4 ms·

The problem is that we have not legally mandated that the wage that companies in America pay employees must be enough to obtain that minimum standard of living

The problem is that we have not legally mandated that the wage that companies in America pay employees must be enough to obtain that minimum standard of living and so companies don't pay it. It's not a special tax on companies that require low skilled labor, it's a tax on companies that don't pay there low skilled labor enough to live on. I'm on the fence to whether this bill is a good idea or a bad one but to be clear this is more than just let's hit big companies in the pocket. Compare Amazon vs Costco for instance. Both require low skilled workers but Amazon, a company with a trillion dollar market cap, pays it's employees relatively peanuts for how much the company itself makes whereas Costco pays it employees so well, and provides enough perks that it is regularly cited as one of the best places to work. That's the difference here.

fiter 8y ago
I'd rather think about this in the context of healthcare. It would be nice if we had healthcare for all, because it would make hiring people easier, and people could have healthcare even if they aren't employed. This Stop BEZOS Act is like mandating that employers provide healthcare. Why not give healthcare to everyone and avoid the implementation cost for every businesses?
- neon_electro 8y ago
  This is an interesting point - if we passed Medicare for All tomorrow, what would that mean in the context of this act?
harryh 8y ago
A minimum wage well above the market rate would also be a special tax on some employers while letting others off the hook. An employer is not your mother. Just because you go to work for someone, it does not automatically endow them with a special responsibility to make sure you can afford to live your life in the way a bunch of other people say that you should be able to. When we (as a citizenry) get together and decide on how we want to support each other we can't just pawn off the costs of that decision on a 3rd party. We have to accept those costs ourselves.
erik_seaberg 8y ago
Costco needs a lot less labor for their volume. They stock by forklift (which is why selection is limited) and customers pick and pack. We have a serious unemployment problem that will only get worse with automation. Rather than tying survival to work, I'd rather see UBI and workers who won't take abuse because they're only working part-time for beer money.

fiter 8y ago

I'd rather think about this in the context of healthcare. It would be nice if we had healthcare for all, because it would make hiring people easier, and people could have healthcare even if they aren't employed. This Stop BEZOS Act is like mandating that employers provide healthcare. Why not give healthcare to everyone and avoid the implementation cost for every businesses?

neon_electro 8y ago
This is an interesting point - if we passed Medicare for All tomorrow, what would that mean in the context of this act?

harryh 8y ago

A minimum wage well above the market rate would also be a special tax on some employers while letting others off the hook. An employer is not your mother. Just because you go to work for someone, it does not automatically endow them with a special responsibility to make sure you can afford to live your life in the way a bunch of other people say that you should be able to. When we (as a citizenry) get together and decide on how we want to support each other we can't just pawn off the costs of that decision on a 3rd party. We have to accept those costs ourselves.

erik_seaberg 8y ago

Costco needs a lot less labor for their volume. They stock by forklift (which is why selection is limited) and customers pick and pack. We have a serious unemployment problem that will only get worse with automation. Rather than tying survival to work, I'd rather see UBI and workers who won't take abuse because they're only working part-time for beer money.