I know I promised "WTF is that upside his/her head" anime commentary and the marital arts movie formulas but right now economics is on my mind.
In a previous post entitled "Fuck Unemployment" I mentioned the minimum wage debate.
Usually people are of 3 positions: that it should be raised, that it should be lowered, or that it should not exist at all. The answer to this debate is not a simple one. There are many factors that play a part in how this price floor should be dealt with.
A price floor (for those of you who don't know) is an economic tool or policy used to keep the price of something from dropping below a certain amount. Usually it applies to the price of goods and services. Guilds, government policy and other cooperative ventures are in place to regulate price floors. For example, the wages or salaries of doctors are indirectly regulated by a Guild called the American Medical Association. A guild (for those who don't know) is a group of people who have interest in or practice the same craft and seek to control how practitioners of that craft are treated.
That being said, the minimum wage is set by the U.S. Department of Labor. These are the same people who dispense monies to those who are eligible and meet the requirements for un-employment benefits. So if the minimum wage is too high there may be too many people in need of benefits seeking insurance. If the minimum wage is too low, then public assistance bears the burden.
So, how is it we find this country in a position where both entities are being inundated with excessive need?
Well we have racism,illegal immigration, corporate greed, war, poverty etc. playing a part in this whole sick game of guns and butter.
Racism:
This has always been a part of our capitalistic economy. It it an almost indispensable element. In order for capitalism to yield the kind of profits and therefore afford luxuries of advanced technology some sort of discrimination must exist. Some group or part of society must remain impoverished so that they can be desperate enough to be exploited. Otherwise they might be able to become self sufficient enough to not need to become slaves to those who wish to consume much but work very little.
Illegal Immigration:
Donald Trump should be listened too, not heeded. I repeat. Donald Trump SHOULD BE LISTENED TO NOT HEEDED. Why should we listen to what he has to say? Because he is telling you how those who hold the winning hands in this game feel. He is their mouthpiece. He will never become president. His purpose is to make the other Republican candidates look good. Don't get me wrong I am not favoring Democrats. Both parties participate in the same game designed to keep the common man right where he is.
Anyway Trump says some disgusting yet interesting things about immigration. He says them to kiss up to the disenfranchised republicans of this country; those who have participated and played into discriminatory constructs seeking somehow to benefit from them. Now they find the borders overrun with individuals and families who seek a better life and for the most part work hard to get it. These unfortunate individuals are a new sector of the exploitative group that serves as the foundation for capitalism. These are the people who are the workers who are willing to work for wages below minimum wage and thus undercut the average citizen.
What Trump is doing is shifting the blame from the large corporations and other businesses that benefit from the less costly labor to the illegal immigrant. He wants the average citizen to see someone who earnestly believes in the American Dream (while having no idea how much of a fantasy it is) as the enemy.
Corporate Greed:
The real enemy of the working American are the corporations and other large businesses that export jobs for cheaper payroll costs. The real enemy evades taxes while shifting the burden onto the middle class all the while telling them that the money they take is for their own good. These enemies undercut the minimum wage put in place supposedly to protect the working American. They are also partly responsible for the rise in cost of living which also makes the minimum wage damn near useless.
New Orleans is a good example of the latter point. After Katrina the city experienced an influx of investors who sought to buy destroyed properties and "rebuild" the city. I mostly witnessed the conversion of historical sites- that used to draw tourists from all over the world-into condos and restaurants. So instead of the money going toward historical societies and the community ,the money is now going into the pockets of private business owners. These investors are also tearing down projects and updating the housing. Sounds charitable right? Wrong.
What is really happening is that these new buildings are now "mixed income" housing. Meaning that not all the section 8 vouchers that were viable in the previous building will be viable in the new one. Also where are the families supposed to go while the new housing is being built?
Gentrification raises the cost of living in an area to push out the poor. Grocery stores with reasonable prices are replaced by specialty stores that don't take SNAP.
The fact that someone who earns minimum wage qualifies for SNAP at all should tell you something.
War:
WAR! HUH! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?!
Technological advancement and marketing of weapons of mass destruction, legal prostitution, and sophisticated theft.
Oh yeah and don't forget expanding illegal drug markets.
Has anyone else noticed that after Vietnam that this country seemed to experience a series of drug epidemics that destroyed families and re-stratified the socioeconomic status of U.S. citizens by race almost to the level of "Reconstruction"?
Maybe its just me.
Poverty:
All of the above leads back to the problem that philanthropists throw money, aid, sympathy, and brainwashed college students at.
No one seems to want to fix this problem because it would require airing the dirty laundry of some of the most powerful people on the planet. And the only reason they are so powerful is because they have been practicing the delicate cultivation of this aspect of society for centuries. There was once a time where there were enough people and those people had enough balls to do something about it.
Now we are too busy waiting for the next video game, music video, concert, book, episode of reality TV, or news cast of a staged terrorist attack to give two shits.
So needless to say the amount of the minimum wage is the least of our worries.
I promise the next post will be less depressing.
Later.
In a previous post entitled "Fuck Unemployment" I mentioned the minimum wage debate.
Usually people are of 3 positions: that it should be raised, that it should be lowered, or that it should not exist at all. The answer to this debate is not a simple one. There are many factors that play a part in how this price floor should be dealt with.
A price floor (for those of you who don't know) is an economic tool or policy used to keep the price of something from dropping below a certain amount. Usually it applies to the price of goods and services. Guilds, government policy and other cooperative ventures are in place to regulate price floors. For example, the wages or salaries of doctors are indirectly regulated by a Guild called the American Medical Association. A guild (for those who don't know) is a group of people who have interest in or practice the same craft and seek to control how practitioners of that craft are treated.
That being said, the minimum wage is set by the U.S. Department of Labor. These are the same people who dispense monies to those who are eligible and meet the requirements for un-employment benefits. So if the minimum wage is too high there may be too many people in need of benefits seeking insurance. If the minimum wage is too low, then public assistance bears the burden.
So, how is it we find this country in a position where both entities are being inundated with excessive need?
Well we have racism,illegal immigration, corporate greed, war, poverty etc. playing a part in this whole sick game of guns and butter.
Racism:
This has always been a part of our capitalistic economy. It it an almost indispensable element. In order for capitalism to yield the kind of profits and therefore afford luxuries of advanced technology some sort of discrimination must exist. Some group or part of society must remain impoverished so that they can be desperate enough to be exploited. Otherwise they might be able to become self sufficient enough to not need to become slaves to those who wish to consume much but work very little.
Illegal Immigration:
Donald Trump should be listened too, not heeded. I repeat. Donald Trump SHOULD BE LISTENED TO NOT HEEDED. Why should we listen to what he has to say? Because he is telling you how those who hold the winning hands in this game feel. He is their mouthpiece. He will never become president. His purpose is to make the other Republican candidates look good. Don't get me wrong I am not favoring Democrats. Both parties participate in the same game designed to keep the common man right where he is.
Anyway Trump says some disgusting yet interesting things about immigration. He says them to kiss up to the disenfranchised republicans of this country; those who have participated and played into discriminatory constructs seeking somehow to benefit from them. Now they find the borders overrun with individuals and families who seek a better life and for the most part work hard to get it. These unfortunate individuals are a new sector of the exploitative group that serves as the foundation for capitalism. These are the people who are the workers who are willing to work for wages below minimum wage and thus undercut the average citizen.
What Trump is doing is shifting the blame from the large corporations and other businesses that benefit from the less costly labor to the illegal immigrant. He wants the average citizen to see someone who earnestly believes in the American Dream (while having no idea how much of a fantasy it is) as the enemy.
Corporate Greed:
The real enemy of the working American are the corporations and other large businesses that export jobs for cheaper payroll costs. The real enemy evades taxes while shifting the burden onto the middle class all the while telling them that the money they take is for their own good. These enemies undercut the minimum wage put in place supposedly to protect the working American. They are also partly responsible for the rise in cost of living which also makes the minimum wage damn near useless.
New Orleans is a good example of the latter point. After Katrina the city experienced an influx of investors who sought to buy destroyed properties and "rebuild" the city. I mostly witnessed the conversion of historical sites- that used to draw tourists from all over the world-into condos and restaurants. So instead of the money going toward historical societies and the community ,the money is now going into the pockets of private business owners. These investors are also tearing down projects and updating the housing. Sounds charitable right? Wrong.
What is really happening is that these new buildings are now "mixed income" housing. Meaning that not all the section 8 vouchers that were viable in the previous building will be viable in the new one. Also where are the families supposed to go while the new housing is being built?
Gentrification raises the cost of living in an area to push out the poor. Grocery stores with reasonable prices are replaced by specialty stores that don't take SNAP.
The fact that someone who earns minimum wage qualifies for SNAP at all should tell you something.
War:
WAR! HUH! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?!
Technological advancement and marketing of weapons of mass destruction, legal prostitution, and sophisticated theft.
Oh yeah and don't forget expanding illegal drug markets.
Has anyone else noticed that after Vietnam that this country seemed to experience a series of drug epidemics that destroyed families and re-stratified the socioeconomic status of U.S. citizens by race almost to the level of "Reconstruction"?
Maybe its just me.
Poverty:
All of the above leads back to the problem that philanthropists throw money, aid, sympathy, and brainwashed college students at.
No one seems to want to fix this problem because it would require airing the dirty laundry of some of the most powerful people on the planet. And the only reason they are so powerful is because they have been practicing the delicate cultivation of this aspect of society for centuries. There was once a time where there were enough people and those people had enough balls to do something about it.
Now we are too busy waiting for the next video game, music video, concert, book, episode of reality TV, or news cast of a staged terrorist attack to give two shits.
So needless to say the amount of the minimum wage is the least of our worries.
I promise the next post will be less depressing.
Later.
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