4 ms·

So the same people pushing "living wage" are also calculating "excessive cost of government" like zoning restrictions and property taxes? No, it's just delibera

by coryrc 4y ago

So the same people pushing "living wage" are also calculating "excessive cost of government" like zoning restrictions and property taxes? No, it's just deliberately misnamed propaganda tool.

sarchertech 4y ago
The term living wage has been around for well over a hundred years. What term would like them to use? Minimum wage already has a specific meaning. We already have well established term for the concept that everyone understands. Do you want people to change their vocabulary because a word offends you?
- Jensson 4y ago
  > The term living wage has been around for well over a hundred years. Pretty sure that "living wage" means something very different today than 100 years ago, the term isn't the same if the definition changes. "Decent wage" is a much better word since it shows how arbitrary it is. The headline should be "Fewer than 40% of New Yorkers earn a decent wage". That word makes sense, since they choose "living wage" to be the amount you require for a decent living, "decent wage" seems much more appropriate for the wage you need for a decent living.
  - sarchertech 4y ago
    Living wage is the amount of money required to meet all your needs without government assistance. “Needs” is the part that has changed. $2k a year in healthcare wasn’t likely included 100 years ago, but most people would consider that a need now. When I checked the MIT living wage calculator, it listed $600 a month in rent. That’s just barley enough for 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate with 1 person sleeping in the living room. 100 years ago you could likely find some large dormitory style living in a death trap building with inadequate exits. But today short of illegally filling a single family unit with too many people a, single bedroom apartment with a roommate is pretty close to minimum shelter. “Decent wage” to me implies more than the minimum possible shelter and $9 a day for food. But the point is living wage is an already established term of art that means basically the same thing it always has.

by coryrc 4y ago

So the same people pushing "living wage" are also calculating "excessive cost of government" like zoning restrictions and property taxes? No, it's just deliberately misnamed propaganda tool.

sarchertech 4y ago

The term living wage has been around for well over a hundred years. What term would like them to use? Minimum wage already has a specific meaning. We already have well established term for the concept that everyone understands. Do you want people to change their vocabulary because a word offends you?

Jensson 4y ago
> The term living wage has been around for well over a hundred years. Pretty sure that "living wage" means something very different today than 100 years ago, the term isn't the same if the definition changes. "Decent wage" is a much better word since it shows how arbitrary it is. The headline should be "Fewer than 40% of New Yorkers earn a decent wage". That word makes sense, since they choose "living wage" to be the amount you require for a decent living, "decent wage" seems much more appropriate for the wage you need for a decent living.
- sarchertech 4y ago
  Living wage is the amount of money required to meet all your needs without government assistance. “Needs” is the part that has changed. $2k a year in healthcare wasn’t likely included 100 years ago, but most people would consider that a need now. When I checked the MIT living wage calculator, it listed $600 a month in rent. That’s just barley enough for 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate with 1 person sleeping in the living room. 100 years ago you could likely find some large dormitory style living in a death trap building with inadequate exits. But today short of illegally filling a single family unit with too many people a, single bedroom apartment with a roommate is pretty close to minimum shelter. “Decent wage” to me implies more than the minimum possible shelter and $9 a day for food. But the point is living wage is an already established term of art that means basically the same thing it always has.