TheMinimum Wage and Why we Should Leave ItWhen was the last time a “value” meal fromMcDonald, let alone any other fast food chain, did not cost five dollarsor more? When was the last time premium gas was under a dollar a gallon?It’s hard to remember, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if everything costa nickel, like back in the good ol’ days? According to the laws of economics,it’s not logical for things to have gotten more expensive competition shoulddrive prices down. Then why have prices continued to rise over the years?The continuing demand of more money for less work has forced Uncle Samto raise the minimum wage innumerable times in the last half century, whichresults in higher prices for the rest of us. Another raise in the minimumwage would, as all the others before it, raise prices for consumers, whichwould again result in another demand for a raise in the minimum wage. It’sa viscous cycle that must be stopped before it loses control. Not onlydoes a raise in minimum wage result in a raise in the cost of living, italso causes the dismissal of hardworking people who are happy with theircurrent income.
When the firing axe starts to fall, seniority often determineswho goes and who stays. The more a single employee costs a business anhour, the fewer employees the business can afford to employee an hour. This results in the dismissal of employees to compensate for a raise inlabor costs, which creates a smaller staff, which results in slipshod service. Although most reasonable people would rather pay more for better service,the plain fact of the matter is that the service hasn’t really gotten anybetter.
The service is better than it was when there weren’t enough employeesso people assume the service itself has gotten better, while the truthis that the service is just as haphazard as before. The laborers are simplyreplaced because of a need for more employees, more often than not by peoplewho have never worked in those positions before. By having a staff thatis constantly fluctuating, the business hurts itself the service is hurtbecause the new employees are in need of training, and in the end it isus, the consumers, who feel the real pain The pain we experience is thatof rising costs in the market it’s that sharp pain we feel every time wereach for our wallet, but it is in no way as painful as the fact that wegive bonuses for no reason in the form of raises in the minimum wage. Theargument that minimum wage should be raised says people need more moneyto make a living in a world of ever rising costs. The truth is that they,the people who demand more money, are the ones raising the cost of living.
Some would say that the high cost of living is brought about by the devaluationof the dollar and the effects of inflation. Truth be told, inflation isalso caused by the flooding of the market with bills printed to pay thehigh costs of laborers in the market. Laborers who are comprised primarilyof teens and the elderly, both of which usually have an alternate formof income either in the form of parents or social security. I offer an alternative to the minimum wage. If people would respect their money and understand the value of the dollarthen they would have to learn skills that would promote them in the jobmarket.
The minimum wage could be kept for the handicapped and the disabled,people who for the most part aren’t able to advance themselves in the workingworld. The most positive thing about the current minimum wage is that itis substantial enough to make teens respect their money, but also low enoughto force them to save. It’s been said that if we do not know our history,we will be doomed to repeat it. The argument over the minimum wage makesit abhorrently obvious that this statement is true. The time for actionis now, before we are forced to start this cycle again. .
