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By and large those who oppose it are not evil for the sake of evil but concerned that the alternative is not a higher minimum wage but no wage at all as workers

by gaius 9y ago

By and large those who oppose it are not evil for the sake of evil but concerned that the alternative is not a higher minimum wage but no wage at all as workers in unskilled jobs are replaced by self-service or automation. McDonalds is already doing it. The answer is using technology as a lever to help people do higher-value-adding work and incentivising people to upskill into those jobs after a brief period at entry level. Not raising the level of entry level so high that it pulls the ladder up. I say this as someone who started working before the minimum wage even existed, at a fraction of what it was when it was introduced.

wolco 9y ago
I don't believe raising rates will have the damning effect of pushing automation where it is already not going. A few years ago I saw my first self grocery checkout and the self ordering machine at a&w or the machine to buy tickets at a movie theatre. These things were coming before and shouldn't be part of the discussion where we assign it as the outcome of the wage increase.
TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
> The answer is using technology as a lever to help people do higher-value-adding work and incentivising people to upskill into those jobs after a brief period at entry level. Ideally this would happen, but those jobs just aren't opening up for most of the country. Socioeconomic mobility is on the decline[1], and like I showed already, the lower class is growing considerably. The ladder is already being pulled up & automation (and outsourcing) is already occurring, regardless of the current minimum wage. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_...
35bge57dtjku 9y ago
The people who complain about it seem to be owners who just complain because complaining is free and any they are against increase whatsoever: http://www.workingwa.org/sky-aloft/2015/tom-douglas http://www.workingwa.org/sky-aloft/2015/tom-douglas
- gaius 9y ago
  We have the situation in the UK where people on minimum wage get top-ups via the welfare system which makes no sense, I'd like to see an increase sufficient to negate that, because it's just taxpayers subsidising businesses! But £15/hr for unskilled work can't be justified. £9-10/hr is probably about right.

by gaius 9y ago

wolco 9y ago

I don't believe raising rates will have the damning effect of pushing automation where it is already not going. A few years ago I saw my first self grocery checkout and the self ordering machine at a&w or the machine to buy tickets at a movie theatre. These things were coming before and shouldn't be part of the discussion where we assign it as the outcome of the wage increase.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago

> The answer is using technology as a lever to help people do higher-value-adding work and incentivising people to upskill into those jobs after a brief period at entry level. Ideally this would happen, but those jobs just aren't opening up for most of the country. Socioeconomic mobility is on the decline[1], and like I showed already, the lower class is growing considerably. The ladder is already being pulled up & automation (and outsourcing) is already occurring, regardless of the current minimum wage. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_...

35bge57dtjku 9y ago

The people who complain about it seem to be owners who just complain because complaining is free and any they are against increase whatsoever: http://www.workingwa.org/sky-aloft/2015/tom-douglas http://www.workingwa.org/sky-aloft/2015/tom-douglas

gaius 9y ago
We have the situation in the UK where people on minimum wage get top-ups via the welfare system which makes no sense, I'd like to see an increase sufficient to negate that, because it's just taxpayers subsidising businesses! But £15/hr for unskilled work can't be justified. £9-10/hr is probably about right.