What are your thoughts on the "Fight for $15?"

Many,many small businesses will go OUT of business if they have to pay $15 HR wages, In Washington State, Seattle alone saw close to a thousand small businesses close their doors. A lose-lose situation. Closed doors means employees are terminated....
Thanks,
Rick

Maybe the large companies can afford to pay a $15.00 minimum wage, but the small businesses can't. By raising the minimum wage the small companies will be put between a rock and a hard place trying to pay their employees.

People get paid for bringing value to the marketplace.  Now, it takes time to bring value to the marketplace, but we don't get paid for time.  It's very important for people to understand that.  One might argue, "Well I'm making $20 for an hour!" -- Not true!  If that was true you could just stay home and have them send you money. No, you get paid for the VALUE you put INTO the time.  Now since that's true, here's a key question: Is it possible to become twice as valuable, and make twice as much money, in the same amount of time? How about three times?  Is that possible? OF COURSE!  All you have to do to make more money in the same amount of time is to simply become more valuable.


America's unique; it's a ladder to climb.  Right now it starts around what? $7 an hour? The big argument right now is where the starting point is:  "Should be 15! Should be 10!  Should be 8! There should be no minimum!"  Well, it doesn't need to be 15, and it doesn't need to be 10 or 8.  What's wrong with the current wage? It's a ladder!  A ladder to climb. It's not a bed.  So it starts at around $7 right now, and people are saying, "Should be $15! Should be $15! Should be $15!"  Well.... Maybe.  If you're planning on staying at the bottom your whole life, maybe it should be $15.  But that's sort of a pitiful way to live -- start and not grow? Start and not change? Start and not become more valuable?


So, America's ladder starts at around $7 an hour, and the top income last year was around $400 million.  Now, the question is, would a company really pay someone that much money?  The answer is: OF COURSE!  If you help a company make $20 billion, would they pay you $400 million? OF COURSE!  It's chicken feed!  "Well, why that much money though?"  Because he/she has become so: VALUABLE.


"Why do we pay some people only $7 an hour?"  Well, because they're not very valuable to the MARKETPLACE (also known as 'reality'). There are many values.  You can be a valuable parent,  a valuable member of the community or church.  But to the marketplace, which is called 'reality', reality is if you're not very valuable, you don't get much MONEY.  Those are called: the FACTS!  It's blunt.  But it's true, and timeless.


People say, "Well, I'll just go on strike for more money."  Well, here's a major problem with that: You can't get rich by demand.
"Well I'm waiting for a raise."  I'm telling you, it's easier to climb than to WAIT for a raise.  Why not just become more valuable rather than wait?  Why would we pay someone $500 an hour? They've become more valuable.  I'm telling you, this stuff is so easy.  This is America, it's a LADDER.  How far is it from $7 to $8?  It's not far.  If you work at McDonalds and take out the trash you'll get $7 an hour. If you WHISTLE while you take out the trash you'll get $8 an hour.  I'm tellin' ya, you'll get an extra dollar just for having a good attitude.   $8, and then you just keep becoming more valuable, more valuable, more valuable.  


"The key is to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.  If you work hard on your job, you'll make a living.  If you work hard on yourself? You'll make a fortune."          -- Jim Rohn

I'm not sure if anyone has discussed this angle...

Raising minimum wage only serves to remove more incentive for those living in lower than middle class to advance their lives, just like welfare, Medicaid, endless unemployment, the affordable care act, snap, the list goes on, and on, and on. The FACT is that minimum wage jobs aren't supposed to be long term careers, they are supposed to be stepping stones to more, jobs for high school students, kids in collage, people trying to get back on their feet. The more we increase the minimum wage the less value skilled jobs have and the less people will aspire to them. It's rediculas, to raise minimum wage to the levels paid to skilled laborers. 

Sorry - Meant Government kindness.

I'll let this guy say it for me... http://lowpayisnotok.org/

Performance based bonuses for executives might be impacted in order to keep costs down to a level that customers may be willing to pay... Damn, that'll suck.

2 Possible Outcomes:

1- Automation: Machines are cheaper than overpaid unskilled labor. (Overpaid as defined my market conditions.) If the government has to artificially inflate wages to double the current artificially inflated rate, then cheaper non-health insurance requiring machines may be the answer.

2- Further marginalization of the uneducated, and unskilled.
      OK So now McDonald's is paying 15 an hour, which means that all the unemployed workers who refused to apply to McDonald's because of the lower wages, will now apply( So long as their bottom income point isn't above 15.00/hour). Because 'better' employees are available, McDonald's will fire those less desireable employees that they 'had' to keep because of what they were willing to accept as their pay rate.

Because they have 'better'  employees they will need fewer employees (and in fact will be able to afford fewer employees based on current payroll budgets).

I am OK with this insomuch as I get a better product, faster. However, It may also result in an increase in price (Which is also fine since I am getting a better product, faster) relative to the markets tolerance to price increase( In other words, 'How expensive will people let a Big Mac get before they stop buying').

So here are your Endstates:

1- More entry level technical jobs available (to fix the newly fielded machines). With possibly 100's of thousands newly out of work, and on government welfare (As opposed to the McWelfare they were receiving)

2- People who 'could only get a job at Walmart or McDonald's' now completely marginalized, and unemployable, with about half as many people coming off the unemployment rolls (and onto the Under Employment rolls) to fill the vacant spots, and a few high-speed McWorkers moving up a bit on the under employment rolls.

Either way, not the Utopian Paradise Economic Liberals seem to think it will be. 

We can not raise the minimum wage for unskilled workers to be on par with skilled workers.  If the minimum wage went up 7.5 dollars I would expect my wages to go up a similar amount, no that wouldn't be right either because that is a 100% increase in wages so my wage should go up 20 dollars and hour.  Oh this makes my head hurt, why do so many adults end up working a dead end job at places that only offer minimum wage. Maybe if we can get to the bottom of this and figure a way for these people to get better jobs and leave the minimum wage jobs for kids and students.  Also I know several people that they would end up losing money because of all the state benefits they gain from being in the poverty level 15$ an hour would put them just above and lose healthcare, housing, and foodstamps.