4 ms·
Yeah, it seems like we're just talking past each other. I am aware that paying people less than minimum wage is illegal, as I am sure was the original poster to
by rcoveson 6y ago
Yeah, it seems like we're just talking past each other. I am aware that paying people less than minimum wage is illegal, as I am sure was the original poster to whom you replied. However, pointing out that something is illegal is not the end of a discussion about that thing. If it were, laws would never change. The point of my 18th century town illustration was not to "convince a judge", it was to demonstrate how certain laws are less deeply ingrained in human society than murder laws. Less deeply ingrained laws get argued about, deeply ingrained laws generally do not. But nobody is arguing about whether they are laws, they are arguing about whether they should be laws.
Even after a law is passed, and upheld in court, it still needs to defend itself in the court of public opinion when it is questioned. If you are content with and confident in the status quo, then you don't have to participate in those discussions. But if it is important to you that minimum wage laws go away, you have every right to argue against it ("there is demand for lower-wage jobs", for example). And if it is important to you that minimum wage law continue to stand, and you believe they are under threat, then it may make sense to defend it by pointing out its merits (e.g. "competing, desperate people do not act rationally or in their collective best interests").
If somebody proposes: "There is demand for marijuana", think about how useless the comment "there is demand for murder" is. Yes, they are both illegal things. No, that does not mean it's useless to discuss whether they should remain illegal. Now, if you continue with "familiarize yourself with the case law, marijuana users go to prison because it's illegal", do you see how it continues to be useless to the discussion about the legality of marijuana use? The discussion is not about whether [marijuana use/sub-minimum-wage employment] is actually illegal.