"Dependent Class" vs. "Producer Class" (minimum wage, salary, Walmart)
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*sigh* Thanks for not answering my question. If WalMart can't afford to pay a living wage (which varies in different parts of the country, so I'm not going to attempt to do the math here), why is it in business? I repeat, what good does it to for the Waltons to have no more consumers? You still didn't answer that question. I know it's easier to simply stop the thought process at the point where the Waltons buy another yacht and take it no further, but I'm waiting for someone to take this to the next step.
There is a min wage that is Federal so that wage applies all across the US.
You argue for a "livable wage" and there's never any detail from you livable wage people.
Go back to your talking points website and see if there are details.
How can you possibly argue for something you cannot discuss ?
You say "give them a livable wage". Ok..give us the details of that plan ?
How does it vary ? By COL, by CPI, by family size ?
You guys were given a talking point and nothing else.
Oh yeah..I'm sure the Waltons spend every weekend buying new yachts.
I don't lose sleep over what the Walton family does.
I"m still trying to picture this future non-economy according to the conservative playbook.
Just take a look at the birth rate of those receiving public assistance compared to the birth rate of those who don't. That will tell you all you need to know. Prepare accordingly.
I'm talking about the sales associates. There are 1.4 million of them according to the linked article. This article already figured out the logistics of raising their wages. It calculates that Walmart could pay the associates 20 % more, which would be a $5000 raise for the average sales associate --- and that would cost Walmart only $ 7 billion, which they can well afford. Walmart made $36 billion in operating profit last year.
to quote:
"The average Walmart associate Wake Up Walmart reports, makes $11.75 an hour. That's $20,744 per year. They also produce annual earnings that, in a one-earner household, are below the $22,000 poverty line."
"A $5,000 raise would be a 20% raise for the average Walmart associate. It would take the associate's household income above the poverty line. If the household is a two-Walmart-associate household, which many probably are, the raise would amount to $10,000 per year. This would take the household above the "low-income" line."
There is a min wage that is Federal so that wage applies all across the US.
You argue for a "livable wage" and there's never any detail from you livable wage people.
Go back to your talking points website and see if there are details.
How can you possibly argue for something you cannot discuss ?
You say "give them a livable wage". Ok..give us the details of that plan ?
How does it vary ? By COL, by CPI, by family size ?
You guys were given a talking point and nothing else.
Oh yeah..I'm sure the Waltons spend every weekend buying new yachts.
I don't lose sleep over what the Walton family does.
One page back I just posted about what might constitute a living wage for the average associate . Obviously if they are living and working in Boston, or Los Angeles or other high cost of living places then that wage might have to go higher.
A false dichotomy has been erected by people declaring themselves "the producer class" vs. "the dependent class."
But, where a single mother of two may work 40 hours+ as a waitress at a local diner, or a father works as a landscaper all day, they still may not be able to provide for their family. (Could be due to declining wages and benefits in these fields, among many other factors). Even IF their respective families have to receive Medicaid or school lunches for the kids.... are the waitress and landscaper REALLY "non producers?"
Arguably, the waitress and landscaper produce and work harder than a financier or investor.
The Capitalist economy requires an underclass of unskilled, low wage workers. Why demonize those who fulfill important sectors and functions in our economy. Just because something does not pay well, doesn't mean it's non-essential. And, just because something pays well doesn't mean its a valuable or even necessary part of the economy.
Another Faux News analogy that makes no sense and has no truth to it.
I'm not getting 'riled up'. I'm a bit indignant because many of the posts here are putting others down. Many of us provide services that can be done by others/don't directly generate anything. I don't delude myself into thinking that I'm that special little snowflake.
99.9 % of us are not that essential. Most any profession or job can be done by someone else, not just service jobs.
And here we have the true gist of the Republican party. They despise all those they consider poor or beneath them. And they don't try to disguise their disdain. Neither did the voters.
Liberals and Democrats despise businesses and anyone who does not depend on or buy into the Liberal agenda. There are always too sides of the argument.
a 5000 dollar raise to each employee..(2 million of them) would WIPE out all profits...causing the company to risk being bankrupt
for those hard at math
2 million x 5000 = 10 billion
there's some confusion here. The article I read and provided a link to said there are 1.4 million sales associates. There's the whole corporate side of Walmart---I'm not advocating raising their salaries. Also profits vary by year. In the article it said $25 billion profit. Another article I read said $36 billion.
And PS... if you expect a raise now your going to be disappointed, especially if you work for a small business.
Vote... Vote.... Vote your raise away... and that they did.
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