5 ms·

I would gladly take a pay cut if we also raised the minimum wage to $30 an hour, got rid of most welfare programs and replaced them with a $10k/year minimum inc

I would gladly take a pay cut if we also raised the minimum wage to $30 an hour, got rid of most welfare programs and replaced them with a $10k/year minimum income, and simplified to a flat tax rate (I think Dick Armey liked 17%).

pixie_ 13y ago
I would take a pay cut to work only 35 hours a week.
- khyryk 13y ago
  How much do you currently work?
  - pixie_ 13y ago
    9 to 6. I'd rather work 9 to 4 and enjoy the evening a bit more.
    - wildgift 13y ago
      Can you go on strike with your coworkers?
jcnnghm 13y ago
Given that the mean wage was only $43,460 in 2009, in order to raise minimum wage to $60,000 per year, your pay cut would be to minimum wage. The government would have to confiscate all income, supplement it with printed money, then redistribute it evenly across the population. In that kind of scenario, why would anybody do anything but the absolute minimum? Isn't that largely why the Soviet Union wasn't competitive? If there was no economic incentive for hard work, I'd wager many of the presently most productive people would optimize for work minimization.
- dvanduzer 13y ago
  That's assuming a lot of things about the present level of productivity of everyone working. Also, your number sounds like "household income" and I'm making my assumptions based on GDP per capita[0]. Generally though, yes, I'd assume most people would end up working ~20 hours a week. I'd assume most employers would prefer this, and would also optimize the use of their employees' time. I think your understanding of Soviet economic policy is probably a bit naive, but for a high level overview of my philosophy, I'd recommend Russell's In Praise of Idleness[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... [1] http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html
  - jcnnghm 13y ago
    That's mean individual wage, not household. Per capita GDP isn't a good indicator here. I'd be careful about suggesting naïveté while advocating for a minimum wage higher than the mean wage.
    - dvanduzer 13y ago
      The Soviet Union put humans in space. And you have to be able to compete at all before you can lose a multi-decade arms race between superpowers. I am absolutely not advocating for a minimum wage higher than the median wage. There is no universal law that 40 hours a week is productive. Given an average 20 hour work week, there are still trillions of dollars available to those who want to work harder or smarter. There is still plenty of room for winners and losers.
      - jcnnghm 13y ago
        The Soviet Union put humans in space. And you have to be able to compete at all before you can lose a multi-decade arms race between superpowers. At what cost? How many Ukrainians did they starve to death in the process, how many "political opponents" were purged, how many people died in the gulags because they didn't tow the line? Unfortunately, what you want has been tried, and it didn't work very well. What you'll end up with is many people not working at all because its not worth paying them, and a bunch of others forced to work at gunpoint to make up for the people that can't produce. It's pretty shitty to be in either group.

pixie_ 13y ago

I would take a pay cut to work only 35 hours a week.

khyryk 13y ago
How much do you currently work?
- pixie_ 13y ago
  9 to 6. I'd rather work 9 to 4 and enjoy the evening a bit more.
  - wildgift 13y ago
    Can you go on strike with your coworkers?

jcnnghm 13y ago

Given that the mean wage was only $43,460 in 2009, in order to raise minimum wage to $60,000 per year, your pay cut would be to minimum wage. The government would have to confiscate all income, supplement it with printed money, then redistribute it evenly across the population. In that kind of scenario, why would anybody do anything but the absolute minimum? Isn't that largely why the Soviet Union wasn't competitive? If there was no economic incentive for hard work, I'd wager many of the presently most productive people would optimize for work minimization.

dvanduzer 13y ago
That's assuming a lot of things about the present level of productivity of everyone working. Also, your number sounds like "household income" and I'm making my assumptions based on GDP per capita[0]. Generally though, yes, I'd assume most people would end up working ~20 hours a week. I'd assume most employers would prefer this, and would also optimize the use of their employees' time. I think your understanding of Soviet economic policy is probably a bit naive, but for a high level overview of my philosophy, I'd recommend Russell's In Praise of Idleness[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... [1] http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html
- jcnnghm 13y ago
  That's mean individual wage, not household. Per capita GDP isn't a good indicator here. I'd be careful about suggesting naïveté while advocating for a minimum wage higher than the mean wage.
  - dvanduzer 13y ago
    The Soviet Union put humans in space. And you have to be able to compete at all before you can lose a multi-decade arms race between superpowers. I am absolutely not advocating for a minimum wage higher than the median wage. There is no universal law that 40 hours a week is productive. Given an average 20 hour work week, there are still trillions of dollars available to those who want to work harder or smarter. There is still plenty of room for winners and losers.
    - jcnnghm 13y ago
      The Soviet Union put humans in space. And you have to be able to compete at all before you can lose a multi-decade arms race between superpowers. At what cost? How many Ukrainians did they starve to death in the process, how many "political opponents" were purged, how many people died in the gulags because they didn't tow the line? Unfortunately, what you want has been tried, and it didn't work very well. What you'll end up with is many people not working at all because its not worth paying them, and a bunch of others forced to work at gunpoint to make up for the people that can't produce. It's pretty shitty to be in either group.