Lets assume 15 dollars an hour happens

[DesMephisto]

15$ does seem a lot though for some jobs.

$1000 seems a lot for a 1 bedroom apartment in a shitty area.

[Senftw]

You'll be fine, here in Australia we pay roughly that (once converted to USD) in minimum wage.

[Seefer]

oh lord, you can't believe that.

Considering research was done it, yeah we can. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/201...-wage-big-mac/

[oxymoronic]

$1000 seems a lot for a 1 bedroom apartment in a shitty area.

dont live there then, nobody is forcing you

[Nadiru]

ahh im getting it, workers are taking credit for leaps in technology? is that what he is saying? and for the company being more advanced in technology workers should be paid more? kind of a silly argument isnt it?

Doesn't have to simply be technological increases; experience counts for a lot, too. Even in service industries, a veteran waiter will be more productive (service inputs being time primarily) than a novice.

[oxymoronic]

meh gotta go but you should realize fed min wage > state min wage. whichever is highest.

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Doesn't have to simply be technological increases; experience counts for a lot, too. Even in service industries, a veteran waiter will be more productive (service inputs being time primarily) than a novice.

the servers of 2016 are no more hard working than the servers of the 70s... although their productivity due to POS and other systems has definitely increased. its a silly argument.

[Maconi]

People always look at the minimum wage thing the wrong way. EVERYONE making less than like $120k a year deserves a raise (INCLUDING those making minimum wage). Wages haven't kept up with inflation since the 90's. We're ALL getting shafted here.

Every year we fight about "raising minimum wage" is another year we all grow poorer. In another 20 years there won't even be a middle class anymore. The gap will continue to increase and "minimum wage" won't even be close to sustainable and the "middle class" will be making the real minimum wage (hell it probably won't even take that long, we're starting to get to that point now). It'll be the poor and the rich, nothing in-between.

[Fugus]

This is fantastic. I'm a retro game collector. Give me all your stuff!

Ah Nintendo Power, how I miss thee.....

I have given a lot of it away to my nephews and got rid of my old Nintendo Power collection when I joined the army (Issues 1-115 but I kept a few strategy guides). But still have my NES and about 80 games, NES Advantage, NES Max, Powerpad, gave my nephew my powerglove after he saw in the Regular Show cartoon and he found out I had one.

Also have my SNES and about another 40 games and Super Scope 6, gave away my Sega Genesis/32x, loaned my N64 and games to my nephew. Gave away my old PSX but kept the games, same with the PS2. Flat out gave away my Wii and Xbox though. My best friend used to have the original atari 7800 and about 200 games and a collecovision. Also still have about 15 original gameboy games (including the entire final fantasy series on it) and on and on.

You would love my Magic The Gathering Card collection too, haven't played that in over 15 years now but still have them too.

My nephews are begging to have them, but not giving them up till they get older and I know they would take care of them.

[Captain N]

Doesn't have to simply be technological increases; experience counts for a lot, too. Even in service industries, a veteran waiter will be more productive (service inputs being time primarily) than a novice.

Even with technology some things are the same as they have always been. Stuff is still rung up the same at a cash register, shelves are still stocked the same way they've always been, trucks are unloaded with the same forklift and/or pallet jack they have been for the last 25+ years. If many things are still done the same as they have been for decades, and the Company is seeing higher and higher profits each year....Wouldn't that mean the technology isn't the only reason production has increased?

People always look at the minimum wage thing the wrong way. EVERYONE making less than like $120k a year deserves a raise (INCLUDING those making minimum wage). Wages haven't kept up with inflation since the 90's. We're ALL getting shafted here!

Absolutely this! We've gotten so used to low wages in this country that most don't know what good pay actually is. We actually have one poster a few pages back who makes $12/hour with a college degree that bitches about wage increases regularly because $15/hour is supposed to be a wage that you get for earning a degree.

[Seefer]

dont live there then, nobody is forcing you

It's damn near everywhere LMAO that is such an idiotic statement.

[Adam Jensen]

I feel bad for any McDonald's type workers who push to hard for this. They are only bringing forward the end of human jobs and the replacement of autonomous robotic solutions.

No they fucking aren't. Automation is coming no matter what the wage is. Wages are irrelevant, because machines will always be cheaper than humans.

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dont live there then, nobody is forcing you

Except I am being forced to live there, its the only place in commuting distance from my job where the rent is under $600.

[Nadiru]

Even with technology some things are the same as they have always been. Stuff is still rung up the same at a cash register, shelves are still stocked the same way they've always been, trucks are unloaded with the same forklift and/or pallet jack they have been for the last 25+ years. If many things are still done the same as they have been for decades, and the Company is seeing higher and higher profits each year....Wouldn't that mean the technology isn't the only reason production has increased?

No. Experienced cashiers are significantly faster at ringing things up than a novice, experienced Teamsters are significantly faster at navigating their routes safely. That said, technological advances in productivity cause wage increases in industries which don't see any of those advancements, a phenomenon known as Baumol's cost disease.

The tl;dr of the cost disease is this: As productivity increases elsewhere in any given economy, wages will increase due to increased revenue. Other industries must then increase their wages proportionately or risk losing workers to that more productive industry. The cost disease is why concert musicians now get paid an exorbitant sum for what is basically zero increase in productivity since the 1700s.

[Saiona]

I won't argue economics, we can go round for hours about it.

Consider this: In almost every major metropolitan area(where the jobs are) Rent in a shitty apartment in the ghetto or boonies costs no less than 500$/mo. That's in almost every major city in the U.S. Getting out of the ghetto immediately pushes you up to 800-1000 a month range, and it's usually not much better.

Believe it or not most people don't have the luxury or privilege of parents supporting them. They get kicked out or parents go to jail or w/e, a young person starts out life paying more than 2/3 of their pay to be independent.

If you don't want to raise pay, then lower rent.

*Shrugs* Sucks to be you welcome to the jungle baby

[DesMephisto]

dont live there then, nobody is forcing you

Uh, what? Do you have any idea how expensive it is to move to another fucking state? Let alone another country?

Btw, I live in a shitty city far away from LA/SF/SD/SJ all with rents of 1900 for studio apartments in the shitty side of town.

[Katie N]

I wish I had anything close to that. xD Work 4 hours and earn as much as I do now in a month. No wonder almost everyone there is rich if they earn so much money per hour.

[EliWallach]

Just wait a few years and check the prices in California. I suspect all fast food businesses will increase prices somewhat. The marginal ones will close but most will survive as the corporation will likely step in to help the owners. As usual, the poor and middle class will foot the bill.

[Grummgug]

I won't argue economics, we can go round for hours about it.

Consider this: In almost every major metropolitan area(where the jobs are) Rent in a shitty apartment in the ghetto or boonies costs no less than 500$/mo. That's in almost every major city in the U.S. Getting out of the ghetto immediately pushes you up to 800-1000 a month range, and it's usually not much better.

Believe it or not most people don't have the luxury or privilege of parents supporting them. They get kicked out or parents go to jail or w/e, a young person starts out life paying more than 2/3 of their pay to be independent.

If you don't want to raise pay, then lower rent.

This is wrong on so many levels.

1. There are lots of fast food jobs in the suburbs.
2. Its cheaper to live in many suburban areas easily $500 rent per month, and suburbs are not ghettos.

Random pull from craigslist:

Decatur, Illinois, nice small town, plenty of fast food jobs, $300 for a 525 sqft 1 bedroom:
https://decatur.craigslist.org/apa/5514024712.html

[Adam Jensen]

This is wrong on so many levels.

1. There are lots of fast food jobs in the suburbs.
2. Its cheaper to live in many suburban areas easily $500 rent per month, and suburbs are not ghettos.

Random pull from craigslist:

Decatur, Illinois, nice small town, plenty of fast food jobs, $300 for a 525 sqft 1 bedroom:
https://decatur.craigslist.org/apa/5514024712.html

Not everyone can just up and move to a cheap location. My $575 dollar apartment, utilities included was about as cheap as I could get and stay within commuting distance of my job. 600-700 was the average.

[Sunseeker]

This is wrong on so many levels.

1. There are lots of fast food jobs in the suburbs.
2. Its cheaper to live in many suburban areas easily $500 rent per month, and suburbs are not ghettos.

Random pull from craigslist:

Decatur, Illinois, nice small town, plenty of fast food jobs, $300 for a 525 sqft 1 bedroom:
https://decatur.craigslist.org/apa/5514024712.html

From your own ad: "Spring Creek Apartments is a building for people 62 or order and/or disabled."

Good luck getting those 18-20-something kids in there!

[Faerillis]

Uh, what? Do you have any idea how expensive it is to move to another fucking state? Let alone another country?

Btw, I live in a shitty city far away from LA/SF/SD/SJ all with rents of 1900 for studio apartments in the shitty side of town.

Look, you see these people with the mindset of 'The Rich Get Richer, Hooray'? You can't change their minds. They don't understand that discussions are meant to change your point of view by bringing in relevant information that may not have been considered before. They think it's innately adversarial, and that anyone saying something different from what they are taught are clearly deceptive. They are Captain Kirrahe and they WILL Hold their line.

Nevermind that even if the Minimum Wage went up to $15, most companies would be able to either maintain their profit margin with Price Increases to their Goods or Services that would be quite trivial in comparison to the Net Wage Increase. Nevermind that major companies, especially Fast Food companies, can far more easily afford to lose a fair chunk of their Profit Margin and still be Phenomenally Wealthy, whilst the people profiting off this increase would be (at most) able to live a life where they don't have to live paycheque by paycheque or be able to work at only one job, and in places with higher costs of living simply be marginally less impoverished. Nevermind that the Wealth Disparity is so wide that this increase would only hurt the Rich as much as it would hurt a Teenager getting in a fender-bender in a Ferrari — they'll only be sore for a few days and they fucking deserved it anyways.

You could spout all the solid statistics that show just how much prosperity an increase in general revenue would generate for everyone. You could show people just how much more money in the pockets of the poor benefits everyone more than money does in some rich guy's bank account. You could show them how minor an inconvenience it is for the wealthy and how it in turn allows poor people to live lives with some dignity and standard of living.

It. Won't. Matter. They believe in the Myth of pulling oneself up by your own bootstraps, without releasing that when you pull on cheap bootstraps that no one has taken care of since the 70s, it's a miracle when they don't break.