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I also completed a minor in comp sci; I thought that was a decent backup plan. But the economy was in the tank at the time (Carter recession, Rust Belt) so employer demand was also in the tank, and enough conp sci majors were available to eet employer demand at the time. Obviously I wasn't able to predict the recession, although most conservatives probably would have made that preduction.
Working in an IT dept if you can get whatever certifications they require is a vast improvement over flipping burgers and waiting out multiple min wage increases.
Why is there such startling income inequality? Because of our highly progressive federal income tax system. Guess what happens when income share shifts away from the income tax revenue cash cows, the top 1%?
Look at this 25% decline in income tax revenue:
Source: U.S. Treasury’s Monthly Treasury Statement
There has been a 25% decline in income tax revenue even though we haven't had a 25% economic contraction (it was only 5.1% peak to trough). A comment posted from last August explains why...And regarding any minimum wage increase...Keeping a higher share of income in the top 1% of earners yields MUCH more income tax revenue for the government. It's actually in the government's best interest to maintain a significantly disparate income gap.
Do you all get it now?
What you are arguing is that black is white and white is black. You are claiming that a highly progressive federal income tax system is making the poor poorer and the rich richer, which is contrary to both logic and history. When rates on income were more progressive (e.g. higher taxes on high earners,) such as in period 1940 to 1980, there was a growing middle class and less inequality. Since then, it has reversed. As Piketty & Saez showed:
In Piketty & Saez's words, "the progressivity of the U.S. federal tax system at the top of the income distribution has declined dramatically since the 1960s".[source] They continue, "... the most dramatic changes in federal tax system progressivity almost always take place within the top 1 percent of income earners, with relatively small changes occurring below the top percentile."
Excuses. I'm just going to call you out every time you make an excuse and not explain it anymore.
1) Hard work DOES get you ahead, and if your peers are not getting ahead, that's b/c they're just as lazy or unmotivated as you present yourself to be.
2) Student loans. Very easy to get, virtually no application process, no need to even get approved. Just tell them how much you need and which school to send it to.
1) Where I work, there is a very narrow promotion path: wait for the manager to leave. Since my manager is a middle-aged lifer with about 20 years until retirement, I do not foresee any internam promotion opportunity during my workspan.
2) Student loans are very easy to get for most people, impossible for me. I'm paying over $100/mo now on old student loans and can't get a new loan now.
1) Where I work, there is a very narrow promotion path: wait for the manager to leave. Since my manager is a middle-aged lifer with about 20 years until retirement, I do not foresee any internam promotion opportunity during my workspan.
2) Student loans are very easy to get for most people, impossible for me. I'm paying over $100/mo now on old student loans and can't get a new loan now.
1) Then find another job. Learn a trade. Take your skills and apply at another place to run shifts.
2) Then stop worrying about going to law school for now. You do have computer skills to fall back on.
Working in an IT dept if you can get whatever certifications they require is a vast improvement over flipping burgers and waiting out multiple min wage increases.
How do you get your foot in the door in the first place without certifications? When I graduated, Microsoft did not exist, hence no MSFT certifications.
I also completed a minor in comp sci; I thought that was a decent backup plan. But the economy was in the tank at the time (Carter recession, Rust Belt) so employer demand was also in the tank, and enough conp sci majors were available to eet employer demand at the time. Obviously I wasn't able to predict the recession, although most conservatives probably would have made that preduction.
Even before the recession, a law degree was no guarantee of a job. Most people knew that. And minoring in comp sci? Why would anyone hire a minor when there were more than enough comp sci majors to go around?
Poor life decisions and planning. Exactly as predicted in The Millionaire Next Door.
There is a limit as to what you can raise things to. You cannot raise the min wage to $9 in a bad economy. You also cannot demand that unskilled and uneducated folks who are already not necessarily worth their wages make more and more and more money. Maybe raising it from $5.25 to $7.25 wasn't enough to push us to that level where massive layoffs and closings would happen. Maybe pushing it to $9 is. I'm not an economist but you can't keep raising the min wage repeatedly and expect no economic consequences. Let me just say that to raise the min wage in a fast food place to the point where entry level workers make just a tad less than managers WILL force the owners to raise prices and possibly could put them out of business. If a new hire makes only $1 less than a manager just b/c the federal gov't says so...that's ridiculous.
And THIS ^^ is precisely the definition of hyperbole.
Manager getting 10 dollars per hour is also ridiculous. so what do you think should be the minimum wage where fast food place will close down and put them out of business??? You think with 9 dollars minimum wage, your fast food place will close down?? is there any study on that???
Working in an IT dept if you can get whatever certifications they require is a vast improvement over flipping burgers and waiting out multiple min wage increases.
Yep. Even cheap community colleges offer various IT Cert classes.
In college towns there is a surplus of cheap labor, so white college kids are paid the same minimum wage as black teenage dropouts.
You may not realize this but a college kid has more education (and more value) than a HS dropout. The black teen unemployment rate is 45% vs 23% for a white teen. But golly gee, raising the min wage would help you feel better so let's raise it! When you raise the min wage anybody not worth the new price floor does not get hired in order to gain experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt
But all of my peers have demonstrated that hard work does not get you ahead. And I can't afford education; schools demand cash up front.
Your peers are losers, sorry, but they are. They could go work for a gas station and make more than min wage and in 10 years make $60K. Yes, it isn't alot, but it isn't min wage either. They could go work for walmart and be making more than min wage in 90 days plus have a 401K, 15% off stock purchases and a discount on store items.
Quote:
Originally Posted by freemkt
Yes, I've been to Walmart in the past 30 days; I've never seen more than eight self-checkouts and usually only four are actually in use.
So the fact that automation only impacted some potential employees in your area is ok? Companies do not automate unless labor is more expensive and raising the min wage makes labor more expensive.
How do you get your foot in the door in the first place without certifications? When I graduated, Microsoft did not exist, hence no MSFT certifications.
I have no idea, I don't know about that stuff. Google is your friend, though.
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When you raise the min wage anybody not worth the new price floor does not get hired in order to gain experience. 
