6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.
Companies are not charities. Some companies have great benefits, some don't. Some companies are really supportive of their employees, and some aren't.
Finland tried paying every person. The program didn't last a year because they were going broke.
Minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Ever. Minimum wage was always meant to be a starting wage. It was meant for jobs where people, namely teenagers, were given the opportunity to learn skills like dependability, a good work ethic, and move on (to a higher paying job), as quickly as possible.
A local news station decided to help people struggling with their bills, not making ends meet, not surviving on a living wage. Over and over and over, each person and family they tried to help all started with the same complaint: "We've cut our expenditures to the bone! We can't cut anywhere else." I watched them cry while they said it. These people had cable and ate out several times a week and sometimes every day, including a designer coffee five days a week or Big Gulp type drink every day. They owned the latest smart phones, tablets, and computers. Their clothes were reasonably fashionable. They owned newer cars. The problem with every single one wasn't about not enough money but lousy money management skills.
Are there those who really are trying and struggling? Yes. It would be easier to help them if there weren't so many who believe they are struggling because they've allowed materialism to control them.
In an effort to "punish" the multibillion-dollar companies, you are, in fact, punishing the small companies. The small companies often cannot survive the cost increases, which drives them out of business, giving the multibillion-dollar companies less competition. In essence: A livable wage is a dream policy for multibillion-dollar companies.
Besides, if you're going to raise the minimum wage $10, why not just raise it $100 or $1000? Because $10 sounds reasonable to you isn't an answer. Believing that raising the minimum wage will solve the problem is a feel-good answer but defies logic. Raising the minimum wage raises prices. After 81 years, isn't it time we admit it doesn't work?
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