Thread by @kittencaboodle7

This is wrong and inaccurate. And, of course, I have a LOT to sat about this. Let's begin a LONG LONG thread --

#MinimumWage #Capitalism #WorkersRights

https://twitter.com/TinyAbomb83/status/1620131405983531008

1 -- First of all, it is a gross misconception that minimum wage jobs are supposed to be practice for high school kids and college kids to earn a little bit of money. FDR straight up said when establishing the Minimum Wage that it was meant to be a "Living Wage"

1a -- "It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. ...and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.”

1b -- It has been decades since the established minimum wage has actually been a living wage, and that is entirely due to the government we elect. This leads us to...
#MinimumWage #Workers #Solidarity

2 -- This person implies that $15 an hour is the min. wage. It's not. It's still $7.25 federally. But it makes a great football for pols to use in election time in the states. Nothing improves of course, because that's not the point.

2a -- The POINT is that it gets people to cast votes in a state. When it gets to the federal level, suddenly everyone's hands are tied. GOP argue that the min. wage is fine for the poverty level, and while Dems know better, they don't fight hard enough to change things. Why?

2b -- Because no one wants to address the fact that the poverty level is just as out of touch as the minimum wage. This clip from West Wing aired over 20 years ago. It is no less accurate today.

3 -- And why is all of this a problem? Because there aren't plenty of jobs out there for people, and most people working minimum wage jobs are not "high school and college students." They are 30 year old single women raising kids.

3a -- This isn't "pocket money" for kids. This is food and shelter money for families, and even IF the federal Minimum wage was $15, which would have been fine a decade ago, it is no longer a living wage.

3b -- And, in fact, studies released in the past year indicate that $15 an hour isn't a living wage ANYWHERE in the US.
usnews.com/news/best-stat…

4 -- So, at this point, we've decimated this guy's whole premise on minimum wages and what they are needed for. Let's talk about the job aspect. He basically says: "Just go out and get a job!"

4a -- We are in one of the lowest times of unemployment in America. Everyone is hiring, right? EXCEPT the @federalreserve has said to fight inflation, we need fewer people employed. And we've seen companies cutting good jobs to improve their profits in this time.

4b -- What this guy handwaves away is what should happen to those people? Do they move to find a better job? Uproot their lives because businesses hold all the cards? Can they afford it? Few people can. Should they just suffer because min. wage jobs are for pocket money?

Everyone is hiring, and yet no one is, it seems. Min wage jobs brag about how they are higher than the fed. min., but it's all smoke and mirrors. They want you to work part time (no benefits) for low wages on their schedule.

And, since you'll have to get a second job, you better make sure that no schedule overlaps, because you're fired as soon as that happens. Need time to sleep? Time to lean, time to clean, my friend. Sleep is for the weak.

I can count on one hand the politicians who actually continue to advocate for improvements. Everyone else seems content to continue shitting on poor people to keep their position.

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