Why do statists get angry when I advocate for more freedom?
If I was advocating a Democrat's agenda then you could get angry that I want to tax you for Welfare.
If I was advocating a Republican's agenda then you could get angry that I wanted to tax you for Warfare.
But, I advocate a Libertarian agenda. I am not trying to force you to do anything or take anything away from you. I just want to be left alone.
I mean, most Americans say the reason America is the best country in the history of mankind is because of our freedom. Our founders sought to, “secure the blessings of liberty.”
We proudly sing, "My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty... Land of the free and home of the brave... I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free... with liberty and justice for all"
Then why do I have to justify to you why freedom is better than tyranny? Shouldn't the default policy decision in a free country be more liberty? Shouldn't you have to persuade me that tyranny is better than freedom?
Do we just believe that freedom is a nice idea, but it just isn't practical? That it just doesn't work in the real world? Freedom is great, but people are just too stupid to be free? Human beings are dumb beasts meant to be herded by their betters? Do we believe in a world of Slaves and Masters?
Didn't the fall of the Soviet Union show that political dictatorships and command economies don't work?
Wouldn't most people prefer to live in a free country? Free countries have to build walls to keep people out, while dictatorships have to build walls to keep people in.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Minimum Wage
Arizona voters passed Proposition 202 in November, raising the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour. Now workers are losing their job opportunities, just as free-market economists warned. The jobs that disappear as minimum wages creep up are usually not seen, but Arizona residents are witness to a clear example now.
Between 3,000 and 5,000 disabled workers are at serious risk of losing their jobs. Until now, they were exempt from federal minimum wage laws that made allowances for their special needs. The companies could reward their disabled workers with token amounts of money, sometimes as little as two dollars a week. The disabled also gained a chance to feel independent and develop job skills at a slow pace with a company that made allowances for their physical and mental conditions..
Randy Gray, president and chief executive officer of the Mesa Adult Rehabilitation Center in Mesa, Ariz. explained the rationale behind the federal exemption, "Why would someone want to hire someone who works at 10 percent and pay them 100 percent?"
But wait a minute, isn't that the point of allowing the market to set a person's wage? Those who produce less, earn less? The productivity of a day’s labor is not equal amongst all workers, so pay isn't either. If working hard was an entitlement to high pay, then ditch diggers would be millionaires. You must work hard and smart, which is one reason college is so important in attaining a high paying job. Why would an employer pay a person more than their labor produces? More specifically, why pay a person $6.75 an hour when what they produce can only be sold for $5.15.
Most of us have earned the minimum wage at some point in our lives. My experience working at Burger King was like that of millions of Americans: It was the first and last time I earned minimum wage. The truth is the older you get, the less likely you are to earn minimum wage. Among workers over the age of 25, less than 1 percent earn minimum wage.
Minimum-wage jobs are important because they represent the first rung on the employment ladder. If you raise the minimum wage, you hurt those you want to help, the poorest that have to struggle more to get a start.
The opportunity to get a job, even at the ground floor, is better than no opportunity at all for millions of young people. These jobs are where we learn how to take direction, be on time and interact with colleagues and customers. Young Arizonans need these first-time experiences so they can move on to better paying jobs later. Jobs that pay minimum wage are a beginning, not for a person to try and support a spouse and kids.
The idea of a minimum wage appeals to our best intentions. We don't like the idea that people can work hard, play by the rules and still be poor. It seems unfair that the fat-cat CEOs are making millions, while the lowest workers must survive with public assistance. Rebekah Friend, president of the Arizona AFL-CIO affiliate and original chairperson of the minimum wage campaign expressed, "Whether they're disabled or not, they're workers. What do we value? Someone who gets up and, against those odds (disabilities), goes to work every day, deserves the minimum wage, which is not a living wage."
In the movie “Unforgiven” Clint Eastwood sums up life when he says, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." Workers deserve only what they freely and mutually negotiate with their employer. We all get a chance to “take it or leave it” before we start any job. Sometimes you feel desperate, and are willing to take almost anything, but you do have a minimum. I don't think anyone feels they need a politician to make our career decisions for us. You make the decision what is fair compensation for your labor. That is your personal minimum wage.
In the real world, you can either work for what you want or you can hope that the government gives it to you. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark said, “A right is not what someone gives you; it's what no one can take from you.”
Between 3,000 and 5,000 disabled workers are at serious risk of losing their jobs. Until now, they were exempt from federal minimum wage laws that made allowances for their special needs. The companies could reward their disabled workers with token amounts of money, sometimes as little as two dollars a week. The disabled also gained a chance to feel independent and develop job skills at a slow pace with a company that made allowances for their physical and mental conditions..
Randy Gray, president and chief executive officer of the Mesa Adult Rehabilitation Center in Mesa, Ariz. explained the rationale behind the federal exemption, "Why would someone want to hire someone who works at 10 percent and pay them 100 percent?"
But wait a minute, isn't that the point of allowing the market to set a person's wage? Those who produce less, earn less? The productivity of a day’s labor is not equal amongst all workers, so pay isn't either. If working hard was an entitlement to high pay, then ditch diggers would be millionaires. You must work hard and smart, which is one reason college is so important in attaining a high paying job. Why would an employer pay a person more than their labor produces? More specifically, why pay a person $6.75 an hour when what they produce can only be sold for $5.15.
Most of us have earned the minimum wage at some point in our lives. My experience working at Burger King was like that of millions of Americans: It was the first and last time I earned minimum wage. The truth is the older you get, the less likely you are to earn minimum wage. Among workers over the age of 25, less than 1 percent earn minimum wage.
Minimum-wage jobs are important because they represent the first rung on the employment ladder. If you raise the minimum wage, you hurt those you want to help, the poorest that have to struggle more to get a start.
The opportunity to get a job, even at the ground floor, is better than no opportunity at all for millions of young people. These jobs are where we learn how to take direction, be on time and interact with colleagues and customers. Young Arizonans need these first-time experiences so they can move on to better paying jobs later. Jobs that pay minimum wage are a beginning, not for a person to try and support a spouse and kids.
The idea of a minimum wage appeals to our best intentions. We don't like the idea that people can work hard, play by the rules and still be poor. It seems unfair that the fat-cat CEOs are making millions, while the lowest workers must survive with public assistance. Rebekah Friend, president of the Arizona AFL-CIO affiliate and original chairperson of the minimum wage campaign expressed, "Whether they're disabled or not, they're workers. What do we value? Someone who gets up and, against those odds (disabilities), goes to work every day, deserves the minimum wage, which is not a living wage."
In the movie “Unforgiven” Clint Eastwood sums up life when he says, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." Workers deserve only what they freely and mutually negotiate with their employer. We all get a chance to “take it or leave it” before we start any job. Sometimes you feel desperate, and are willing to take almost anything, but you do have a minimum. I don't think anyone feels they need a politician to make our career decisions for us. You make the decision what is fair compensation for your labor. That is your personal minimum wage.
In the real world, you can either work for what you want or you can hope that the government gives it to you. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark said, “A right is not what someone gives you; it's what no one can take from you.”
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