[wplug] We've never given away CDs like this.....way OT...this really has absolutely nothing to do with Linux...OT

[Matthew J. Hughes]

    I think the point of the blog was that pan handling for a day was an 
experience. One he would not wish to repeat. That those who pan handle 
become non-entities and are treated as less than human beings. I hope I 
never find out, but everything I have read about it indicates that it is 
a fate, if not worse than death, pretty damn near it.

    As far as min wage laws go, the price of everything may not increase 
because there are no min wage laws in China, Mexico or a majority of the 
countries that our goods are being produced in. Furthermore, anybody who 
is working for min. wage will spend everything they get and thus 
stimulate the economy. (they got it wrong, tinkle-down economics is 
backwards. trickle up economics is the way to go.) Increasing the 
minimum wage may increase the prices of some items but it will not 
increase prices in greater proportion to the increased income. Nobody 
works for less than the minimum wage because they like it(tipped jobs 
excluded). Jobs that people like tend not to be min wage jobs. Min. wage 
jobs, with a few rarities, tend to be the ones that no one wanted. 
However employers will let you do it because they will look the other 
way when it comes to job exp., criminal history, (the neck tattoo/facial 
piercing), (lack of) education, permanency, legal work status, etc. And 
employees will take the min wage because of those reasons and little 
things like fear of starvation.

    Did you read what you wrote? When have you said to an employer, pay 
me less? Can you think of a situation in which being payed less was an 
incentive to the employee? (Try to ask for a pay reduction and see if 
you even keep your job."He's gone off his nut, we better fire him before 
he goes postal") Have you ever had too much money that you didn't know 
what to do with it?  I will concede that if the minimum wage were $100 
and prices for goods and services stayed as they are, you could have a 
point. However the minimum wage is what $5.15/hr? Times 40 hrs($206), 
times 52 weeks ($10,712), minus taxes (-$1,244=), divided by 12 months 
($789), minus mortgage/rent payment {and that number is derived making 
some imho faulty assumptions}(-$335=$454), minus 2% on clothing 
(-$15.78=$438.22), minus 7.5% on utilities(-59.18=$379.05), which leaves 
you almost $380 a month on which to eat, recreate, and pay your health 
expenses. Health expenses are $383 for an ER visit and $60 for a 
doctor's office. Oh yeah I made the assumption that you would live 
within walking distance to your minimum wage job, grocery store, 
clothing store, and recreation. Otherwise you would need to include 
transportation. A zone 1 pass for port authority is $70? Though if you 
took the bus only on special occasions you could pay less. So as long as 
you don't get into any kind of accident at nite or on weekends 
<sarcasm>maybe minimum wage isn't so bad. Those "working poor" have 
really put one over on us. I guess that could explain why so many people 
work for min wage.</sarcasm>

    And as far as your last statement no sane person enters into minimum 
wage employment willingly over something more lucrative. There are other 
factors that encourage them to enter into it (starvation comes to mind). 
Please give me an example where someone would rather take a position 
less than minimum wage, excluding tipped positions, charity work, and 
deadbeat dads.

    I apologize to anyone who missed the OT in the subject line and read 
through that wondering what the heck it had to do with Linux. At this 
time I would like to suggest that we make an off topic list for 
responses that go way off topic. If nothing else I hope you chuckled at 
the phrase "took the bus only on special occasions".


-matt

sources
federal min wage  : http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm
tax rate from: http ://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf
mortgage payment: 
http://www.ginniemae.gov/2_prequal/intro_questions.asp?Section=YPTH
budget amounts    :http://www.webwinder.com/calculators/calcbdgt.html
Health expenses   :http://www.bcbstx.com/employer/hccc/topic6.htm
Bus costs(broken):http://www.ridegold.com/ride/pgfares.asp
 


web at 3dresearch.com wrote:

> At 05:12 PM 12/13/2005, you wrote:
>
>> <RANT>
>> It's a shame one can make more in a day of panhandling than working a 
>> job.
>> Every time there is an effort to raise the minimum wage at state or
>> federal level there is suddenly unity among the parties to soundly
>> defeat it, yet these politicians have no problem with voting
>> themselves hefty pay raises to supplement their already hefty salaries
>> year after year! It's really disgusting. Wages have been very stagnant
>> in Pittsburgh the past decade. And we have no national plan to provide
>> health insurance of the 40+ million who cannot afford it. I wish
>> people would wake up and stop being so apathetic and selfish. It's a
>> disgrace that we live in such a rich country yet so few people see any
>> of that wealth, and other countries with even a larger population can
>> provide superior social benefits, especially in terms of the
>> affordability and access to health care and university education.
>> </RANT>
>> Zach
>> [...]
>
>
> Well, increasing the minimum wage will only increase the price of 
> everything else and won't make minimum wage earners better off.
>
> There is another argument against the minimum wage though. Say, the 
> minimum wage will be increased to $100/hour. Sounds good - but what if 
> an employer offered me a job at $50/hour which I find still attractive?
>
> Minimum wage laws only outlaw agreements which people are willingly 
> enter into otherwise.
>
> Just my 2 cents.
>
>
> Janos Dohanics
> web at 3dresearch.com
> http://www.3dresearch.com/
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