It's above my paygrade Hedonist. I just believe if there's a choice between people being productively employed versus living off the dole, productive employment is a better option for everyone, employer, employee and taxpayer. Yes, competition should set wages, of course.
Originally Posted by Tiny
Not in my scenario it isn't. As a voting citizen, I would give you and the rest of us voters, the right to say how this "wage theory" should work. If you and I agree, and it seems as if we do, competition should set the wage level, then the only thing State and federal government would have to say about the matter is, there should be some kind of safety net to keep Americans from starving. If jobs at a living wage, decided by the government with the consent of the people, truly aren't available, we don't make people take a job that doesn't pay this living wage. They are therefore" unemployed" and entitled to benefits that we through our Representatives set.This puts the responsibility on all of us and not the particular business owner who knows what he can pay and can't pay. If he can pay but he just doesn't want to, he'll be out of business. .
Nothing concerning government is above our pay grade to figure out. That is counter intuitive to the whole idea of Democracy.
"We" figure this shit out since "we" will be paying for it. The reason we are in this mess is because to many of us don't want to figure this out and leave it to people who have little or no skin in the game.
But the bottom line is, should be, that no business owner can be told what they must pay, period. Then "we" figure it out from there. I don't pretend to have all the answers to what we should do but I know damn well what we shouldn't do and "you must pay a wage that will put you out of business", is not it. What can or can't be payed in one town, in what state, can not, should not be decided by the federal government unless one can show me were the Constitution gives the federal government that right.