From: randy (cryofan@mylinuxisp.com)
Date: Tue Apr 08 2003 - 09:44:37 MDT
On Mon, 7 Apr 2003 17:50:54 -0500, you wrote:
>> >Why do we think it's somehow "right" to forbid contracts for pay that's
>> >not sufficient for living alone?
>>
>> Umm....because those poor people might get mad and riot and destroy
>> property and shut down commerce....just like they did back in the 20's
>> and 30's...which is how we got our labor laws in the first place?
>
>You have a bizarre recollection of history.
Really?
Type "riots" and "minimum wage" into google and get over 7000 hits:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22minimum+wage%22++riots&btnG=Google+SearchȈZج‘>èˆZ»‘> ‰ZP‰Zp‰Z˜‰ZЉZج‘>
Type "strikess" and "minimum wage" into google and get over 39,000
hits:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22minimum+wage%22++strikes
>The problem in the 20s
>and 30s was that everyone was so poor they couldn't even live as
>large families, much less alone.
Yeah, that was indeed a problem. And the blood of people who are
mostly dead now was spilled then to help solve that little problem.
Of course there were other factors.....
>The minimum wage did nothing at all
>to fix that problem; indeed, it probably delayed recovery.
And your evidence? I provided some (see above)
>The point of my question is this: why, if a person living with
>parents or roommates or some other cheap arrangement wishes to do
>a job that supply-and-demand happens to make worth less than the
>amount he'd need to live on his own do we think it's "right" to
>tell him that he isn't allowed to take that job?
Because that is the essence of collective bargaining when you have
multiple "owners." For example, suppose you and I and 10 other people
own a property.
4 owners are rich and they would rather wait until the price rises
some more, say 1 year from now.
4 other owners who are middle class would rather sell 6 months from
now when the price has risen only slighly.
4 owners who are starving would rather sell now.
The time of sale then is subject to compromise and negotiation, e.g.,
the property is sold 6 months from now.
When it comes to minimum wage, we also have the high end of net worth
(they do not want any minimum wage). Also, those who are not in the
high end, but who fancy themselves in the high end Real Soon
Now...they also are against the minimum wage.
And we have the middle class who think it does not affect them at all.
And we have the working poor who BENEFIT DIRECTLY from the minimum
wage.
And we have the third world illegal immigrants, whom it hurts.
Again, a process of negotiation ensues, theoretically....
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