[Chance and Change]

The South's condition of poor wages goes back many many decades into earlier centuries. We are talking about a system that went from slavery and indentured servitude, which divided people into classes, both of which were lower than than the wealthy and relegated to the concept of "service class" citizenry.

Back in older time it pitted people against one another, If a white person asked for a raise, they'd be threatened by being told, they can and will be replaced by a black person or two or more black people for less money. If the black person complained they would be told, they could be replaced by two at an even lower rate of pay.
This tool has been effective in keeping wages low for decades upon decades. It still pits people against one another and is now hung up on another method of game playing, by the usage of the university status and degree label game as another division tool. It further promotes this by now making it as un-affordable as it can for the average working citizen and family. The old caste and class system programming seems to just morph itself from one madness to another.

We are talking about a system, that RESENTED paying for labor, as it was groomed and developed on slave labor systems. It has never considered to pay people beyond that.

Now days, minimum wage is no more than what it would cost in present day to "house and feed a slave", or "to pay an indentured servant to house and feed himself"... It has no model of interest about the need for transportation, medical, or any of the other needs and certainly no concern about saving or retirement program or other benefits.
Many of these states adopted the "right to work" clause, so that it can terminate people without any given reason. It is a system designed to be of no respect or regard for the worker, beyond what it can get for the least of expense and if it can get something for even lower expense, the aim is to put all focus on doing so. its why now "university teach the global ideology of "seek a slave on foreign soil".

If the working poor ever realize their "collective power", THEY WOULD push for Union's in every area of work, and force the system to pay people a living wage, provide benefits and work conditions that respected the livelihood of its employee citizens.
The wealthy are not smart enough to understand, that when everyone does well, the wealthy will do well and their gains will have some stability and they won't need to "hoard everything". But they are too afraid of sharing the level of economic function with anyone, they like the delusion that their money makes them better than others.

Most of the historical immigrants to America came from countries with Monarchical systems, and they came here with the delusion that every man can be a king, which means they brought that monarchy mentality with them. Sad thing is many don't even connect that reference to the nature of why they are driven by greed and avarice. The wealthy in this country want so desperately to be looked at with some fictional pretense as if they are Royalty of some sort. They will do anything to try and feed that delusion and push that illusion.
American's will be a long time coming before it can learn the real meaning of what it is to be a democracy!!!! - , because the roots of the current day population of general whites in America love to say, which European mixture is in their background, and its the same as identifying with the monarchical system their ancestry hailed from. They want to push it as if they have some elite-ness within their bloodline. When fact is, many were of the peasant population as being mere subjects of the monarchy,with absolutely no remote chance of moving out or up from the class they were borne into.

It will take a long time for American systems to come to learn the value and meaning of "equality".. They have claimed to want it, but have instead pursued to create a sub faction of pretensions of fictitious royal linage mentality, based on wealthy accumulation by any and many means.
Democracy was never about that, it was about "Equality of person and individualism of person-hood as a citizen; Capitalism was not about do anything by any means to make money their self measurement, it was about a system where via capitalism each person can enjoin in the economic function and if by the basis of democratic principle, economic equilibrium would be a basis of making American unshakably stable for generation upon generation, through "Equality of person and individualism of person-hood as a citizen's.

Greed and Avarice and the delusion of creating a faux monarchical royalty, has made people crazy !!!!!