🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <CyG94D.E7o@metronet.com>, jhuber@metronet.com (Joseph Huber) writes:
|> Our country and our economic success depends significantly on the service
|> industry. By the service industry I mean those jobs that we so flippantly call
|> "dead end" and "menial": burger flippers, maids, physical laborers, janitors,
|> maintenance people, delivery truck drivers, etc., etc., etc. 
|> 
|> What do these people get paid?  Minimum wage, maybe a little more if they
|> are lucky. 
|> 
|> Are the wages enough to live on?  No. 
|> 
|> Do these people get health care etc, at work? Some do, many don't.
|> 
|> So, our economy needs these people to survive, but we have decided not to pay
|> them enough to live on. They get the rest of what they need to survive from
|> welfare. 

Actually it is very difficult to get supplemental welfare, but relatively
easy if you are out of work.

|> My guess is that private enterprise loves the welfare system, because it
|> allows them to pay low wages and maximize profits.  The middle class, who pays
|> the bulk of the taxes that support welfare, get's to make up the salaries that
|> business should be paying these people in the first place.  

If there were more jobs and more competition for workers, wages would be
higher. Look at what happened to high tech salaries in the 70's and 80's, 
look what is happening now. 

|> I'd love to see minimum wages raised so people in the above mentioned jobs
|> could get off welfare, 

In all likelihood, this might encourage businesses to automate and use LESS
employees, and cause more unemployment, placing more people on welfare.

|> but business would just pass that on to consumers. 

Businesses can't pass anything onto consumers that they are not willing to pay.
However, if business becomes less profitable, less people compete and
the supply constrict, the price will increase until it can support the
remaining businesses profitably. 

Jeff Gaer

My Own Opinions