Any other centrist atheists?

[Ryantology]

Watch Penn & Teller's Bullshit episode on Wal-Mart.

I worked for Wal-Mart for seven years. I know better than Penn and Teller.

I'm glad you agree with me though; being paid something is much better than being paid nothing. Hence why the minimum wage is such a silly concept. Being paid less than minimum wage might suck, but it is better than being paid absolutely nothing.

That makes no sense to me. Being paid something is better than nothing. Being paid a living wage is better than being paid too little to live on. I know we have a fundamental disagreement on this issue, but I believe that a company which can afford to pay its workers a living wage should do so. A company which earns $16 billion in profits can afford to pay workers more than just above minimum wage. That, of course, does not factor how much tax money goes to make up for what Wal-Mart won't pay, so that employees can afford to live. I pay Wal-Mart workers even though I do not shop there, because their employer refuses to. I do not like this, but I like much less the idea that Wal-Mart should be allowed to pay them a fraction of this, because that is a company which would pay next to nothing if they could get away with it. And, people would still work for them, especially if employment was necessary to receive benefits. It would mean that either hard working people would be living in disgusting poverty, or the majority of a hard working person's income would come from government assistance.

I believe in a minimum wage which is enough for a person to live a decent life. Will that drive some people out of business? Sure it will. But, there will always be entrepreneurs. There will be those who will accept paying real wages to their employers even if they don't earn as much profit. Stripping robber barons of absolute power over employees did not destroy the economy, neither will this. After all, you will have a burgeoning working class which has significant purchasing power. I prefer this to the unregulated free-market, which seems, to me, a certain disaster.