The Minimum wage

I different outlook on the minimum wage.

All throughout the 20^th century in America the minimum wage has been a tedious, however, massive point of debate and discussion. In general the American public have argued that the minimum wage is an absolutely essential part of the economy to ensure workers are not vigorously exploited, but, is this actually true in practice? What is the reason that after 12 years of government funded public education, citizens come out with virtually no economic value other than the minimum wage, if they are fortunate enough to have a job. Although the minimum wage has been continuously raised over the past 76 years it still isn’t a livable wage, why is this? In spite of popular belief the minimum wage has wreaked havoc on impoverished communities specifically the African American communities. The benefits of minimum wage are a reality with no doubt, however, the detriments caused by the minimum wage are too, real, and not to be dismissed.

            1938, the USA introduced the minimum wage. Now every worker was not to be paid bellow one quarter per hour, and has been raised 22 times since to attempt keep up with inflation. In theory and mostly in practice this prevented employers from underpaying their workers to maximize profits, but, it did other “stuff” too. Now that is about all I have to say that favors minimum wage, albeit a valid argument that stands on itself meaning it is clear, concise and irrefutable rendering it a strong argument at that.

            In the united states the government offers 12 grades of public education, education almost essential for any employer to look at you seriously. After completing successfully all 12 grades all a student has to show for an economic worth is the minimum wage. After 12 YEARS of government education the government is only willing to give their citizens minimum wage, a wage barely livable by today’s standards. Does public education offer courses in negotiation, sales tips, entrepreneurialship? If they do, it is very minimal and has little or no effect on their economic value. But why don’t we just scrap all of those course ideas; if schools would offer courses fully training one for a trade, but those are far and few between. So how does one draw themselves up from the depths of the minimum wage? It is commonly known that the skills and knowledge that one posses is directly proportionate to the wage one earns. Doctors receive higher wages because they are more knowledgeable, software engineers are paid more because they are too more knowledgeable. Pick up some books, read about economics, study harder in school so you do not have to endure the minimum wage (at least for very long).

            Now what was another REAL reason that the minimum wage was implemented? Well, if one were to look back to 1930 (pre minimum wage) the African American unemployment rate was lower than the rate for whites, and therefore sat lower than the national average! Why was this? Quite simply blacks were accepting jobs for lower wages than whites and thus occupied more of the lower level jobs than whites. This statistic was a thorn in the racist behinds of these slimy white Americans who scoffed at the idea of accepting jobs for less pay and spited the African American work force; hence, the introduction of the federal minimum wage in 38’. Now there was no reason to hire blacks over whites because all were to paid essentially equally, or at least not under the stated minimum wage. As a result the black unemployment steadily rose as did the poverty rates, so much so that by 2012 the black poverty rate was 27.3%, 3X as high as the white. These facts are often overlooked, and shouldn’t be when considering the minimum wage.

            Before 1964 American quarters were comprised of 90% silver. From 1956 �" 1960 the minimum wage was $1.00, this means 4 silver quarters, which would translate to about $20.00 today. By 1964 silver was removed entirely from newly produced coins. During President Roosevelt’s rein, he debased the twenty dollar bill that equated to 1 ounce of gold. Debasing currency means to remove the precious metal standard that represents the currency, giving the paper dollars themselves a separate economic value. 1971, President Richard Nixon debased all paper dollars from their gold standard. Due to the currency debasement they could now print more money on loan to the federal reserve creating a temporary influx of money into the economy under highly false pretenses. As a direct result of the currency debasement the current minimum wage is about 6X higher than in 56’, yet, with about half of the buying power.

            Now leading back to my point, what was supposed to happen with the displaced workers in the African American communities, and more specifically the women. Well, in place of lower wage employment came the welfare state to help the impoverished (very prominently blacks) through their unemployment woes. Where was the money for the funding of these programs supposed to come from? EASY! From the printing more debased currency! Do not get me wrong, the welfare state never was and never will be a healthy and viable solution for those below the poverty line, mainly due to the fact that; 1: It isn’t a livable or much less sustainable salary/(food stamps) and; 2: It is funded by fiat currency!, and thus artificial, however, legal tender.

            Black communities suffered immensely from the effects of the welfare state. With many African American men unemployed this left women with very little need for men financially, because they could just saunter over to the state and collect their welfare cheques and food stamps to attempt to support themselves and their children. As it became less crucial for women to chose men for their qualities as a provider, women, especially in the black communities were now choosing men based on lust and not on their abilities to put food on the table. Women now were more and more commonly in pursuit of lower quality men who would often leave as soon as they heard the dreadful “honey, I’m pregnant.” In 1950 17% of African American children lived in a home with their mother and not their father, by twenty ten this figure sky rocketed to 50%. In 1965 *note 5 years prior to the currency debasement, 8% of African American births occurred outside of wedlock, today that number stands at an alarming 72%. Now you might say that marriage is life choice for the man and the woman to make, however, marriage at it’s most truthful form is a natural institution where a man is vowing to spend an extended period of time (perhaps for life) where he provides her with protection and resources necessary to nurture and develop their young (humans having an incredibly elongated development compared to other mammals). So marriage is really for the children as far as I can see. in 1950 the amount of African American women married and living with their spouse was 53%, by 2010 25% were married and living with their husbands. Being a single parent is one of the single most difficult and nearly guaranteed to fail jobs known. As a single parent you have banking, you have groceries, you have laundry, you have cleaning, you have work and all of these duties equate you to having no time, and no money, and that means no time for your kids and no money for your kids. And worst of, a single parented child grows up accustomed to this life style and is often the most susceptible to repeating the cycle. When a racial community accounts for 13% of the population, however, also accounts for 50% of arrests involving homicide; and of that 13%, 16% of which are inmates in prison points to a brutal and inhuman sabotage of which many signs are pointing to the minimum wage, welfare state and the debasement of federal currency.

            One may be left saying, “I see how the minimum wage is detrimental, but, it still keeps employers from exploiting their employees?” Well this may be so, but, maybe there is another side to that argument. If it is true that nearly all corporation owners in the market are out to exploit their workers then who is to say that competitive exploitation wouldn’t occur? Say An employer pays his employee 10 dollars per hour, and the employee is generating 150 dollars per hour, a competitive employer will offer that worker 11 dollars per hour to come work for him, and so on, barring monopolies which are actually supported by the minimum wage in the way that a mandatory minimum wage is far more of a financial blow to small businesses than large corporations who can afford to pay many workers the minimum wage, where as small businesses can only afford to pay much less people the minimum wage. Monopolies can also be a result of government subsidies favoring larger corporations giving them an upper hand on a monopoly.

            A highly effective solution for the minimum wage may just be found by lowering taxes. Contrary to popular belief the minimum wage negatively affects the poor, by raising the mandatory paying wage as this means that less business can afford to hire more workers as I previously stated. By lowering taxes, such as business tax and income tax, an increase in budget results leaving more money for hiring more workers for higher more attractive wages, thus rendering the minimum wage mostly obsolete (in a perfect world of course).

           

            The Minimum wage continues to be a popular topic of the public and the politicians, and the answer always seems so simple: raise the minimum wage. But people don’t take into account the effect that that has on small businesses, people working lower level jobs and quite tragically the black communities in America. One should not be so quick to draw a conclusion about the minimum wage, do the research and then form a well informed opinion, because, it is our blind faith in what we are told and not are faith in what we research that is leading us so helplessly far down the rabbit hole.

 

-"U.S. Minimum Wage History." U.S. Minimum Wage History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014.

- "The Dollar Vigilante Blog." Don't Bother Raising The Minimum Wage. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.

- http://m.youtube.com/?g/=CA#/user/stefbot (Youtube channel of my inspiration for this article, check out his videos on the minimum wage!)

- "The Black Family Is Worse Off Today Than In the 1960�™s, Report Shows Tweet." The Black Family Is Worse Off Today Than In the 1960�™s, Report Shows. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.

 

 

 

Author's Note

Criticize away!