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Self-interest overrides politics in this case. Forcing employers to pay more is also likely to be preferable to helping the low-paid in a way that involved rais

• Consultant32452 9y ago
  Of course, but the overriding self interest here is wanting to not be inconvenienced by seeing the poor, not some altruistic idea that everyone who works a full week deserves a wealthy Western-style "living wage." Just starting with the notion that 70% of the world's population lives on less than $10 per day should shine some serious light on how silly the idea is that there's enough resources and money on the planet for everyone to live a lifestyle commensurate with Western "living wage." There's a lot of talk about the 1% lately... if you're in Australia, or America, etc. you're almost certainly in the global 1%, even if you're relatively "poor."
  • incompatible 9y ago
    Shortage of money is never the issue, governments can print as much as they like. Supply of labour obviously isn't an issue either. The question is why this labour can't be used to produce goods and services in the way that Western countries manage to do, and the answers probably relate to education, poor practices in government and society such as corruption, or lack of capital (in the form of buildings, machinery, roads etc.)