Minimum wage

Minimalism: Why The Minimum Wage Should

Be Increased.

By Lorenzo Cannon-Umstead

Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37646391@N00/2264155856/">Harrison Brooks</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/general/#147">cc</a>

Friday, October 11, 2013

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http://www.flickr.com/help/general/#147

•Minimum Wage Introduced To The United States in 1938: $4.10 (In Todays Dollars)

•Minimum Wage Today: 7.25/hour. Equals to about a $15,000 Salary Annually.


• If the Working Class does not fight to raise the Minimum Wage, the working class will always be exploited and oppressed by the Capitalist system.


Exploited?• The working class is exploited

because they produce the most labor out of any class in this country. But somehow they manage to receive the lowest of wages from the Million dollar companies they work for.


Oppressed?

• The working class is oppressed because systems like capitalism and minimum wage works to oppress the working class. The Bourgeoisie class or the higher income classes depends on the hard work and labor of the working class so that they can keep their high income. This is called oppression. I have personal experience with this based on the company’s I have worked for.


Take Action

• In order to fight this oppression, individually or collectively, the working class needs to demonstrate at their places of employment and write letters to those who serve in high office within their companies and those in public office in their respective municipalities and/or states.


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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/54139265@N00/9402829566/">Annette Bernhardt</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>Friday, October 11, 2013









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Just Think....Ask...

• $7.25/an hour equals out to almost $15,000 a year. Is that suitable to live off of?


• Some of these corporations are worth Billions of dollars, the people who are employed, that lay most of the groundwork for these company receives the lowest of wages. Is this equitable?


• Is This Not Exploitation Of Labor? Is This Not Oppression?


Is It Enough?

• $15,000/ annually is not enough to live off of. Especially if this household has children. In fact living of of $15,000 per year is living well below the poverty line.


Is This Fair Equity?

•No. Fair Equity acts in propriety and rightness. It is not impartial or bias. Minimum wage acts in being impartial and unfair.


Is This Not Exploitation?

• This is exploitation. The labor of the proletariat class is exploited through their work. This is what capitalism does. The work of the lower class is depended on by the rich, and/or the One Percent.


Capitalism

•Capitalism in theory is perfect. Its just when it is put in to action, these types of evils take place and shape.


Public Officials are for the increase of Minimum Wage.

• According to Wing (2013), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made a case for increasing the minimum wage last week during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, in which she cited a study that suggested the federal minimum wage would have stood at nearly $22 an hour today if it had kept up with increased rates in worker productivity.

• She also stated, “with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, what happened to the other $14.75? It sure didn't go to the worker." (Wing, 2013).

• Wing, Nick . "Elizabeth Warren: Minimum Wage Would Be $22 An Hour If It Had Kept Up With Productivity." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-minimum-wage_n_2900984.html>.


http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=b7e4d7fc-5056-a032-52f3-dcd089d46121




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-minimum-wage_n_2900984.html




Small Business are in favor of the increase.

• Klein (2013) Says, President Barack Obama’s recent proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour by the end of 2015 has an unlikely ally: a sizable swath of America’s 6 million small employers. Historically, lobbyists representing small business almost unanimously condemned any increases in the federal minimum wage, arguing employers would be forced to fire workers. Now, with public anger over income inequality deepening and economic research challenging the notion that higher wages suppress employment, a growing number of small business advocates support a hike. (Klein, 2013).

• Klein, Karen E.. "Higher Minimum Wage? Small Business Doesn't Mind - Businessweek." Businessweek - Business News, Stock market & Financial Advice. Businessweek, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-21/higher-minimum-wage-small-business-doesnt-mind>.


http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-21/higher-minimum-wage-small-business-doesnt-mind




An end to Income Inequality. • Cooper (2013) found the following: A minimum wage of $7.25 is not

enough to live on. Full-time minimum-wage workers today earn about $15,000 a year. In 1968, they earned about $20,000 per year in today's dollars. While certainly not enough for a life of luxury, it is enough for a family of three to stay above the poverty line – which can't be said for today's minimum-wage workers.Many of these workers have to rely on public assistance such as food stamps or the earned income tax credit, because their wages are simply too low. Programs like the EITC are important protections against poverty, but we shouldn't let them act as subsidies to low-wage employers, who currently pay lower wages because the American taxpayer will make up the difference. We need to re-establish the basic labor standard that if you work full time, you'll earn at least enough to get by. If we raised the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour, nearly 30 million American workers would get a raise, nine million of whom are parents. And contrary to popular misconception, most of these workers are not teenagers working part time: 88 percent are at least 20 years old, and 55 percent work full time. (Cooper, 2013).

• Cooper, David. "Raising the Minimum Wage Will Reduce Income Inequality - US News and World Report." US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and more. N.p., 10 May 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/10/raising-the-minimum-wage-will-reduce-income-inequality>.

•Friday, October 11, 2013

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/10/raising-the-minimum-wage-will-reduce-income-inequality




•Based on my research, I am not the only one who feels this way. The system we live in is not equitable and I believe it is set up this way for certain individuals to fail and some to succeed.


• Until the working class fights to get what they truly deserve, they will always be oppressed in this system until the day they die.


Career

Minimum wage