12-03-2013, 04:11 PM
The quickest way to eliminate competition to stores like Walmart is to mandate a higher minimum wage. Smaller stores who are already struggling will close and future mom and pop operators will crunch the numbers, determine they can’t afford labor, and never open. Walmart and similar businesses will naturally fill that void.
The real problem here is the illusion of a “living wage”. Not all jobs need to be a “living wage”. When I was living with my parents and making $3.50 an hour, I could have never lived off that but I was happy to have the job. But that was the point, there have always been people in the labor force who want or need money but do not need to “live” off it. When I hear about fast food workers demanding $15 an hour I cringe. Fast food jobs aren’t supposed to be careers paying a living wage. Originally they were for young people entering the work force for the first time and learning how to be employees and getting paid a little money for their education. Later, retired folks started working for a little extra money to supplement their retirement income. Then the economy tanked and high school kids started getting passed over by fast food joints hiring college students, then graduates, and other people desperate for money who started demanding a “living wage” from an industry who has never paid one before, and would have never been expected to just a few years ago. If I were a fast food corporation, the first thing I would do to nip this in the bud is go back to hiring only teenagers. No expectation of a living wage. Problem solved.
The real problem here is the illusion of a “living wage”. Not all jobs need to be a “living wage”. When I was living with my parents and making $3.50 an hour, I could have never lived off that but I was happy to have the job. But that was the point, there have always been people in the labor force who want or need money but do not need to “live” off it. When I hear about fast food workers demanding $15 an hour I cringe. Fast food jobs aren’t supposed to be careers paying a living wage. Originally they were for young people entering the work force for the first time and learning how to be employees and getting paid a little money for their education. Later, retired folks started working for a little extra money to supplement their retirement income. Then the economy tanked and high school kids started getting passed over by fast food joints hiring college students, then graduates, and other people desperate for money who started demanding a “living wage” from an industry who has never paid one before, and would have never been expected to just a few years ago. If I were a fast food corporation, the first thing I would do to nip this in the bud is go back to hiring only teenagers. No expectation of a living wage. Problem solved.