Should we abolish ALL forms of government welfare, and let the poor wither and die?

European hamburger joints pay much higher wages for the same job. Therefore, lower wages is not the answer.

 

I think it would be better to eliminate the minimum wage and subsidize unskilled low wage workers. We all have a collective interest in seeing these workers enter the workforce, gain experience, and rise.

Imposing a minimum wage requirement on Big Businesses appeals to me, but that takes complex legislation, which I do not like.

 

This is a dumb (and baiting) question. No one wants anyone to "wither and die." But some of us believe government assistance is not the be-all-end-all.

 

Well, it baits us into discussion. It's always good to question whether current policies are the best policies and to try and come up with something better if we can. Obviously we have to have some way of caring for our most vulnerable and needy fellow citizens, including those temporarily down on their luck, while simultaneously dealing with the cheats who just want to sponge off of the system.

Of course, the critics should understand that we have all of that right now, so it is merely a question of how we might make improvements, if needed, and just how badly such improvements actually are needed. Americans are already a hard-working bunch by and large. We work more hours for less money than our European counterparts, don't we?

 

Wouldn't that have the opposite effect? You don't give people free money for doing less. Money - spending power - is a great incentive for getting people to accomplish more. It's not the only one, but it's an important one.

As for the minimum wage in particular, it helps establish a stable baseline of spending power available to the working classes, allowing in turn for price stability and ensuring that no one is significantly disadvantaged or exploited by employers. The only viable alternative would seem to be a universal basic income that would provide a similar function, but that would give less incentive to work and accomplish something. I think it's most imperative to ensure that there are sufficient job and advancement opportunities out there, so that unemployment is not needlessly high. That is when the economy gets into serious trouble.

 

Well I was thinking: We could turn the poor into tires so that we'd still have the poor, but we could use them, on our cars.

 

the whole and entire concept of natural rights and equal protection of the law, should preclude that.

 

many republicans think tax cuts for the rich are the cure for everything

they want to destroy all safety nets, get rid of social security and medicare, ect.....

 

Capitalism has a natural rate of unemployment. Promoting the general welfare can mean finding market friendly solutions to simple poverty.

 

America is the only country where the poor people are fat.

 

our unorganized militia also causes plenty of security problems in our free States, but the right wing insists they should not have to have a hard work ethic and muster.

 

There are many potential employers who would hire unskilled workers for the true market wage, but they cannot afford to pay the current minimum wage.
I think a case can be made that there would be a significant collective benefit for subsidizing those workers. It would be a bit like a guaranteed income, but only for productive workers. It would virtually end unemployment. Even an illiterate unskilled laborer who shows up for work for 6 weeks becomes much more valuable to employers. The trick would be to keep our corrupt bipartisan political class from crafting another complex bureaucratic boondoggle out of the concept.

 

Let them eat cake.

 

equal protection of the law in our at-will employment States could solve the issue of simple poverty in a market friendly manner in our at-will employment States.

 

Interesting. Flesh that out a bit.

 

Why is the work in question so low in value that no one can afford to pay minimum wage, I wonder? What exactly are these jobs that can't pay minimum wage? I'd think if a burger flipper can earn more than minimum wage, there is no unskilled job out there that can't earn at least minimum wage.

 

Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?

 

Which ones are those. Please be specific

 

Which "unorganized militias" are you speaking of. please be specific.

 

Big Burger Inc is already replacing the flippers with robots.
Individuals and small local businesses could probably keep able bodied Americans with zero marketable skills busy for decades doing various kinds of demolition/salvage work if they could pay minimal wages. The subsidy would instantly make employing them an option worth considering.

 

the concept is compensation for capitalism's natural rate of unemployment. unemployment compensation for simply being unemployed could solve for simple poverty in our at-will employment States with existing legal and physical infrastructure.

 

if you were organized, you would not be complaining about gun control meant for the unorganized militia.

 

When I had my shop, I told an employee,
that the only thing that is keeping me from paying him what he is actually worth, is minimum wage laws.

 

Gun Control Schemes Kill

"Gun crime was up 42% and knife crime rose 24%. Overall crime was up 4.5% to nearly 774,737 offences, with 16.72% counted as solved, down from 18.8% the previous year.

The Met published the figures on Wednesday as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary highlighted “some areas of serious concern” – drawing attention to several problems faced by Britain’s largest force as its new commissioner, Cressida Dick, takes over."
THE GUARDIAN, Met police performance criticised as London gun and knife crime soar, London force releases figures on day HMIC highlights ‘serious concerns’ over child protection and crime detection, Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent,
Wed 12 Apr 2017.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-serious-concerns-over-met-police-performance

 

you miss the whole and entire point; States have a sovereign right to their own security.

we have a Second Amendment and should no security problems in our free States.