I think we should just have welfare programs for people making less than the livable wage, like free healthcare and food stamps. Higher minimum wages disproportionately hurt small business owners. For example, the average McDonald’s franchise store owner profits ~$120k-$290k per year. If there were a $5 increase to minimum wage and they employ 10 employees all working 40 hours per week their profit decreases by $104k per year (10x5x40x52). I’d be willing to hear arguments tho
Our wages are higher because our necessities are more expensive. Health spending is significantly higher in the United States since we refused to implement universal healthcare and opted to privatize it, enabling corporate greed to strip people of thousands of dollars for simple procedures or treatments that actually cost the facilities nowhere near as much.
The US has the 2nd highest median income in the world. Fewer people than ever are earning minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage just cuts off the bottom of the career ladder and makes it more difficult for people to develop their careers. The more effective way to help people who are struggling is with social services.
Doing nothing to cap rent is much more unproductive, worsening the quality of life for millions of Americans and unreasonably ballooning the cost of living. Greed shouldn’t be normalized or excused, because what’s the point of building housing that barely anyone can afford in the first place?
That statistic doesn’t match the reality being felt by thousands of people. It’s like “pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining”, because telling us corporations don’t actually own that many homes overall doesn’t mean much considering that’s still 593,600 homes according to that chart.
I’ve always though, if a business can’t afford to pay its workers a livable wage, then that store or company has no business working lower class citizens for less money than they can live off of. Obviously it’s easier to say that than enforce or pressure that but that lesson seems to have been completely forgotten lately
Physical housing IS our main concern. The only reason those useless empty lots can get so expensive is because there is too much demand for housing and too little supply, which is artificially restricted by zoning laws, landlords, and NIMBY associations. That's why you have people commuting two hours to the city everyday from some shitty suburb.
Not with where I’ve moved and lived at least, there’s always been an abundance of abandoned and rotting houses that should have been upkept and livable had property prices been more affordable. Instead we have 15 people living in tiny rooms splitting the rent because that’s the only available living space that isn’t $300k because of Blackrock. I’m sure it can be different throughout the country but at least my experience
Obviously I don’t disagree that everyone should be able to have a living wage, but I honestly think raising the minimum wage would end up giving big corporations who can afford the higher wage much more power, or just increase inflation. In my opinion, the largest issue is that we can’t redistribute the wealth of the 1% who just hoard 30% of the economy.