So dont work there. - This is what conservatives often say about people who have minimum wage jobs. As if it was just that simple. Not everyone can go to college - either because they cant afford it or they just were not cut out for it. Some people were raised in such a dysfunctional family that they dont believe they can do any better. Many are new immigrants who came from abject poverty and are just learning English and their way around America. Some people are just not smart enough for higher education. None of the above says anything about the work ethic of the people who are not able to find a better job. Many of the hardest working people I know are in lower echelon jobs. In health care, they were the Aides, the ones who feed, bathe, clean up poop, comb hair, dress, and communicate with the sick and elderly on a daily basis. They, not the doctors, are the most intimate caregivers. And while in Massachusetts, most of them make more then minimum, they are still hovering around the poverty level. And it isnt because they dont work hard. Same goes for minimum wage folks in retail, the food industry, agriculture, service industries, etc. They do the jobs that make life more civilized and luxurious for the rest of us. Consider this - SOMEONE has to do these jobs. What would happen to our society if no one wanted to do them? These jobs are necessary to our functioning. Yet, we want to be cheap and cheat them out of a sustainable wage, and then complain that they are getting food stamps and other assistance. We have to get off this ridiculous thought process that paying people is a socialist idea. It can be a very conservative idea - one that preserves human capital in areas that are needed in our society. One that allows someone to be able to work to support themselves, and not need nor qualify for public assistance. But conservatives, as much as they accuse liberals, are beholden to the world of public assistance. Except they have learned to manipulate it to their benefit. By that I mean rich companies with very healthy and often obscene profit margins, paying people so little, and offering no benefits, because the American Taxpayer will foot the bill for that. I think that is wrong. Very wrong, and it amazes me the number of working class conservatives who defend that. Wal-Mart, McDonalds, any big corporation like that should not be getting corporate welfare in the form of Americans picking up the tab for their lack of employee health insurance. The cheap corporations are where you should aim your ire, not the people working hard to make your hamburgers or stock the shelves with the products we hold so dear. And one last thing - about moving up with promotions - many conservatives site that Wal-Mart promotes from within. How many managers jobs are available in each store compared to rank and file workers? Higher paying positions are shaped like a pyramid - there are less and less the higher up you go. So for the vast majority, moving up the ladder is not viable. You may have 10 people looking for that one managers job. 9 are not going to get it, and some people will call them lazy for that? A living wage is not something people should have to beg for. And if it is not income re-distribution when the money shifts up to the richest, then is it not income re-distribution when some of it goes down to the lowest paid workers. That is one of the biggest pieces of bunk that goes around in conservative circles. It is not a socialist idea that people who wok hard would be able to feed their families, have access to medical care, and pay their bills. It is just common human decency.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:03:59 +0000
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