Minimum Rage…er…Wage
In my last BRILLIANTLY written article I implied that someone may not be worth more than $7.25 an hour. It may have come across as more ‘Jerky’ than I intended. Clearly this would NOT be the case. Let me illustrate. When I, your humble narrator, was a young lad my older sister would often offer me ten cents a minute to tickle her back ($6/hr). When I was fourteen years old my first real job was washing pots at a restaurant. It was thankless, hot and heavy, with greasy steam doing wonders for my zit- and pimple-filled face. Making the minimum wage of $3.35 was hard to accept when I could make six dollars an hour for tickling.
I worked with a guy who was in his early twenties. He was loud, obnoxious, crass, often talked-back to the manager and made googlie eyes at the waitresses. He was an all-a-round jerk. I idolized him. I remember one day he and the manager were arguing. He yelled, “I don’t have to put up with this crap! (He didn’t say “crap.”) I can go anywhere and make $3.50 an hour,” to which my manager said, “Then do it.” The guy walked out the door, fired. The manager looked at me and said, “That guy will never be worth more than that.”
There is a lesson there.
I’m not really sure what the lesson is, but I’m sure there is one.
I have a friend who asked me if I had a problem with this “specific increase in minimum wage” or if I had a problem when President Bush raised the minimum wage. To me a stupid idea is a stupid idea. It doesn’t matter who came up with it, or who signed off on it.
Unlike (I suspect) many in Washington, I’ve read the Constitution. Am I an expert? HEAVENS NO. But I’m willing to learn, so if someone could enlighten me I sincerely will appreciate it. I just don’t remember any article, line or provision which gives authority to a group in Washington to dictate the wage someone in Florida should pay their employee. But again, I realize I’m not the sharpest bulb in the box so if someone could show me, I’m willing to learn.
Now that I think about it, I know what my biggest issue is. Why does everything have to be “universal” with liberals?
For guns, a three round clip may be great in New York, but if I’m in the mountains of Montana hunting wolves that keep killing my cattle, three rounds may not work for me.
In the state of Washington the current minimum wage is $9.19/hr. That’s great for them. But that may be too much to pay in Nevada, where the employee can choose a lower wage and receive benefits or a higher wage with no benefits.
Fifty-five miles per hour may be a perfect speed in North Carolina. But if you’ve ever driven between Las Vegas and California you know 55 mph is WAAAAAAY too slow.
Insurance was a mess because of regulation. So what was the liberal answer to fix the “broken” system? MORE REGULATION. And now (…yeah…) it’s universal. I don’t have enough middle fingers to fully express my feelings on that topic.
Little by little we are transforming from the fifty nifty individual yet United States of America to just “Generica.” Everything is the same bluh, bluh, bluh.
Generally speaking, I think liberals are like Maslow’s hammer. “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Don’t think meat is good for you? Pass a resolution for Meatless Monday. Worried that the homeless are getting too much saturated fat in their diet? Require a permit for anyone feeding the homeless. Think people are too fat? Pass a law that 32 ounces is too much soda! (This last link is to a BRILLIANTLY written article – Check it out.) Just because you see things one way doesn’t mean everyone does. But instead of embracing the differences, liberals pass laws.
It kinda reminds me of a story. If I remember right, it is something about there being a big group, a plan was presented, and it was decided that people would be “agents unto themselves.” They could choose for themselves, good or evil. One man stood up and said something like, “I don’t like the plan. I don’t like how we will lose some people. Give me the power and I’ll force them to be good. And not one soul will be lost.” If I remember correctly, a big fight broke out.
It’s almost as if that same battle is still being waged. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.”
I’m sure the story went something like that.
Hmmmm…? Well, I’m sure I’ll remember it later.
LIFEZILLA: A day without Diet Coke is like…actually I have no idea what it’s like.
There has to be a gauge to measure the poverty line by what the average working person makes and what it costs to survive. There are experts for that. Raising the min wage? Debate-able. 100% problem solver? Hells no!! It starts @ home and your willingness to sacrifce the silly things (vices) in order to put yourself in a better more prosperous financial position. Restrictions on agency only causes controversy… yes, I agree w/u there. However, Moderation/limitation on self-indulgence will serve you more if you choose it. Glorifying daily diet coke consumption wilst in a penny-pinch economy seems to me to be embracing an addiction that only serves to literally piss away your money. (See the latte factor). Demonizing the POTUS won’t solve it either. Someone once spoke of a WORD OF WISDOM. The wisdom comes in making healthier choices that will serve you better- health & wealth wise. My two cents: “Save your two cents… those pennies make dollars.” P.S. BE DEBT FREE (Listen to the Dave Ramsey show)
I’m trying to wrap my head around your Satan argument and the parallel to liberal ideologies. When I get there, I’ll enlighten you on the Constitution.
It kinda reminds me of a story. If I remember right, it is something about there being a big group, a plan was presented, and it was decided that people would be “agents unto themselves.” They could choose for themselves, good or evil. One man stood up and said something like, “I don’t like the plan. I don’t like how we will lose some people. Give me the power and I’ll force them to be good. And not one soul will be lost.” If I remember correctly, a big fight broke out….I believe the fight that broke out was over PROP 8. The ones trying to ‘force everyone to be good’ briefly forgot about the separation of church & state in California. Unfortunately, behind the Zion curtain, there is no separation:-/
Conservatives are equally at fault for the universal mentality. As long as the laws suit them, they have no problem passing them.
You don’t like gay marriage? Don’t marry a gay person
You are against abortion? Don’t have one.
You want to teach your children about Creationism? Teach them.
You don’t want to drink at a restaurant? Don’t drink.
You don’t want to see alcohol at the grocery store? Avoid it.
You don’t like drugs? Don’t use them.
Goes both ways. Always has. Always will.
Oh my hell (Russ)…I just rolled my eyes so hard I swallowed a contact lens. Which is really hard to do considering I don’t wear contacts.
I, seriously, don’t even know where to start.
Staying out of this one.
So, minimum wage, regulating commerce, and/or the government getting involved with labor would all fall into unnecessary in your book? Sweat shops, child labor, and grossly inadequate conditions and wages, how wonderful…why not? Or slavery, that worked for a few. Let’s go back. Perhaps, laws have a purpose. Do I believe laws helped achieved a paradigm shift? Absolutely.
And, certainly you are correct that nowhere in the Constitution does it specifically state that a minimum wage must be set for laborers. There are MANY things not specifically stated in that document that are now on the books. The forefathers were very aware of the reality of big business and the threat corporations might pose to the security of this nation. In fact, your golden boy, Thomas Jefferson believes the government will one day become a slave to corporate America. “I hope that we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” As does, Madison, Corporations, which should be carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people’s masters.”
It is hardly just the hippie freak Liberals that see a problem with corporate greed and power and the need for regulation. I must admit, it would be nice to live in a place where a minimum wage LAW wasn’t required. It would be wonderful to live in a place where the gap between rich and poor wasn’t as monumental as we see today. It sure would be dreamy to live in that happy place where greed and corruption didn’t exist and people just paid a fair wage for fair labor. Truth is, I don’t live there. I live in a country where money has become King. The rich control the government, and in turn the people. Corporations in this country have more power than people. They pay people minimum wage why you ask? Simple! It is illegal to pay them less. If they could legally pay them less while demanding more labor from them…guess what? They would. And how do we know that? Our history. We look at the books and delve into the reason Unions were formed. Unions began to take shape and were groups put together to protect laborers. Protect laborers?? Think about it. If corporate America had been fair and decent, there would have never been a need for Unions. Necessity is the mother of all invention, after all. They failed. They were awful to people. Children were forced to work long hours, drop out of school, laborers were working in filthy conditions and being paid a pittance of what they deserved…and it was then and there that this country decided a minimum wage was unfortunately necessary. Regulation is a part of life. It is a part of living peaceably among other people in a diverse setting and producing the greatest good for each person, within reason. There is a price to be paid for opening a business in this country. Most of the world never gets that chance. I am sorry you have to pay people a fair wage, based upon the standard of living here in order for you to make record breaking profits…oh wait, No, I am really not. We wouldn’t need laws if people were just decent. Newsflash: they aren’t.
Secondly, if Conservatives are so against laws…why does Utah have so many I can’t even count them? One of the most Conservative states in the nation, and we pass laws left and RIGHT. Look at alcohol in this state. Ridiculous.