Whats on my mind? Minimum Wages. For 9 years while my children were little, I earned minimum wage and raised 3 children on it, without being on welfare or receiving any help from their dad. I bought a little house with the help of HUD, and I once was on unemployment for a month. I suffered, I stretched things, and I did a lot of sewing. TODAY, minimum wage still places families in a position of being absolutely unable to live without public assistance. I totally get fed up with people making it sound as though everyone who is getting food stamps or assistance is there because they dont work hard enough. You cant even buy material to make clothing, for as little as you pay for new clothes, today. And if people have to borrow money today, to pay dental bills and buy the kids school supplies, and to even get them winter coats, then it is the FAULT of people who do NOT understand how MINIMUM WAGE is supposed to WORK. It worked wonderfully, when MINIMUM WAGE was a LIVABLE WAGE. That is what it was INTENDED for (and look it up, if you dont think so. I DO my homework. Minimum wage that was a livable wage didnt put any businesses OUT of business. It meant that there were more people able to buy an extra hot dog, or a new pair of shoes for the kids. The more people who MAKE a livable wage, the more middle class there is, because the middle class can suddenly open new businesses and expect to sell goods. I owned a small business, and it was a struggle but I loved it. I didnt make hardly any money at it ... but I was able to keep the doors open and to teach computer classes to people who couldnt afford to take college classes, or who needed specialized classes. There is no way I could do such a thing today. What has changed? One thing, only. When my children were growing up, minimum wage meant a wage that would cover the MINIMUM that a family needed in order to feed, house and clothe themselves. Today, minimum wage means the minimum that a filthy rich company can get away with paying.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 23:50:17 +0000
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