Minimum Wage Issues

[krylonics]

The answer is participatory economics.

[tamias6]

The answer is participatory economics.

Elaborate.

[snoogit]

Fear not the free market, and all shall be rewarded.

The free market wages is one of the triggers that caused the great depression in the 1930s. Income disparity has just as much detriment to the economy as anything else. free narket wages increase income disparity, if anything Income disparity is a bigger concern then minimum wage, which is why we have minimum wage.

Its more a matter of keeping the economic engine going, and you can't do that if you aren't paying workers enough to sustain themselves. If there was no minimum wage, I could see once scenario where the trade unions gain incredible strength as more and more employees fight for union representation. That in turn would create wages that are far more excessive then minimum wage laws today. People forget one reason minimum wage laws exist is to control the labor union creep.

[Beavis]

Yes, this is a very touchy issue. Anyone here read "Nickel and Dimed?" A journalist took a couple of minimum wage jobs to see if it was possible to survive. She had a devil of a time working two jobs, neither of which offered health insurance benefits. An eye-opener, to say the least.

My biggest fear (and I understand it's an actual syndrome) is that I'll end up a bag lady.

I don't know what the answer is, just that it's nearly impossible to survive on a job making minimum wage if you have a family to support. It's one thing for students to be paid minimum wage and an entirely different matter for a head of household.

Yes, I have read "Nickel and Dimed" great book but it wasn't anything I didn't already know. I lived on the streets for a few years after escaping an extremely physically abusive husband then kicking alcohol addiction 12 years ago. I was fortunate enough that before going off the deep end, I had gotten a pretty decent education and was able to rise above the circumstances that led to homelessness relatively quickly. It still took a few years of slightly better job moves to get up to where I make a humble but comfortable living today. I also have bag lady syndrome because I actually lived it. Fortunately, I was in my late 20's early 30's on the streets so had alot of strength to protect myself and pull myself back up - my biggest fear is that when I'm old I'll be kicked out of reasonable employment due to age discrimination and end up back on the streets.

Minimum wage is a joke. There is no way one can pay basic rent, food, utilities and transportation on it. The math simply doesn't work - the money runs out before even these basic needs can be met. I challenge anyone to try living on it with no outside assistance.

I think there should be a real movement in this country toward a LIVING WAGE so all Americans make enough to at least meet basic necessities. There is no reason why in America of all places, someone who is willing to work should have to struggle to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. Some states already have living wage laws on the books - such as Vermont and it hasn't caused any noticeable effect on job layoffs - on the contrary, it has increased their tax base and helped stimulate the economy - creating jobs. If you pay people enough so their basic needs are meet and perhaps they actually have a little extra disposable income, they will SPEND it and thus stimulate the local economy which in turn spins off into more business opportunities, more jobs...it's such a no-brainer I can't believe people can't see it.

[Rizzo]

plus family video has porn!

One their stores didn't have a partition, it just sat out in the open years ago... what's worse is that it was near new releases.