![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Minimum Wage
Dec. 9th, 2013 09:31 amWhile I'm willing to have a discussion about raising minimum wage, the idea of more than DOUBLING it is ridiculous.
The businesses that will be affected go far beyond just Walmart and McDonalds.
What's being ignored in this debate are the thousands of small businesses, local businesses, that simply will not be able to afford the pay their employees that kind of money.
One of the companies that I used to work for is run by a friend of mine. He's the hardest working person in his business and he's always paid his people more than minimum wage. He's not a millionaire by any stretch of the imagination. If the $15.00 an hour minimum wage goes through, he will have to close his doors, period. It's simple economics; he won't be able to afford to employ his staff. Fifteen people will be out of a job. This scenario will be repeated thousands of times. Small business owners are not evil plutocrats, they're decent men and women who provide jobs to millions of people. The idea that they are exploiting their workers, is, for the vast majority, nothing but pseudo-Marxist bullshit.
Why are the two choices on offer "no increase" and "doubling"? Isn't there an alternative that won't force tens -if not hundreds- of thousands of people into unemployment? Why is the argument allowed to be about "evil" employers and "virtuous" employees?
Remember small businesses.
The businesses that will be affected go far beyond just Walmart and McDonalds.
What's being ignored in this debate are the thousands of small businesses, local businesses, that simply will not be able to afford the pay their employees that kind of money.
One of the companies that I used to work for is run by a friend of mine. He's the hardest working person in his business and he's always paid his people more than minimum wage. He's not a millionaire by any stretch of the imagination. If the $15.00 an hour minimum wage goes through, he will have to close his doors, period. It's simple economics; he won't be able to afford to employ his staff. Fifteen people will be out of a job. This scenario will be repeated thousands of times. Small business owners are not evil plutocrats, they're decent men and women who provide jobs to millions of people. The idea that they are exploiting their workers, is, for the vast majority, nothing but pseudo-Marxist bullshit.
Why are the two choices on offer "no increase" and "doubling"? Isn't there an alternative that won't force tens -if not hundreds- of thousands of people into unemployment? Why is the argument allowed to be about "evil" employers and "virtuous" employees?
Remember small businesses.
