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The problem is partly social in nature IMHO: if you allow people to make unsustainable minimum wages (by that notion you could also allow child labour, Manchest

The problem is partly social in nature IMHO: if you allow people to make unsustainable minimum wages (by that notion you could also allow child labour, Manchester Capitalism, Darwinian chaos etc.) so that they cannot afford health care, legal protection, education, transportation, it becomes easier to prey on the weak. In effect you are breeding a class society based on money. Adam Smith ("invisible hand of the market") was quite aware of the Darwinian nature of business people, who will try any angle to "conspire against the public". The free market is effective, yet must kept under control by the law. Certain labour standards are part of that equation.

anamax 17y ago
> that they cannot afford health care, legal protection, education, transportation, it becomes easier to prey on the weak. In effect you are breeding a class society based on money. If their labor is not worth the minimum wage, they can't afford such things either. Giving them such things has horrendous social effects. (Yes, govts prey on people that they "help".) We want more people working at low value jobs not so much because that lets them support themselves, but because that's how folks learn to produce value. Besides, if I'm going to pay someone, is it really better to pay them to watch TV than to carry my groceries? The best protection of "workers rights" is a worker's ability to work for someone else who better meets said worker's needs and desires.