury of the subject matter that brought us to this site in the first place. You just go and tell a single mother of three to just "get off your butt and relocate, and everything will be just dandy". It does not work that way.
OB, I could not agree with you more. The rampant breeding going on in this country, especially among the poor and working poor is disgraceful. The money they spend on beer and cigarettes could pay for birth control. I do concede that there is a significant percentage of the populace that brings their problems on themselves. They lack the responsibility to realized that kids cost money. I have always found it interesting that the more intelligent and economically stable a couple is, the less kids they push out.
Aquaman brings up a valid point. Just what is the minimum standard of living. That it relatively easy. A safe home that provides adequate room for its occupants. Reliable transportation to and from work, whether it be the subway in New Work or a ten year old car in Wyoming. Adequate food and cloths. Is it the job of the guvment to provide this base? No. It is up to the individual. On that same token, if a person decides to operate a business where he is employing other people, it is his responsibility to pay a fair wage for the work provided.
As an employer, you affect the lives of those who work for you. They are not pieces of equipment that are turned off at the end of the day, they are people who depend on you to do your job. Employers forget that they need those employees as much as the employees need them. People are not expendable. It costs companies a ton of cash to keep retraining people. If they would just pay better, they would not lose as much money, and the smart employers know this. The greedy bottom-liners don't see this.
I can also see Customs point. If I was making X amount of money, and the minimum wage brought the earnings of a new employee up to my level, I would want more money as well. Thats a hard one to get around, because it could cause the paradox of raising prices to compensate. This comes back to the smart employer. He should look at his business and see if it is running efficiently. Reduce waste, raise the wages with the extra cash. Train the employees better. Make them be more productive. There are ways to do this without jacking prices. I have friends who own business, they did this, and it has worked. Prices were not jacked. They cut the slackers loose, rasied wages, and hired those who could do the job better.
Which brings us right back to the unskilled laborer. How much is he really worth? This can get as mind-numbing as time travel....
