The Minimum Wage Dispute

Pick a number, any number.

It doesn’t matter what it is, if you are implying that the number you pick is what an employer should be forced to pay you for a job- you are wrong.

As an employer it is NOT YOUR MORAL RESPONSIBILITY to pay a “living wage.” It is your moral responsibility to find out how much it is worth TO YOU to have someone else do whatever it is that needs doing. If nobody is willing to work for that price, you lose, you do it yourself. If you find someone willing to do it for that price, both of you win- the worker wins because he agreed that his time was worth a certain dollar amount and you agreed that this chore was worth the same amount.

Anything that interferes with this system interferes with free trade, and thus interferes with the employer’s right to life.

But what about the employee’s right to life? That was never the responsibility of the employer.

The major philosophical flaw that drives this debates is the idea that one cannot change his or her standing in life. It is the same, tired idea of the “haves” and “have nots” where the haves are employers and it is their duty to support all of the “have nots.”

The people who will be hurt the most by this minimum wage raise will be the skilled labor and small business owners. The super rich will have the capacity to pass any cost increase onto the consumer. Small business owners will not- and will have to shed employees or shut down. Skilled labor spent time and money gaining education and experience that is now valued at the same rate as everyone without the experience. Let’s face it- if you busted your ass to make $12/hr right now at your job, when minimum wage increases, you’ll get a “raise” to $15, but it will be on par with everyone else that was below $15. This means that your education and experience means nothing anymore. Shoulda spent your tuition money on hookers and booze, especially if you’ll make the same amount as those who did when you finish.

It’s old. It’s tired. It’s not going to change unless we do.

That’s why I am organizing my own little strike. It’s about time the employers went on strike for a change instead of the employees.

If minimum wage goes to $15, and you make near or below $15 an hour- quit. If you are going to work a minimum wage job, let nobody benefit from your experience and education. If you are interchangeable with anyone at all- no experience, no education- let those people do the jobs you did.

We’ll sit back and watch it all fall down. Only the skilled will be able to rebuild it.

Tags: $15, capitalism, hourly rate, income gap, minimum wage, skilled labor, socialism, unskilled labor, workers