Today, many of the nations fast food workers walked out on their jobs in protest of low wages. Many of these employees are part of the "Fight for 15" which is a movement that started out of Chicago and NYC calling for a raise in the Federal Minimum Wage from $7.25 to $15.00 an hour. The organizers of this movement are essentially asking for a federal Living Wage and I believe it is time such a wage is enacted.
What the anti-minimum wage folks forget is that prices don't NEED to be raised if there is a raise in minimum wage. Prices are only raised because corporate executives need to keep their PROFIT MARGINS increasing so that their stock options (that they own) stay sky high. The facts are that corporate pay over the last 30 years in the US have increased over 600% while worker wages have remain stagnant, and of course the cost of living has skyrocketed. Another thing that the anti-minimum wage people fail to consider is that the corporate strategy of paying people low wages is costing the tax-payers millions of dollars. Every year, our tax money goes to subsidize the Walmarts and McDonalds of the world because over 60% of their employees apply for public assistance. These companies are so blatant about scamming the American public that they openly teach their employees on how to apply for federal benefits. In conclusion, and perhaps the ultimate slap in the face, is that these companies that WE are subsidizing are making record breaking profits yearly!! Opportunity in our country is shrinking as the millionaires in billionaires that run our country destroy the middle and working classes. How much is enough for them? How many billions? The anti minimum wage folks need to read their history. Here is the late Ted Kennedy to explain it to everyone:
The “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” Nelson Mandela once said,This is Mandela's message to my 7 year old daughter and her generation. It is the duty of OUR generation to pass this message on to our children and/or the children in our lives, to help create a society where our kids generation can eradicate poverty by identifying and destroying the root causes of poverty - greed, avarice and the lust for power, that consume the minds of the sociopaths that currently control our society/world. Regular folks can do this by simply caring for each other as fellow humans, and working together for the interests of all rather than for the interests of a few.
