Quote:
Originally Posted by Becky
I don't think it's negative. I think it's realistic. It's like raising the minimum wage. Everyone agrees people need to be able to make a living wage. But we all know that it will mean costs will go up or machines will do the work. McDonald's can't serve hamburgers for a $1 and pay their employees $15 an hour. Also, if people are going to make $15 for flipping burgers, then people who have real marketable skills and training/education who barely make that or a little more should get pay raises that reflect their education status--firemen, cops, EMTs, teachers, etc.
I've been thinking a lot about it today and it made me wonder what would be the incentive for a person like Steve Jobs to create things if he knew half his income would be taken from him just because he was smarter than the rest of us? Is that really FAIR? Is FAIR the right word? Fair is where everyone gets treated the same.
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Well the thing is, those of us that have real marketable skills make far more than the $15.00 an hour talked about. When I had my first kid in the late 70s I hired a woman to come into my house to help care for him when I worked (rather than taking him out to a daycare center). I paid the woman I hired $5.00 an hour (which was more than minimum wage at the time) because I really wanted someone responsible. I could have sent him to a daycare center for $1.00 an hour. He was my first kid and I wanted the best for him. When I told a friend about my deal she said - Kathleen - I don't make $5.00 an hour so I couldn't pay that much. At the time - as an engineer - I was making $20.00 an hour and I was more than willing to pay what I needed for child care.
And the point is - because I was making a good salary, the woman I hired also made a good salary. When people aren't having to pinch pennies just to survive, more money is spent and is available to the society in general.
Steve Jobs would not have to worry about a salary. If he made great products that people wanted to buy (and he did) then he would still be rolling in money.