Is raising minimum wage nationwide a horrible idea?

[Mr Khan]

stlwtng4Dmdrxip said:

spurgeonryan said:

starcraft said:
I am sure people that will never live or expect to live on the minimum wage are more likely to think its a bad idea than people for whom it is their present and only realistic future.

I was on minimum wage after I got out of the military. I worked hard and now am a manager. Or you just continue to do well and get nice raises yearly. People should not just expect to start out at 15 dollars an hour. It has already happened. But I hope it does not happen in the rest of the country. Work hard people! Do no just expect things to be given to you.

Do you understand math? How many manager positions are there?

"Do no just expect things to be given to you". How condecending and falacious. The reality is that, the people that do the most work are the ones that get payed less.

This brings in the conflicting visions of "value" from the "Labor Theory" to the "productivity theory". The first states that labor should be valued according to how intensive or difficult it is, and has been favored by socialists of many stripes. The productivity theory has prevailed in the market system, in that you should be paid for what value you bring through what you are able to produce, whether that involves conducting complex, invasive surgery, or saying "i am famous, and by letting you take my photo, i will add PR value to your organization."

Neither theory is predicated upon the idea that we have certain economic needs to survive, and that these needs must be filled through some mechanism. A lot of what this thread has ignored is the idea that Minimum Wage hikes are only one tool among many to be used to alleviate poverty and want.