(July 30, 2019 at 9:38 am)vulcanlogician Wrote: A great majority of people want to work but can't. Do you think they should swallow their pride and work at Arby's? I'd rater give 20% of my income just to ensure they don't have to work at Arby's. Like you, I've never been on welfare. But I don't see welfare recipients as "freeloaders."
You have to look at the big picture. The Arby's corporation itself is the real freeloader.
"But they make so much work is done," you may object. "They generate wealth." So what? What does Arby's do that is more important than what a welfare mother does? Sell shitty roast beef sandwiches? So what? I've known welfare recipients that put Arby's to shame if you consider love and compassion more valuable than shitty roast beef.
But we don't live in a country that values love and compassion. We live in a country that values shitty roast beef. Yee ha! Let's pass these values on to our children.
I don't disagree and didn't really address the issue of corporations who pay less than the cost of living to an employee. That fast food employee is making little enough to qualify for government subsidies. That's the sort of job that keeps the poor "poor enough" to qualify for benefits, but if they move up to a sustaining job, they lose all their benefits. So in addition to being a form of corporate welfare (it is), the benefits are a poverty trap.
The welfare benefits allow a fast food joint to pay less than the cost of labor. But it's not so easy to just raise the minimum wage to make the problem disappear. If the labor subsidy is removed, it will incentivize corporations to rely more on capital (automation) than labor. The minimum wage probably does need to be increased, but a sudden large increase would likely be harmful due to disruptions it would cause--maybe phase it in over 4-5 years and index it to inflation. Everyone should be prepared, though, for some uptick in unemployment at the lower end of the labor market. By subsidizing low cost labor, we have only slowed down the pace of automation in retail and service industries.
