berniesrevolution:

mypadhasfallenoff:

berniesrevolution:

So, what you are telling me is that you think that if fast food workers get paid $15 an hour that everyone else’s wages would stay the same.

This line of thinking requires a lack of understanding of economics. That just isn’t how it works. If an EMT can quit and make the same money “flipping burgers” most of those EMT’s would leave their much more stressful jobs and go work for a fast food company. 

But EMT’s are still needed, Hospitals would lose massive revenues if there is no one to treat people on the way to the hospital. If the patient dies on the way to the hospital, they will have a hard time billing for treatments, since they cannot give any. As the number of EMT’s drops, it would become necessary for companies to pay EMT’s more so that they could attract and/or keep EMT’s. In turn, the wages for EMT’s would rise.

I have answered an ask similar to this in the past, so I am just going to quote myself:

“We have made huge gains in productivity in this country on the backs of middle class and lower class workers. These gains in productivity mean that a current minimum wage worker has to be doing more fiscally productive work throughout their shift than they had to 45+ years ago.

So why is it, that when adjusted for inflation, we are paying minimum wage workers less than their counterparts 45+ years ago made. They are doing more work and creating more in profits than their past counterparts, why do they deserve less?

If the minimum wage had just kept pace with inflation since 1968 we would have a minimum wage of $10.90 right now.

If the minimum wage had kept place with productivity since 1968 we would have a minimum wage of $21.72

These facts lead me to some interesting questions you might want to consider.

If the wealthy have been taking almost $14 per hour of work from each minimum wage worker, how much do you think they take from you?

If the minimum wage was $21.72 an hour, how much more do you think you would be compensated now if your boss knew you could go get a job flipping burgers for over $45,000 a year?

See when you argue that others people’s wages should be kept below a living wage, or below productivity increases, all you are doing is arguing for a lower wage for yourself.

Those minimum wage jobs act as competition for workers time. If they are paying enough to lure away good prospects from other jobs, the compensation for those other jobs must be raised if other companies want to retain the talent they have or to acquire new talent.  

As a consumer, options are good for you. The more options you have for work, the higher your wages are going to be. The more options you have in product choice, the lower you will pay for a good.

These are simple economic truths.

But if you want to still argue that all of our wages should be kept down because minimum wage workers don’t “deserve” $15 an hour, by all means, go ahead.”

- @theliberaltony

The problem with this is that the person doesn’t understand that once everybody gets paid more, companies will just make prices higher. The 5$ gallon of milk will become a 7$ gallon of milk after a few years.

Are prices constrained by supply and demand or are they not?

Has the basic law of capitalistic economics been lying to us the whole time and prices are actually constrained by the wages of those who are paid the least in society?