Social Minimum Wage now at $20 an hour in California

[panamaican]

Hey now don't forget the wal-mart employee discount to encourage the already impoverished employees not to go anywhere else. Or that Wal-mart has big signs and banners in their break rooms telling employees how to apply for welfare and food stamps. (I worked for them many years ago in my early 20s)

The shit is well known. This is the same company that was taking out life insurance policies on their elderly employees hoping to cash in when they died. It's literally called "Dead Peasants" insurance.

WSJ.com - Companies Profit on Workers' Deaths Through 'Dead Peasants' Insurance

But god forbid we ask them to pay a living wage because Joe Middleclass doesn't want to spend an extra $20 for a new blender.

 

[helltoupee]

America is filled with poor to middle class people that idolize the rich so much they actively support behavior that harms everyone but the wealthy in this country. It's a well known phenomenon here.







The attitude in this country for the entirety of my 42 years here.

The ultra rich were successful in basically selling everyone else a lottery ticket. Conservatives typically rail against stuff like minimum wage because they think if we regulate that, it hurts everyone's chances to be the next billionaire. So they hump the ruck for the ultra wealthy thinking that if they just work hard enough, they too can be the next Jeff Bezos. The reality is people who are/were incredibly wealthy got that way because of luck, or being in the right place at the right time. It does take hard work, don't get me wrong, but things outside of any individual's hard work must fall in place to become someone like Bill Gates. Or you have to be born to the right family. Plenty of people work really hard and have nothing to show for it.

 

[Mike]

The shit is well known. This is the same company that was taking out life insurance policies on their elderly employees hoping to cash in when they died. It's literally called "Dead Peasants" insurance.

WSJ.com - Companies Profit on Workers' Deaths Through 'Dead Peasants' Insurance

But god forbid we ask them to pay a living wage because Joe Middleclass doesn't want to spend an $20 for a new blender.

Oh god I remember that now. Yeah they're an absolutely horrible company. Not as bad as say Mcdonalds but not much better. I remember when I first started there and saw the signs in the break room it fucking pissed me off. Oh word this is where I can go beg the government for handouts? Gee thanks, my employer. I kinda thought you might pay me instead of telling me to go beg like a panhandler from the government when I'm a grown man with a full time job.

So insulting.

 

[Mike]

The ultra rich were successful in basically selling everyone else a lottery ticket. Conservatives typically rail against stuff like minimum wage because they think if we regulate that, it hurts everyone's chances to be the next billionaire. So they hump the ruck for the ultra wealthy thinking that if they just work hard enough, they too can be the next Jeff Bezos. The reality is people who are/were incredibly wealthy got that way because of luck, or being in the right place at the right time. It does take hard work, don't get me wrong, but things outside of any individual's hard work must fall in place to become someone like Bill Gates. Or you have to be born to the right family. Plenty of people work really hard and have nothing to show for it.

Yep hard work is important, but there's a reason so many people that are successful come from a background of intergenerational wealth. It's a lot easier to execute on an idea or get a business started when you have far more resources than the people you're competing against.

 

[Scerpi]

Not sure what your point is? Are you saying that increases in McDonald's are so significant that regular people will be forced to sacrifice something essential for them?

I think I saw $2 increases mentioned somewhere. That's a big percentage over the prior price but is $2 enough to prevent someone from affording the meal? As in, if they could afford $7 for a hamburger, is $9 actually going to push them into economic insolvency? And if itwill, I would argue that they probably shouldn't have been spending the $7 either.

If you're family of 4, that's almost $10 extra...

But you're right... these poor to middle income families shouldn't be eating out anyway. Only the rich should be able to not have to eat at home all the time.



Yay... Self Serve customer service... just like we're getting jammed down our throats at grocery stores.

 

[Mike]

If you're family of 4, that's almost $10 extra...

But you're right... these poor to middle income families shouldn't be eating out anyway. Only the rich should be able to not have to eat at home all the time.



Yay... Self Serve customer service... just like we're getting jammed down our throats at grocery stores.

But why not blame the companies whos fault this actually is?

 

[Possum Jenkins]

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

These threads always bring the laughs. Poor people problems are funny.

 

[CantCucktheTuck]

But why not blame the companies whos fault this actually is?

can't blame them for high prices now.

 

[Mike]

can't blame them for high prices now.

Why can't we? They've used their lobbying power collectively, even though that's illegal, to keep the minimum wage artificially low for generations. While doing that they've raised prices every chance they get, while using loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Making enormous profits the entire time.

Then when wages are finally increased substantially, they throw a fit and start cutting jobs. Not because they can't afford to pay the increased wages, they're sitting on hoards of money. Because they don't WANT to and they're now waging a poor corporate overlord pity campaign to try to scare people out of demanding fair pay.

It's absolutely 100% there fault and not anyone else's. It's beyond ludicrous to blame the people living below the poverty line instead of the multi billionaires. You guys are indoctrinated into licking the boots of corporate America and it's really sad.

 

[Spounman]

If you're family of 4, that's almost $10 extra...

But you're right... these poor to middle income families shouldn't be eating out anyway. Only the rich should be able to not have to eat at home all the time.



Yay... Self Serve customer service... just like we're getting jammed down our throats at grocery stores.

The ONE time I've been in a McDonalds in the past 5 years, they had me use one of those kiosks. All I wanted was a breakfast meal with a large orange juice but there was no option to make it a large orange juice. So I had to go get someone from the back, she came out and also couldn't figure out how to make it large so she took my order at the register.

 

[Super_Nintendo]

Of course those policies work. That's why they're shot down and lobbied against ad-nauseum under the guise of "well we can't spend money, that never fixes the problem!!" From the same types of people who pose that "you gotta spend money to make money!!" Are you aware of how CEO salaries got out of control? The myth of "performance pay" which wasn't even a thing until recently?

I mean just the way you frame the questions show an altogether defeatist thought process. What if they move away?? You know what? F*ck 'em. Does every community need a McDonald's? Does every town need a Denny's specifically? Do you think normal human beings who aren't beholden to corporations have suddenly forgot how to prepare food to sell it to other people? Dozens of pop up food stands have popped up here in Vegas recently and while yeah, they're risky, they are a clear demonstration of human ingenuity. I've referred numerous times those small towns where the large grocers shut down operations and the town bought the grocery store themselves to resume operations. There's a word for that, which Americans have been indoctrinated to hate.

appreciate the response. your post is above my pay grade and the most i can do i throw out speculative talking points so i can't really give you a decent response. how do you literally make laws to cap profiteering? it's such a general idea and just seems arbitrary and impossible without chasing away business, stifling innovation, risking the economy, and turning everything into an over-regulated mess. "ceo should make less money". ok, so anyone good enough to run a company will just work in a place that doesn't do this, and the only people who will take the job aren't that good at it, so the company suffers and if these laws go nationwide all the good CEOS will move out of the country.

i'm not trying to simp for big business, cause fuck'em, but we can't tank the economy over arbitrary ideas.

For all the blabitiflap that is said constantly being said about "the death of American culture"...the ugly truth we dont want to confront is that corporatization IS the death of American culture. Our culture is in the things that make us unique. A restaurant that only exists in one city, not having to eat at the same place in every city. Stores unique to a town, not the same giant chain dominating every town until its bled dry then pulling stakes and running (disinvestment).

this i agree with. nothing's unique. strip malls filled with the same 7 or 8 businesses in every area. this is actual diversity that bears on something real that's worth getting behind, but again, what are we supposed to do? and how do we support small business? democrat policies shut'em all down during covid and gave a ton of wealth to walmart and amazon.

bezos and the the waltons made a killing during the lockdowns


bezos

waltons

 

[Super_Nintendo]

there's a widening wealth gap that has to be addressed but how????

 

[BreatheSherBro]

What does leftists have to do with your general sentiment? Leftists don't endorse tax cuts for the upper 1% or corporations (well, they do to some extent).

And while you might be offended by this specific increase in wages, it puts the onus on the corporation, the wealthy in this dynamic, to pay employees more. You can't bitch about squeezing the middle class and also bitch about raising people's pay. When you do, it sounds like you're not interested in making the rich pay either.

I don't need the middle class to get on board with anything. I just ask people to stop being ignorant about the economics under which they live. They'll complain about a minimum wage increase for the poor but be indifferent to tax cuts to the rich.

Let me give you a well-known example that illustrates how people who claim to care about this stuff really have no interest in the real world details. Wal-Mart notoriously underpays its staff. Why? Because they know that the staff will qualify for government assistance and food stamps. Why does Walmart care about food stamps? Because they accept food stamps for groceries.

So, Walmart makes a shit ton by paying people low wages. Then they make another shit ton when the low wage employee spends government money to buy groceries. And who is funding the government money? You and I the tax payer.

Yet people would rather complain about Walmart having to pay a higher wage than ask themselves why Walmart is allowed to cheat the working man in 2 different ways? Once on his wages and again through his taxes.

Fuck outta here with the leftist/rightist bullshit. Focus on the economics and how people are screwing themselves by ignoring the details so they can peddle empty political tribesmanship.

You were just talking about how the middle class depends on an exploited underclass. I agree with you.

Leftist policies tend to give things to the poor at the expense of the middle class. If leftists policies primarily hurt the rich, then the middle class would lean more left.

I agree with you that wal-mart uses welfare to their advantage in the exact way you mentioned. Walmart pays very low wages and they know they can still get employees because employees can supplement with welfare.

 

[nhbbear]

Is not only that. They are a parasitic leach taking your resources and paying virtually nothing for it via tax.

Its ridiculous that people seem to be in the corner of grinding the poor to dust so McCeo can get another G4 Gulfstream.

Your whole system is upside down

I have a love/hate relationship with capitalism. I guess I am in favor of it, but would like to see limits on what people can accumulate. Of course, then you would just see a bunch of 8 yr old billionaires because the father would give it to his son to avoid paying an appropriate amount of taxes. I think the govt should be racing these people from billionaires into only (lol) having a few hundred million. Then, they back the fuck off of our taxes.

We are taxed on our income, sales tax, property tax, state taxes, taxed on gasoline-pretty much everything. And guns/ammo taxes are now insane.

 

[BreatheSherBro]

I have a love/hate relationship with capitalism. I guess I am in favor of it, but would like to see limits on what people can accumulate. Of course, then you would just see a bunch of 8 yr old billionaires because the father would give it to his son to avoid paying an appropriate amount of taxes. I think the govt should be racing these people from billionaires into only (lol) having a few hundred million. Then, they back the fuck off of our taxes.

We are taxed on our income, sales tax, property tax, state taxes, taxed on gasoline-pretty much everything. And guns/ammo taxes are now insane.

I have love/hate relationship with both captalism and government. Capitalism has created higher standards of living than ever thought imaginable. Capitalism in it's current form depends on exploitation. Government has created safety nets that were never thought possible. Government also fucks us with taxes and works primarily to serve corporations.

 

[Sinister]

appreciate the response. your post is above my pay grade and the most i can do i throw out speculative talking points so i can't really give you a decent response. how do you literally make laws to cap profiteering? it's such a general idea and just seems arbitrary and impossible without chasing away business, stifling innovation, risking the economy, and turning everything into an over-regulated mess. "ceo should make less money". ok, so anyone good enough to run a company will just work in a place that doesn't do this, and the only people who will take the job aren't that good at it, so the company suffers and if these laws go nationwide all the good CEOS will move out of the country.

i'm not trying to simp for big business, cause fuck'em, but we can't tank the economy over arbitrary ideas.




this i agree with. nothing's unique. strip malls filled with the same 7 or 8 businesses in every area. this is actual diversity that bears on something real that's worth getting behind, but again, what are we supposed to do? and how do we support small business? democrat policies shut'em all down during covid and gave a ton of wealth to walmart and amazon.

bezos and the the waltons made a killing during the lockdowns


bezos

waltons

Making laws to cap profiteering is essentially requiring things like profit sharing. So the dividends go to the people who provide the value. Or changing fiduciary responsibility so it doesnt massively favor shareholders. Make stock buybacks illegal again based on how it artificially inflates the market. Hell make artifically inflating the market illegal again via enforcement.

Innovation is never stifled the same way art is never stifled. It's only censored or bought out. Again your speculative tone, you must realize, sounds too much like knee-bending to corporations. Omg what if they get mad?? What if that CEO cannot buy his 3rd yacht or fuel his 2nd plane?? Who cares?

Also those weren't "Democrat policies" during COVID, they were public safety policies. Public safety can often be harder on small businesses and favor large ones who have the capital to make changes. My wife is a regulator, she says this about her job all the time that she hates being tough on. struggling businesses while the corporate chains are often fine, but are you gon a blame our Republican Governor for that? How about our Trump ally mayor? See even IM not doing that and I hate both of them.

We just have to vote for people who WILL regulate the industries. And not in a "too woke" kind of way. You know all this corporatist sentiment surrounding the Cali MW is just anti-Union rhetoric, right? This was accomplished with sectoral bargaining. And there is LITTLE the non-working class hates more than organized labor educating workers on what their value is.

BTW here's that interview with Lina Khan which cost Jon Stewart his Apple TV contract:

 

[Sinister]

You were just talking about how the middle class depends on an exploited underclass. I agree with you.

Leftist policies tend to give things to the poor at the expense of the middle class. If leftists policies primarily hurt the rich, then the middle class would lean more left.

I agree with you that wal-mart uses welfare to their advantage in the exact way you mentioned. Walmart pays very low wages and they know they can still get employees because employees can supplement with welfare.

Leftist policies only MUST give to the poor at the expense of the "middle class" in an environment where the laws, media, and political rhetoric all favor the donor class. A class that can pay little in taxes of their worth while still claiming they pay tons in taxes. A class that, as stated earlier, tells others they must spend money to make money and yet lobbies against social spending over and over again. A class that has us distinguishing "poor" from "middle class" as if those are different things, there's working and non-working, and the non-working always sell us hustle culture bullsh*t.

Social safety programs and spending should come at the expense of the wealthy, it doesnt here because it was engineered not to. Meanwhile Brett Favre robbed public funds intended for the poorest black people in his State and isnt in prison.

 

[DrDune]

Obviously take with a grain of salt, but an interesting point. I could see how seasoned workers are upset that they now only potentially make 20-30% more than an unskilled 16 year old on their first job. They’ll be wanting raises, too. Deservedly so.

 

[nhbbear]

I have love/hate relationship with both captalism and government. Capitalism has created higher standards of living than ever thought imaginable. Capitalism in it's current form depends on exploitation. Government has created safety nets that were never thought possible. Government also fucks us with taxes and works primarily to serve corporations.

We are totally on the same page, but I hate the government because they have set things up to benefit only them. They sell themselves to the highest bidders and somehow, members of congress come out of government jobs with tens of millions of dollars. From lobbyists and corporations owning our politicians and influencing our laws and lives-for example, oil companies control so much of our lives from what we need to put into our cars to how much our groceries and goods cost.

I have been contemplating doing a thread on various politicians and how they have enriched themselves even further (most were somewhat wealthy before hand) to insane levels. Maybe that will be my project during my 12 hour shifts next week.