To those complaining about a mandated minimum wage: you're just wrong. A MinWage in a capitalist economy is a fundamental requirement for social and economic stability.
I'll explain. Thread. 1/
I'll explain. Thread. 1/
An individual needs a living wage, defined as enough money to meet at least the basic needs of survival. In a capitalist economy, this means having enough funds to buy what is needed from the market.
You need money to survive. 2/
You need money to survive. 2/
You need to meet these needs in order to remain capable to function as a worker, raise children, or survive after retirement. If you cannot function, business suffers. If you can't raise children, society suffers long term. 3/
If you cannot survive in retirement, society has failed in a basic way. Plus, that is still a consumer engaging with the economy. A person who doesn't engage with the market (for any reason) damages the machinery of the economy. 4/
Without a mandated minimum wage that is also a living wage, businesses will try to pay the absolute minimum amount of money that will keep a worker in place. A business considered as an organism is without ethics or mercy. 5/
An individual worker lacks the resources or position to negotiate on an even plane with a corporation, or even a small business. Workers can be supported in negotiations by unions or by government statutes. Businesses will resist either. 6/
That's expected; it's a negotiation. When unions are unavailable and government fails to intercede and assure that workers receive a minimally viable wage, however, the workers still must seek survival. 7/
Workers will and must take any recourse to survive, up to and including violent revolution. So long as workers have no fair position, eventual revolution is inevitable. 7/
However, if workers can not only survive but thrive, they will continue to be productive and have disposable resources with which to purchase more than necessities. They can engage in luxury spending, which strengthens the economy overall.
Capital flow is good. 8/
Capital flow is good. 8/
Now, resource stagnation is as bad as having no resources at all. Hoarding money removes it from the economy, which is damaging. Remember, failure to engage with the market is a problem, and that includes taking money out of the system. 9/
An individual worker will not hoard resources. That money has to be spent, first on necessities and then on luxuries.
An individual who does not engage with the market reduces the liquid capital flow. Only the extremely rich can afford to do this. 10/
An individual who does not engage with the market reduces the liquid capital flow. Only the extremely rich can afford to do this. 10/
In a truly functional capitalist society, a hoarder of money is not a consumer. They are actively opposing the healthy function of the social and economic order. The average worker is part of the healthy ecosystem so long as they have non-stagnant wealth. 11/
A minimum wage ensures that all productively-employed workers remain part of the market ecosystem. There are better systems, but this is the simplest way to ensure that workers remain viable consumers. 12/
Remember, businesses serve the economy, not the other way around. A business that serves no need can and should make way in the market for a business that does make capital liquid.
Hoarded profits are again damaging, not healthy. 13/
Hoarded profits are again damaging, not healthy. 13/
I'm willing to be corrected by an expert in economics, but not by someone with an armchair degree. Show me the science. 14/end
