Reply to Minimum Wage = Living Wage?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]IMO, the immigrant PP's story is not altogether unusual. There are several people at my place of work who have the same backgrounds and have achieved considerable success despite the odds.

If I had to identify a single characteristic that seems to be the common thread among them it is the lack of a sense of entitlement. They feel that to get ahead they have to work hard and earn it. It is this same attitude they are able to inculcate into their children which is why many of these kids also excel in school and college. Immigrants who come to the US frequently come from countries where there is no social safety net. They don't expect the government to bail them out and certainly know that employers will not do so. So they come here expecting to make it on their own and with the opportunities the US offers many of them excel.

I think there is a lesson in it for us. I am not arguing for eliminating the social safety net but I think we would do well to be more selective about who qualifies for it and how long it lasts. A culture of dependence merely breeds more dependence.[/quote]

PP here that the immigrant PP responded to.  I think he is simplyfying things somewhat.  Those countries with no social safety net are also the ones with the biggest income disparities.

I agree 100% on the social safety net issue.  But something has to give, right? If you decrease the social safety net but yet do not want to pay a wage that closes the gap (or comes close to it), where does that leave you?  I am all for breaking the cycle of dependence on the social safety net.  But you are either going to have to pay higher wages or pay more money for education and job training.

I am simplyfying the issue for the purposes of this discussion.  But if we pay higher wages, let's assume that less people are dependent on the social safety net.  Then the government can either lower my taxes (or redeploy that money elsewhere more useful).  To the extent I pay lower taxes, I can invest that money or spend it at these businesses.  In the best case, the business owner will see an increase in revenue or will have access to more capital to offset the higher wages.

My initial point is that to the extent the businesses are not paying a "living" wage, the taxpayers are bridging the gap. We can debate "hard work = success" until we are blue in the face.  But that does not help us NOW! [/quote]

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