“Placate the Masses” An Old Roman Game

Notice how lately the protests over citizenship and a 15 dollar minimum wage revolve around demands from people who feel they are entitled. People are not asking for $15 an hour, they are demanding it with the reasoning that you can’t raise a family on $15 an hour. Sex beer and drugs are great, the responsibility that goes with its reality, sucks.

The real problem with the $15 hour wage is a little hidden. Entry level workers need minimum skill sets. High school dropout comes to mind. For the employer, he has his choice of employees. A high school grad or better; or maybe a chick with a knock out body that likes the “late shift.”

Then if it is only part time, you’ll be working two 3 hour shifts twice a day, 5 days a week. At that point you are not making $15 per hour, maybe only $10 per hour. The employer in the past could afford an 8 hour work day at $10 an hour on the assumption that it came out ok with coffee breaks, lunch breaks and bathroom breaks. 2 hours of pay would be wasted on non-necessary busy work. By switching to part time employees, the unsupervised coffee breaks, lunch breaks and bathroom breaks, health insurance and unemployment insurance, drop out of the equation. The employee gets two three hour shifts with a 4 hour break in between, a 10 hour day with 6 hours pay.

Economics actually dictates the price for labor, by using the government’s regulations, to the employers benefit. 40 hour work weeks, demand employer health insurance, 30 hour weeks don’t. Part time employees don’t have to be paid $15 dollars an hour.

Legislation may appear to placate the masses, but in the long run it acerbates the problem. Our State legislatures are a collection of the dumbest of the dumb when it comes to practicality. The thought that a law raising wages can change the economic livelihood of people in poverty is a little bit presumptuous– great vote getter though.

A person with two kids thinking that $15 dollars an hour will help them out, knows absolutely nothing about real life. They will know poverty for their lifetime. I have a quote taped to my desk that reads, “The easiest way to teach your children about money, is for you not to have any.”

There is this “New Age” mentality of, “I want it now!” The concept of saving over time and earning ones way to wealth appears to be a waste of time (Janet Yellen can confirm it). We are now a nation that gives money back to people willing to spend and consume. Some major car company yesterday had an ad offering 20 percent back in a cash bonus for buying a car. Are we really placating the masses; or has the game gotten out of control? Reality is not a factor as long as the consumer has a credit card to abuse. Responsibility is for losers. Hmmm 100K student loan, and 100K in credit card debt, but earn 5 percent back for all of the credit card purchases. Why save at .05 percent when you can spend and get 5% back. Am I missing something here?