kentington wrote:This is why minimum wage is kind of ridiculous. There are jobs out there that aren't worth minimum wage. Someone else already said it. There are jobs that are valued lower and when they first started were fulfilled by younger people getting work experience and living at home with parents.
To pay a high school kid low wages is one thing, but claiming that is really what minimum wage is about is a distortion of the reality.. or is ONLY the reality for the true minimum. Most people make 5-10 cents more, enough to claim they are not making minimum, but not enough to fill anyones pocketbook. The bottom line is that people are worth more. That applies at the bottom, not just the top. To claim that one person, with any skills is actually worth 2 million a year.. but another person is not worth more than $7.35 an hour is ridiculous. The difference in skills is not THAT great, sorry.. it just isn't unless you live in a distorted world where "worth" is set by artificial ideas and not realities.
kentington wrote:In BK's case. This guy may be taking home some extra cash, but he got the job, scheduled it, had the equipment and the risk. If anything goes wrong he is the guy with responsibility. It may seem rude that he paid you less than the other guys, but by your own admission your work wasn't as productive.
Note that BK was not being paid even close to minimum wage at the time. BIG difference!
kentington wrote:Then for some to say don't start a business if you can't pay the employees. Seriously? Don't take the job if it doesn't provide enough for you. If there are no other jobs and you are stuck with that one, then don't complain because at least you will have a job. It sounds harsh but the person who starts a small business is usually in the hole financially for the first years. They aren't taking a paycheck and it is going to pay off debt incurred by starting a business. They are probably risking their house and cars. If you work for less and stick with a small business then you may be there when it grows and benefit from it. If not then at least you have experience and appear more valuable to the next employer.
That " I am taking a loss" bit is garbage. Sure, you start a business you take a risk.. AND you stand to gain a whole lot, you get to set your basic conditions, etc, etc. Above all, its your choice to run or not run the business.
When it comes to employment.. people HAVE to work to get by. The problem today is that when you hire someone for low wage, you can pretend you are giving them something, but only becuase other taxpayers are stepping up (not by choice) to pay part of your employees living expenses. THAT is why the system is skewed. You are not truly paying "market wages" you are paying the least wage you possibly can get away with for a time.. just like many jerks will pollute if the law doesn't step in, even though it causes harm to everyone else, will even sell outright dangerous products and fake tests to "prove" its good if there is not enough oversight... gee, some people even creat fictitious investment "opportunities: and make huge killings.. at the expense of many others.
THAT is why laws are needed. People at the bottom cannot "fight" for themselves, because as you said, there are not that many jobs out there and they need what they can get. Skills are irrelevant.
Oh, and on that bit about skills.. ask yourself why sn an institutional cook tends to make 8,maybr 9 an hour , but the guy who mows the lawn often makes at least $10? Think the fact that its mostly women has anything at all to do with it...
YES, it does. And its also why nurses get paid less than legal assistants, though that nurse is the one who may well determine if you live or die based on her care. The market is about people manipulating prices, not any ultimate truth.
Yeah, good point. Some miss that point too--about the employer taking those risks. They only look at outcomes where employers' succeeded and then clamor for a "fair" wage, "the boss is making too much"--while ignoring all those other failed outcomes.
Entrepreneurship: The Employee and the EmployerMost employees are entrepreneurs in the same sense as the employer. They are seeking profitable opportunities; however, for most employees, their risks are significantly minor--compared to the employer who borrows to start a business.
With more risk, comes more (expected) reward. If that additional reward was not available (e.g. snatched away by forcing employers to pay more per worker), then the profit signal for entrepreneurial action is removed. Without that profit--that reward for the risk--then entrepreneurship and investment are marginally decreased, and with it, employment, income, consumption, and additional investment.
All of this is connected, but many only see one small aspect of the full picture. They should stop to reflect on the unintended consequences, instead of clamoring for intervention--without even understanding what processes they're disturbing.[/quote]