Fast food workers in Iowa plan a one day strike for $15 per

[Robert not Bobby]

You know I hate to be "cold hearted"...but $15 an hour for flipping burgers and not many of you speaking English, well...

I'm a little conflicted? Don't get me wrong. I want everyone to have a nice life.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jan 30, 2016 16:19:24 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Jan 30, 2016 16:11:10 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

I agree that the minimum wage needs to go up.  $10 seems pretty reasonable, and it needs to be higher in HCOL areas.  

But the thing you have to take into account is that if it goes too high, then a lot of people would get priced out of the market.  What employer is going to pay an ex con, an ex couch potato, a SAHM looking for extra income or a woman who hasn't learned English after 17 years $15/hour?  I'm not sure how this myth got started, but there was never any time in this country's history where every job paid well enough to support a family, or even support living alone.  Shyt jobs have always been with us, have given countless marginal or new workers a foot in the door, and paid at least enough so that a marginal worker could rent a place with a bunch of roommates.  

So true.
America does not owe or guarantee anyone, citizen, or legal immigrant anything, other than protection from big government and protection for whatever laws are on the books.
America only promises the chance to succeed to the best of your ability.
Where did the country decide to give everyone everything they want to lead a comfortable life?
As far as being illegal here, it should only promise you a one way trip home, and charge the ticket to the country of origin, and demand payment in full in 45 days from the various central banks.

These comments right here are why some free market/free enterprise proponents(like myself) are having a hard time with the; raising MW as part of the supply and demand curve argument.

Currently there are over 100 MILLION people in the US on welfare. If we increase MW thus drive up prices at MCD and WMT, there is also going to have to be a raise in welfare benefits. A.K.A raising taxes! Which means that in the end raising MW will amount to nothing because it's the same thing, over and over again.

Hence, the reason that some people(like myself) are purposing looking at what we can do about tent cities, and slums, etc..(yes I have ideas on what can be done, however, they are currently under lock and key. )

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2016 16:28:52 GMT -5 Robert not Bobby said:

You know I hate to be "cold hearted"...but $15 an hour for flipping burgers and not many of you speaking English, well...

I'm a little conflicted? Don't get me wrong. I want everyone to have a nice life.

I wouldn't even ask for a "nice" life... just a "reasonable" one. That's why I disagree with the $15.00/hr minimum wage (across the board... I can see it in high COL areas).

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Jan 30, 2016 22:34:32 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Jan 30, 2016 16:28:52 GMT -5 Robert not Bobby said:

You know I hate to be "cold hearted"...but $15 an hour for flipping burgers and not many of you speaking English, well...

I'm a little conflicted? Don't get me wrong. I want everyone to have a nice life.

I wouldn't even ask for a "nice" life... just a "reasonable" one. That's why I disagree with the $15.00/hr minimum wage (across the board... I can see it in high COL areas).

Without a doubt. I should clarify that I'm not against a minimum wage, just against the idea that MW will ever be the way to end poverty.

[formerroomate99]

Jan 30, 2016 22:44:50 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Jan 30, 2016 22:34:32 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

I wouldn't even ask for a "nice" life... just a "reasonable" one. That's why I disagree with the $15.00/hr minimum wage (across the board... I can see it in high COL areas).

Without a doubt. I should clarify that I'm not against a minimum wage, just against the idea that MW will ever be the way to end poverty.

Yes and no.  When I went to college, private loans weren't a thing, but federal loans covered tuition, minimum wage was high enough that a part time job would pay for a crappy apartment with a few roommates, a ramen based diet, and a little bit of fun.  Since then, college tuition has exploded, minimum wage has doubled but the cost of nearly everything has tripled.   There were also kids who spent their summers working 80 hour weeks in Alaska who made enough money to pay their college tuition.   Not sure if it's a thing now.  

There's no denying that getting out of poverty without any help from home is harder than it was when I was young.  

MW does need to go up.  $15 seems a bit high, but $10 seems doable.  

[dondub]

It would be higher than $15 if it had kept pace with inflation.

[formerroomate99]

Jan 30, 2016 16:28:52 GMT -5 Robert not Bobby said:

You know I hate to be "cold hearted"...but $15 an hour for flipping burgers and not many of you speaking English, well...

I'm a little conflicted? Don't get me wrong. I want everyone to have a nice life.

The problem is, not everyone else is willing to work to get a nice life.  Some people value their leisure time more than getting a certain standard of living.

I've met lots of homeless guys who vehemently state that not having to work is more important to them than having a roof over their heads.   

I've met plenty of mothers who are perfectly willing to have their children living in a dangerous neighborhood and go to failing schools so that they can play instead of working hard.  

I don't get it, but the situation is what it is.  I'm sure my stepbrother and his wife, who work at least 120 hours a week between them, think DH and I are lazy and irresponsible because we are a one income household.  Everyone has their priorities.  

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Feb 1, 2016 23:43:51 GMT -5 formerroomate99 said:

Jan 30, 2016 22:44:50 GMT -5 Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger said:

Without a doubt. I should clarify that I'm not against a minimum wage, just against the idea that MW will ever be the way to end poverty.

Yes and no.  When I went to college, private loans weren't a thing, but federal loans covered tuition, minimum wage was high enough that a part time job would pay for a crappy apartment with a few roommates, a ramen based diet, and a little bit of fun.  Since then, college tuition has exploded, minimum wage has doubled but the cost of nearly everything has tripled.   There were also kids who spent their summers working 80 hour weeks in Alaska who made enough money to pay their college tuition.   Not sure if it's a thing now.  

There's no denying that getting out of poverty without any help from home is harder than it was when I was young.  

MW does need to go up.  $15 seems a bit high, but $10 seems doable.  

Well we could argue revisionist history all day on the topic if we wanted. Especially the point about a generation that turned to the government instead of doing what their parents did.. The charts show a pattern...







Of course there is always the fact that the type of work that is minimum wage has changed completely - from the factory to fast food that is.. Which shows up here...



But what I am saying is that in the here and now, it's the first graph that matters most. Especially when looking at current totals that have rising drastically due to the Great Stagnation.. At this point in time the structural imbalances mean that raising the minimum wage is going to do very little to help poverty and income equality.

However, the market's invisible hand always finds a way to correct imbalances, so I guess we will see how this imbalance is corrected. Stay all.