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If we create a new threshold of $15/hr for unskilled labor, what do we have to add to a person that has skills but is making say $13/ hr now? And how much more then needs to be added to their supervisor’s pay? I have little sympathy for a person that complains about only making $8.50/hr that has been working at that job for 5 years. What have they done to improve their marketable skills that would warrant a larger wage? I’ve been in positions where I wasn’t making the wage that I thought I should and when I asked, it always came back as I needed more skills. So I found a way to increase my capabilities. And I also learned to cut my expenses to pay for the additional training. I didn’t blame anyone else, nor did I expect someone else to make it happen for me. I just wasn’t brought up that way. My parents would be rolling over in their graves if they thought I had become a freeloader. I don’t want to think about what is going to happen with these people that don’t want to take responsibility for their future when they suddenly find themselves unemployed because automation replaces them. If they were smart, they would get into a technical school to learn how to repair those machines that took their job, to begin with! As a department head, I always push my staff to increase their knowledge base. And if their new skills will benefit the company, I ensure that the company will pay for it. I have no problem helping someone bettering themselves and have done this on a number of occasions. But as soon as the conversation turns to “you owe me,” my ears turn off. I blame it on the household they grew up in and the school system.
Anyway, thanks for the chance to voice my opinion and give out a “Well done” to Trish. – Dave Trish Regan Response: Many thanks, Dave. It’s good to have you here and reading these pieces. It sounds like we’re speaking the same language, and I couldn’t agree more. Keep your commentaries coming! “Working yourself out of a job!” That was what my late uncle David told me years ago. He used to teach finance in the MBA program at Stanford University. You are right. The process to speeding up automation that will put people out of jobs. Couple months ago I saw a local TV news program that was talking about a robot that makes french fries. Did you know that most if not all the housekeeping jobs in Tokyo Japan are done by robots! When I was studying for my finance degree nearly 40 years ago, the big thing then was the use of robots in making cars in Detroit. Raising the minimumwage is only going to hurt those who need minimumwage jobs. When the layoff of these people occur, it will be hard to get any job. – Gordon A. Trish Regan Response: Gordon, your uncle was a smart man! I think I heard the same thing from MY uncle who used to chair the economics department at University of Connecticut. Leave it to the economists... Anyway, there is a cost to a higher minimum wage and it will not have the intended effect of helping the majority of Americans. As you know, I’m a big believer in getting the government OUT of the way. Thanks for reading!
American Consequences
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