What wage is just?

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Just because I believe in a just wage for people in thiscountry does make me a liberal.
Of course, it makes it easier for some of you folks to blame everything on the media, liberals, Hollywood, people of color, John McCain, seniors, or whomever.
 
The classic example of a company that has always paid a low wage is McDonald’s.

The business model is not flawed. It’s fast food sold at cheap prices. Up until fairly recent, most of the employees were teenagers trying to earn money to buy some LPs (or CDs or whatever), go out on a date or with friends, and possibly save for a beater car.

But government regulations made it difficult to staff McDonalds (or any restaurant) with minors (under age 18 in the U.S.). They can’t run the fry machine, or use any sharp implements, or lift a certain weight, etc.

So McDonald’s tends not to hire teens anymore. They hire elderly people if they are able to do the work (and a lot of elderly folks want a little extra spending money and the chance to get out of the house and be with people). OR…they hire able-bodied young adults and middle-aged adults who are expecting McDonald’s to pay a living wage–why?!

In order for McDonald’s to pay a living wage, they have to upgrade their food to attract bigger spenders (not people like me who are grabbing a burger at 11:00 p.m after working a double shift, and I just want something really fast!).

But that’s not what McDonald’s is about! It’s about fast food sold cheap. It’s been a business model that has worked well for over 50 years, and now it’s not working so well because they can’t possible pay a living wage to someone who is making fries and taking orders!

So now McDonald’s is installing ordering kiosks, which reduces the need to hire a human being to run the counter. And they can still hire adults to cook and prep the food and they will be able to pay them more after cutting out the counter help. Is this really for the best? I don’t think so. Teens need places to get a job while they are minors and learn “how to work.” With this new business model, McDonald’s won’t be that place. 😦 The grown-ups took all their jobs away.
 
The grownups did not take the jobs away. A system in which old people have to work because they cannot supplement retirement benefits and pay for overpriced medication forced these folks into taking jobs like McDonalds.
Then McDonalds chose to go the kiosks route to allow themselves to make more profit. Eventually, they would have phased out the kids.
 
The real question should be, what is a just wage for the people at the top?

How do people like Gates, Buffett etc deserve their billions?
 
It may have been a business model that worked for a half century, but that it worked is no guarantee that it will continue to work. And really, automation is going to come regardless of what wages are paid. That may be staved off by allowing wages to fall, but it won’t stop it forever.
 
They earned it on the backs of working-class people. They did not earn every one of those dollars all by themselves.
 
Sorry, you are not a liberal in the classical sense. You are a leftist. The fact that you call Fox News conspiracy theory and play the race card and the throw grandma off a cliff card proves it to me, not the fact that you feel there should be a fair wage.
 
ewohdrol said:
But then I live in a nation where homelessness is rare
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The facts don’t support you. Try doing a simple Google search. The rate of homelessness in Australia is almost double that of the United States. I had to tell a German friend of mine the same thing. People go to NYC or Chicago or Hawaii and then think they know the US as a whole.
 
I must point out, this being a Catholic forum, that some in this thread are basically accusing others of gluttony while themselves are guilty of envy. Please don’t be hypocritical. One deadly sin is not more noble than another.

Perfect timing but this video just came out. It’s a Catholic video blog.
 
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YourNameHere said:
They earned it on the backs of working-class people. They did not earn every one of those dollars all by themselves.
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I tend to agree with this. McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook’s total compensation nearly doubled to $15.4 million last year. The only way he could do that is to overcharge his customers ( franchisees ) and cut costs. Whatever is left over he keeps.
 
In my opinion, a just wage is one that would disqualify that person alone (NOT A FAMILY!!) from receiving welfare in their area. If a person wants a just wage family-wise, they need to look at jobs that are not minimum wage. If they aren’t qualified for anything else, they need to work on obtaining those skills.
 
Exactly! Or they don’t and they lose business. I think some people have a problem with free will and choice and want the government to control everything. It’s quite bizarre seeing people with freedom fighting to give it away.
 
esieffe said:
And that would be a perfect fit for the two of you. However your scenario is not typical. A minimum wage, something we have had for quite a while, under which western civilization continued to prosper, is there to prevent exploitation.
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Actually it would. It would work for teens, or those college students looking for a little spending money. It would work for those looking to supplement their social security. It would work for a stay at home mom looking for what used to be called egg money.

It would work for many people.
 
We need a balance. Some regulations. Not overly regulated or under regulated. That is when the system works.
 
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