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“Minimum wage is just too low,” the South Bend, Indiana, mayor said. “So-called conservative Christian senators right now in the Senate are blocking a bill to raise the minimum wage when Scripture says that whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker.”
Buttigieg, an Episcopalian, was referencing Proverbs 14:31 (NIV): “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
Leaving aside the sheer ridiculousness, Mayor Pete should brush up on his Bible studies, and on his economics, before running for POTUS. In the first place, Judeo-Christian thought generally references charitable behavior as being voluntary--from the heart. Legislative mandates is not what God is looking for (disclosure: I am neither Jewish nor Christian, but I have read the Bible.)
Secondly, the fiat minimum wage, as currently implemented in the US, is chicanery that overall hurts those it is supposed to help, namely low-wage workers. When I took econ 101 many years ago, our text was Paul Samuelson, generally considered a liberal. He had a simple supply-demand graph and a few lines of algebra showing how this is the case. You can find similar on YouTube.
There are honest ways of implementing a minimum wage such that low-wage workers would actually be helped, but politicians shy away from them because they're expensive. The fiat minimum wage is basically free of cost--but also free of efficacy.
Quote:
Proverbs 11:1: "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight."
The fiat minimum wage is political chicanery, a type of 'dishonest scales.' IMO The Lord does not approve.
oh gee, another politician trying to use bible verses to make his case, and failing.
It's often a bi-partisan affair. When John Kasich ran for prez, he cited Matthew 25 ('for I was hungry, and you gave me meat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink') as his justification for expanding Medicaid in Ohio (IIRC, I may have a detail wrong, but the principle is right).
Not the same thing, howled a chorus of Christians. Matthew 25 refers to voluntary charity, not robbing x and giving to y.
oh gee, another politician trying to use bible verses to make his case, and failing.
Yeah, this minimum wage theory doesn't work.
Scripture does not mandate some wage requirement. It does point towards both employees (slaves) and employers (masters) to treat each other properly.
And just to get this out of the way - the Bible does not support mistreatment of any kind, and I have in mind America's slave history - because I assume that argument would be coming. However, it does acknowledge slavery existed - and it gave guidelines on how both parties were to treat each other.
I think I'm pretty safe in saying slaves back then did not make $15/hr.
This is another thing this often bipartisan: using the Bible to support your stance on something, even if the Scriptures don't actually say that in letter or spirit!
Scripture definitely supports wealthy people going to hell. Big time. In fact, I'd say that's one of the main issues that Big J was into.
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