Some have posted along the lines of asking 'wouldn't it be easy to just get a fast food job' - seemingly entirely missing the point. Most minimum wage jobs in

Some have posted along the lines of asking 'wouldn't it be easy to just get a fast food job' - seemingly entirely missing the point. Most minimum wage jobs in the UK are worse than nothing at all. A month or two's salary saved would get you a year of hiking around Europe and sleeping rough. Perhaps my neurochemistry is atypical but I see the latter as absolutely better. The idea of low-paid work as a stepping stone is generally nonsense outside of a few select cases too. At large corporations management generally operate on a different 'tier' (e.g. graduate scheme, direct entry from university). Professionals are educated; going from McDonalds to surgeon requires going to school first; the minimum wage job will not help you save for those fees unless you have bank of Mum and Dad on your side. Das Kapital covers this well. Labourers must be coerced into labouring; if they are able to provide for themselves they will, and this is a rational choice.