I was just reading about the fast food strikes around the country and it got me thinking. It seems like there are 2 options for what this country can do moving forward. 1)Continue as we are and keep cutting assistance for those that need the safety net, while wages continue to decline. Forcing more people into poverty and all the externalities (crime, increased healthcare costs, weaker economy, etc.) that come with that. This is the path we are on now. 2) Increase minimum wage and try to get more people, even at fast-food and retail jobs, a “living-wage.” [The excuse that these are jobs for high school students is bs, I know people with advanced degrees that can’t find work right now, so many people would love to have a better job, but they aren’t available]. While this may reduce corporate profits, wouldn’t it put more money back into the middle class, strengthen the economy and off-set some of the corporate profits lost. It would also decrease the number of people in poverty and reduce government assistance programs, making political and economic sense for conservatives and liberals. To me it seems like the real “socialists” in this country are corporations who continue to sit on higher profit margins, while socializing the costs of their workforce through government assistance programs. If you want to privatize something, how about we privatize government assistance in the form of living wages by America’s service and retail industry? Am I missing something or does this make sense?
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 19:23:03 +0000
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