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You're not looking at the big picture. By forcing up the minimum wage you devalue that money, essentially decreasing its value to the value of 1 hour of burger flipping. I don't know where you got $12 from, but if the minimum wage were raised to the point that burgers would be $12, $12 would no longer be worth what it is today, because minimum wage would have to be insanely high to meet that number and therefore any idiot could make $12 in a matter of minutes. In which case $12 for a burger would be a perfectly reasonable price. It takes time but it's inflation pure and simple.
Sam, I have already stated that I'm not just advocating tripling the minimum wage and being done with it. I think the results of doing that would be more complicated than you are outlining, but it would do more harm than good (particularly to small business owners).
Again, my basic position is this: those willing to work fulltime should make enough to secure life's necessities. I think that currently there are not good paying jobs to go around, which leaves many doing Walmart/burger flipping type jobs for substandard wages. I support whatever policies that will get us to the point to where a fulltime Walmart worker can support him or herself. If our economic system must have semi-slaves to function, then we need to make whatever changes are necessary to our economic system to fix this. Having fulltime laborers who are not able to feed, shelter and clothe themselves is unacceptable to me.
By the way, the underlying premise of your post is that we can't pay menial laborers more because then they would compete with us for the purchase of goods, which would drive up the cost of goods. Well, frankly, I do more than ok -- and I'm not even upper middle class. I'm solidly middle class. Of course, I don't want to pay more for goods, but I could afford to do so easily and comfortably. If my paying more for goods is part of the solution for not having semi-slave laborers, so be it. I'm just not willing to support the status quo if the status quo is that a person who is only suitable for menial labor will have to waste away or become a ward of the welfare state because he or she can not sustain his or her own life.
That's their own bad choices. I wouldn't have the credit card or make those kinds of purchases if I made $9 an hour.
In fact I've made less than that and didn't have serious financial problems.
Emergencies will happen, you know. Credit cards are needed in case you don't have cash for those emergencies. Credit Card debt is a fact of life for virtually every American that isn't rich. It is impossible to avoid it. My mother had to feed my brother and I on credit card debt for quite a few years of our lives. I was making minimum wage my freshman year of college and had to rely on my credit card on countless occasions for food.
I'd like to see how someone only making 9 dollars an hour could avoid credit card debt. Doing that was one of the hardest things for an American to do before the economy crash. The situation now is more dire.
Emergencies will happen, you know. Credit cards are needed in case you don't have cash for those emergencies. Credit Card debt is a fact of life for virtually every American that isn't rich. It is impossible to avoid it. My mother had to feed my brother and I on credit card debt for quite a few years of our lives. I was making minimum wage my freshman year of college and had to rely on my credit card on countless occasions for food.
I'd like to see how someone only making 9 dollars an hour could avoid credit card debt. Doing that was one of the hardest things for an American to do before the economy crash. The situation now is more dire.
No it isn't but it takes will power and frugality.
I know several who have ZERO credit card debt and I myself have never carried over a balance. The key is don't spend what you don't have.
I had a job when I was younger making 12 dollars an hour. I worked overtime and the cost of living in that area was much lower than it is where I currently live. I survived. In fact, I even paid down my college loan debt faster than the standard plan and I had a fine standard of living. I didn't own a BMW, I didn't gamble or buy drugs, I didn't have 500 television channels I didn't need. I worked some overtime and managed to do pretty well. Pay grade is certainly relative to the area and cost of living, along with lifestyle.
Emergencies will happen, you know. Credit cards are needed in case you don't have cash for those emergencies. Credit Card debt is a fact of life for virtually every American that isn't rich. It is impossible to avoid it. My mother had to feed my brother and I on credit card debt for quite a few years of our lives. I was making minimum wage my freshman year of college and had to rely on my credit card on countless occasions for food.
I'd like to see how someone only making 9 dollars an hour could avoid credit card debt. Doing that was one of the hardest things for an American to do before the economy crash. The situation now is more dire.
I can't get a credit card, so I've lived without credit the past ten years. I've been able to get by because I defer (health) maintenance and don't have a car, plus I rent a cheap room.
I'm one of those people who couldn't come up with $1,000 in 30 days if I had to.
Emergencies will happen, you know. Credit cards are needed in case you don't have cash for those emergencies. Credit Card debt is a fact of life for virtually every American that isn't rich. It is impossible to avoid it. My mother had to feed my brother and I on credit card debt for quite a few years of our lives. I was making minimum wage my freshman year of college and had to rely on my credit card on countless occasions for food.
I'd like to see how someone only making 9 dollars an hour could avoid credit card debt. Doing that was one of the hardest things for an American to do before the economy crash. The situation now is more dire.
I ran out of money in college even though I was working as a waiter about 30-40 hours per week and going full time. I was trying not to take out more loans than I needed. In the end, I was bouncing credits cards off each other to pay for food, transferring balances at 0 percent when that was still allowed and there was no fee. I was lucky I could do that because my credit was good. I paid it all off at 0 percent after graduation.
Ways to live on that income include no cable/satellite TV, no cell phone, basic home phone service with no options, no Internet, no video games, and living in a home/apartment you can afford. You should also quit drinking booze and sodas. Switch to tap water. Quit smoking cigarettes and pot.
I'd like to see how someone only making 9 dollars an hour could avoid credit card debt. Doing that was one of the hardest things for an American to do before the economy crash. The situation now is more dire.
I have made $9.50 an hour for the last 5 years. I have two credit cards that I use daily. I have never once not paid off the entire balance each month. This is with a car and my own apartment. Living on $9.50 an hour is easy.
Ways to live on that income include no cable/satellite TV, no cell phone, basic home phone service with no options, no Internet, no video games, and living in a home/apartment you can afford. You should also quit drinking booze and sodas. Switch to tap water. Quit smoking cigarettes and pot.
Nope, that is not necessary either. I have Cox digital cable, internet, phone etc. I drink only bottled water and drink rum and cokes daily.
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