lewrockwell.com— Vin Suprynowicz doesn't mince words about how government policy panders to foolish demagoguery while bringing economic ruin upon both the middle class and the working poor.
Dec 26, 2006View in Crawl 4
Sad but true.The minimum wage argument is a straw man.Minimum wage is just that, a minimum. It is not a suggested wage or a living wage, it is where you begin.Flipping burgers is not a job to raise a family on, it is a job to either get you started in the work force or something for you to do when you don't NEED an income but you want to DO something and earn some spending cash.
A strawman argument is one that is thrown out to take people off of the scent of the real argument.Minimum wage is brought up and bandied about in such a way as to insinuate that if you are against raising it you hate poor people. The fact of the matter is that you only earn what you are worth.If the only skill you have is flipping burgers than that is the rate of pay you will get, minimum wage.Yelling about how people can not live on minimum wage incomes is a false argument as minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. It's no different than complaining how you can't get fat eating subsistance rations.So, the "minimum wage as a living wage" is the argument you often hear but it is a foolish argument.The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" If they even are stuck. It may just be a case of the raw numbers being constant or growing but the actual people start making minimum wage and then progress to a better wage as they learn better skills.(ignore the spelling errors, spellcheck is down)
That's better. I've never heard of the minimum wage being used as a strawman ( yes, I know what that is). "The fact of the matter is that you only earn what you are worth."Exactly. So why is there a minimum at all? You can't sincerely believe that no one is worth less ( or worthless, take your pick)."The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" Why have an argument at all? Why not just leave it to the people involved?"If they even are stuck. It may just be a case of the raw numbers being constant or growing but the actual people start making minimum wage and then progress to a better wage as they learn better skills."I feel most minimum wage jobs are just temporary, and people move on.Thanks for a different point of view.
@ HMTKSteve"The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" "No, the real argument should be "why do we let the government pass laws that prohibit a willing employer and a willing employee from making whatever deal they both want."If the government would get out of the way and let people make the deals they think best for themselves, people wouldn't get stuck in minimum wage jobs.
hmtksteveDec 26, 2006
Sad but true.The minimum wage argument is a straw man.Minimum wage is just that, a minimum. It is not a suggested wage or a living wage, it is where you begin.Flipping burgers is not a job to raise a family on, it is a job to either get you started in the work force or something for you to do when you don't NEED an income but you want to DO something and earn some spending cash.
jeffiekDec 26, 2006
"The minimum wage argument is a straw man."Care to explain?
hmtksteveDec 26, 2006
A strawman argument is one that is thrown out to take people off of the scent of the real argument.Minimum wage is brought up and bandied about in such a way as to insinuate that if you are against raising it you hate poor people. The fact of the matter is that you only earn what you are worth.If the only skill you have is flipping burgers than that is the rate of pay you will get, minimum wage.Yelling about how people can not live on minimum wage incomes is a false argument as minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. It's no different than complaining how you can't get fat eating subsistance rations.So, the "minimum wage as a living wage" is the argument you often hear but it is a foolish argument.The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" If they even are stuck. It may just be a case of the raw numbers being constant or growing but the actual people start making minimum wage and then progress to a better wage as they learn better skills.(ignore the spelling errors, spellcheck is down)
jeffiekDec 26, 2006
That's better. I've never heard of the minimum wage being used as a strawman ( yes, I know what that is). "The fact of the matter is that you only earn what you are worth."Exactly. So why is there a minimum at all? You can't sincerely believe that no one is worth less ( or worthless, take your pick)."The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" Why have an argument at all? Why not just leave it to the people involved?"If they even are stuck. It may just be a case of the raw numbers being constant or growing but the actual people start making minimum wage and then progress to a better wage as they learn better skills."I feel most minimum wage jobs are just temporary, and people move on.Thanks for a different point of view.
joybranDec 26, 2006
@ HMTKSteve"The real argument should not be over raising the minimum wage but "why are people stuck in minimum wage jobs?" "No, the real argument should be "why do we let the government pass laws that prohibit a willing employer and a willing employee from making whatever deal they both want."If the government would get out of the way and let people make the deals they think best for themselves, people wouldn't get stuck in minimum wage jobs.