To those who believe in the "American Dream"Follow

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6738449/



:(

It's prolly their way of pushing people to get better jobs.








but yeah.. it's ****** up... no wonder we have dealers and hookers and theives and homeless...

but that's a can of worms right there.....


****, I STILL have a roomate.(for a reason)





Come to think of it.. It DOES keep the lovely Welfare System alive doesn't it?

Edited, Mon Dec 20 20:12:12 2004 by Kelvyquayo

They need to make it that federal minimum wage is updated on a yearly basis. At least multiply it each year by the consumer price index to account for inflation. When prices go up, but minimum wage never changes, you're going to have more crime because people are turned to other means to get what they need.

And gbaji...


It's called minimum wage because it's supposed to be the minimum amount, at full time employment, that a person needs to maintain the standards of living. Read up on economics.

Edited, Mon Dec 20 20:16:53 2004 by scubamage

I think this just says that more stupid people need to stop breeding. Seriously, when I moved out on my own I was making 9 an hour and managed to pay rent just fine. Of course, i had other, more questionable sources of income as well, but that's the American frikken dream too. You take care of yourself and stop sucking on society's teet to get ahead.

Tell all that to the poor blacks in the Inner City....


you got to start somewhere..... but when you can't afford a place to live you're gonna go where the sun shines brightest.....

..then it's just another crack baggie on a Baltimore streeet curb..

I must agree with Gbaji in that not every wage absolutely *needs* to be a "living wage," as economists put it. A high school kid working a part time job to get gas money isn't going to need to maintain an apartment complete with utilities. A senior citizen working for extra retirement money probably already has a substantial cushion worked up from a higher-paying, full-time, more specialized position. And so on, and so forth.

In fact, most people fail to see the negative side of the government imposing a minimum wage (or, at the very least, a higher minimum wage.) Some possible working positions cannot be maintained on the salary that the minimum wage sets; many possible companies would essentially be taking a loss to hire people. There are also pople out there who would be willing to work at positions for under the minimum wage, though these people may be a small minority of the eligible workforce. In other words, there is a demand for such labor, and a workforce willing to fill it, but jobs that pay below minimum wage are not created because the government won't allow it.

In such a conception, the answer to economic problems such as unemployment and inflation would come, at least in part, from dropping the minimum wage. The newly-created, low-paying jobs would employ the labor least in demand (presumably unskilled high school kids), vacating higher-paying positions for unemployed adults. The resulting influx of cheaply-made goods would lower the level of the so-called "living wage," creating more jobs that can sustain a person in terms of basic needs, and even more that can offer someone a modicum of luxury. The deadweight loss that occurs when the gov't imposes a price floor like the minimum wage would disappear, slowing the inflation of the dollar.

Of course, that's simply in theory, and I'm just offering an opinion contrary to the norm to spur dscussion. Doubtless I'll get rated down by at least a few die-hard liberal/socialists for that, but oh well.

EDIT: Yep, someone rated me down. So much for liberal open-mindedness.

Edited, Tue Dec 21 09:41:40 2004 by RognarsDwarvenGrog

Yes and no. What minimum wage intends to do, and what it actually does are often very different. You also have to remember that back when it was first adopted, the vast majority of workers for whom it applied either lived at home, or in some sort of dorm/appartments common at the time. People stayed at home until they earned enough to move out. Those that moved out early did not expect to support themselves. They often ended up in hostels and YMCA type facilities until they got a more sufficient wage. You simply can't compare that to todays expectation that every adult should be able to afford a multi-room appartment with hot and cold running water, it's own bathroom, kitchen, electricity, and all the other modern conveniences. Minimum wage was *never* intended to support people in such relative luxury.

Check out this site for somem interesting information. This paragraph in particular is relevant:




See... As I pointed out above. What Pickles post is missing is the numbers of people who are actually in a position where the minimum wage is hurting them. It's also missing the "cost" of raising minimum wage. It's not as simple as increasing the wage so that it's enough for anyone to raise their family on. There's a lot more to the issue.

How hard are you willing to work to make your dreams come true?

I think people forgot that America is the Land of opportunity. it amazes me how people can walk about an apple orchard and complain about climbing a tree to get an apple. As if waiting for one to fall is the way to be. I got news for ya, more often than not, the only apples that fall from the tree are rotten. Get your damn apple!

ummm....i know a mother who has to support 5 count five children, how does she do it (she even makes more than minimum wage) i dont know. but she does get her water,electric,phone turned off every other month, for some people minimum wage isnt really minimum wage

Plattitudes don't keep you warm at night.

Gbaji.

People are poor, they shouldn't be, it sucks.

That's it, now shut the fu[b][/b]ck up.

Trickybeck wrote:



AND



So everybody is entitled to have all the conveniences no matter how lazy they happen to be?

We, who work and strive, need to be taxed until we only have a minimum wage lifestyle to bring everyone else up to the same? Yea, lets all go for mediocrity in all facets of our lives. Welcome to socialism.

People can be stupid and lazy, they shouldn't be, it sucks. Not my fault.