Okay, so you’re on to me, tent. Again, I am trying to make the point that there isn’t just one cause of poverty in america and so there is not just one cure. Raising minimum wage to $15.00 won’t cure poverty, but it will help. Some large companies, such as Target, see the handwriting on the wall. Fast food chains can surely afford it. It can happen.
But here’s a story. Friend of mine lost his factory job. Place closed down. He took a job as less pay, also in a factory. His salary is subsidized, so for now, he’s making what he used to make. I’m not sure where the money comes from - the state or a manufacturer trust fund. It doesn’t matter, because either way, the general public is paying the freight, either in taxes or in higher prices. He was also eligible for job retraining. He chose not to. Felt he was too old to begin again.
That’s okay - he’s a big boy. Soon enough, the subsidy runs out. do we bemoan his reduced salary? Do we say that there should be no subsidy unless he retrains, so we are not in the same situation when the factory he now works in shuts down?
As a society, we have to make up our minds. Do we subsidize with no strings attached (this is common in my state)? Do we require that you have to be more than a victimized laid-off worker to get the subsidy? Do we skip the subsidy and just offer the training?
The thing is, his salary now contributes to “poverty” stats. Why should we worry? He chose not to try for a better paying job. So he makes about 11 bucks an hour, now. His wife makes 40k. They own a home and they’re not in danger of losing it. I think they own it outright.
Stats are stats, but there are stories behind the stats. There are tons of anti-poverty programs. There are countless combinations of family size, social resources, incomes, assets, costs of living. One percent, 20 percent, eighty percent.
Everyone hates the 1% except for their favorite athlete, entertainer or doctor. And Warren Buffet.