Minimum Wages...Good or Bad?

[GOP-Controlled Whortense]

Dearest Interferencers,

I have been pondering this question for a while. Are minimum wages good or bad?

I think they are awful, personally. Not only does it interfere with true supply and demand, it is obvious government interference with my ability to run my business as I choose. If someone is willing to work for $1 an hour, then I say, "Why not?" Workers are certainly free to come and go as they please. Ungrateful wretches.

XOXO

Love, Whortense

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~Whortense Wiffin
XI Comtess d'Enron and the conservative alter-ego of "melon"

 

[ocu2fan]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! good one.

GOP? (said as a word, not as three letters) What does that stand for?

As a business major, I have taken many econ classes. To big business it is horrible, results in higher prices for consumers, and causes domestic jobs to go oversees. To some one only possessing the abilities to work low paying jobs its a necessity so that they can retain some quality of life. Just like unions, the only solution is to let the tension that exists between both sides balance out in compromise. Either extreme is devasting to the economy and individuality.


Then again, if you wanna work for one dollar thats fine with me too.

 

[GOP-Controlled Whortense]

Dearest ocu2fan,

Interference.com has a character limit on names. I wanted the name "Republican-Controlled Whortense," since I am very proud of my party affiliation, but that was too many letters. The name I currently have is the full limit, so bear with it.

But, honestly, we have a global economy, so I think we should start acting like it. If American laborers cannot compete with the slave labor I can get from Sudan, then they aren't competing enough. But, once again, we have government interference, whereas I am forced to go to places like Myanmar and Thailand, where I am forced to pay something like $1 a day per laborer. I'm infuriated that I must pay that much, when there are free laborers elsewhere. But your comments are duly noted.

XOXO

Love, Whortense

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~Whortense Wiffin
XI Comtess d'Enron and the conservative alter-ego of "melon"

 

[zoomerang II]

Originally posted by ocu2fan:

To big business it is horrible, results in higher prices for consumers, and causes domestic jobs to go oversees.

well maybe a slight impact in the manufacturing sector, but not in a modern service based economy. Britain introduced the minimum wage (3.50 - big deal) only about three years ago and after the usual business gaffufle everyone soon realised it had no impact on the economy whatsoever.

 

[Lilly]

Originally posted by ocu2fan:
HAHAHAHAHAHA! good one.

GOP? (said as a word, not as three letters) What does that stand for?

As a business major, I have taken many econ classes. To big business it is horrible, results in higher prices for consumers, and causes domestic jobs to go oversees. To some one only possessing the abilities to work low paying jobs its a necessity so that they can retain some quality of life. Just like unions, the only solution is to let the tension that exists between both sides balance out in compromise. Either extreme is devasting to the economy and individuality.


Then again, if you wanna work for one dollar thats fine with me too.

GOP, like G-O-P. What DOES that stand for? Little help here...whatever. Well, I like minimum wage, though I don't make anything close to it. I make $7.00 an hour (I'm 17 and I'm a receptionist at a real estate company) and that whoops all of my friend's wages. Minnesota minimum wage is really high, which is good. We have a very low homeless level (probably more because if we weren't in the US we would be a socialist country...stupid taxes!). But just look at waitresses. They make minimum wage ($5.15 here) AND they get taxes taken out for assumed tips. So, if they had to work for much less than that but didn't have a good night of tips, they would be so screwed. That's my tax free 2 cents.

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It's the puppets that pull the strings.

*You're very kind. Most people laugh when they see my googly eye.*

+fabulous+

The Edge, it's a direct object.

[This message has been edited by Lilly (edited 02-09-2002).]

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

GOP= Grand Old Party

 

[bonoman]

You are only looking at this from one side. Dont have a minnimun wage. If people got organized enough they could easily demand much much more then what they are worth. A minnimun wage keeps business from paying to little and employees demanding a huge pay increase. it works both ways.

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Running to Stand Still-"you gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice."

"we're not burning out we're burning up...we're the loudest folk band in the world!"-Bono

 

[GOP-Controlled Whortense]

Dearest bonoman,

That is a very interesting take on this subject. Of course, what is unfortunate, is that, even with a minimum wage, organized labor is making too much money. Look at the Detroit auto workers, for instance. They make easily over $20 an hour, often taking home over $8000 year-end profit sharing bonuses during the last decade (although there was no bonuses for 2001, due to the recession). Compare that to the non-union shops in Detroit that work for around $15 an hour with no bonuses...now that's what I like. So, essentially, labor has the ability to unionize even now, which troubles me. We should go back to the good old days, when the government used to go out and kill striking workers...ingrates.

As an entrepreneur myself, I find the prospect of labor making that much money to be atrocious, so that is why I am a fervent believer in "right to work" states. Not only has it been wonderfully successful in busting organized labor in America, it has become something of a patriotic call to not be in a union now! Those communist union workers...they should just be happy to have a job!

XOXO

Love, Whortense

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~Whortense Wiffin
XI Comtess d'Enron and the conservative alter-ego of "melon"

 

[pax]

This whole thread is a joke, right?

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono

 

[Achtung_Bebe]

There are many different aspects to consider here.

Firstly you have the unequal access to resources and social reward. This is compensated in part by hierarchy systems. This ofcourse consists of someone with hiring duties, and someone placing an application for the job. Without the set minimum wage, the power could fall into the hands of the applicant, thus leaving society the possibility of a shortage in resources.

Another reason why minimum wage is good is because it motivates us to strive for better occupations and results in a more productive society. Since resources are not available to everyone equally, there must be a starting point, but social mobility gives the opportunity to move yourself either between or within a social class. This operation of society based on personal merit is known as a meritocracy.

GOP-Controlled Whortense, do I now need to go into the use of sweatshops and how they work to keep down the price of goods for the minimum wage consumer?