Our president argued well. "No one who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty," he said. And, later, "Give America a raise."
He wants to increase the minimum wage to $10.10. Perhaps you, with me, consider that in a just society -- an enlightened and highly developed society -- everyone who works full-time should be living outside of poverty.
But is this allure from President Obama something that can be achieved? Is it, as we say, something that is true? With a wave of the wand and a simple stroke of the pen, can we end poverty in America? For, if it is, we should surely do it. Or, is it a mirage? If we raise the minimum wage to $10.10, will it drive some businesses under? Or, will it instead simply spark inflation till $10.10 means no more than $7.25 does now? A few years down the road, will we find ourselves saying, "It is still true. No one who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty." And, we decide to up the minimum wage to $13.13?
Is there bad fortune in this? It might be that we cannot simply legislate an end to poverty this way. Have we not looked around at the world's economies and saw the danger of spiralling inflation? Do we not see ours teetering enough with the national deficit? We have imagined we can spend seemingly unlimited amounts, and no grim result will find us. Do we now want to add spiraling inflation to the mix?
I sit wondering. Surely there are things government can do to reduce poverty. If they are sound decisions, let's make them. Is this one of them? Perhaps it is. But, on the flip side, I wonder if we should refamiliarize ourselves with the story of the Pie-eyed Piper, and consider that that storyline might be our lot.
Of course we would love it if everyone working full-time lived outside the poverty line. If we think up solutions -- sound ones -- and work hard enough to achieve them, I believe it can be done. But just saying it is going to be so -- declaring it by executive order or by legislative decree -- is not going to make it so.
Oh, forgive, but I do wonder but what this amounts to government by fairy tale, as if government can wish for a thing, and it becomes so.
Well, though my fears are well-placed, though I have stated them well, perhaps this "giving America a raise" might work. The federal minimum wage has long been around. As it was instituted in 1938, someone could argue it helped lift us out of the Great Depression. Among the recent increases are upages in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Notice: no mass inflation.
I do wonder if the price of fastfood has increased, and if there have been raises in other products affected by the minimum wage. I do consider that that first minimum wage in 1938 was but 25 cents an hour. I have no time to study, but the U.S. has had inflation. I would imagine studies exist on whether they have been associated with minimum-wage hikes. I just have no time to study that for purposes of this post.
I think perhpas to study whether fastfood has increased of the past few years. Perhaps I will not get around to it. Perhaps I will. Hamburger Inflation, we could call it.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm
I think you have valid concerns. I agree someone working shouldn't be raising family in poverty, but not sure raising the minimum wage is the way to achieve it. I fear if all jobs were paid enough to support a family, that teenagers would lose work opportunities or if those jobs were available lose incentive to broaden their skills.
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