critically important because those are the only jobs that AI can’t take easily
How quickly have we forgot about essential workers heroic duties during the pandemic working in person
When I say only, I don’t mean literally only, but enough that we’re going to be living in a cyberpunk dystopia soon if shit doesn’t change, and we’re not going to get any of the cool holograms.
*from a single job.
Every full time job should pay a living wage.
Unless ‘full-time’ is 30 hours a week or less, even a part-time job should be enough to earn a living.
In some countries it actually is, but mentioning that would be communist propaganda.
Are there not worthwhile services or items that someone may want to or have to do that don’t profit 50k/yr per person? Should all of those things just go away or be banned?
If there’s work that needs doing, that work should pay a living wage. If it doesn’t, yes, it shouldn’t exist. Raise prices until it can support those workers, and if people won’t buy it at that price, get rid of it. Otherwise, the argument you’re making is that someone needs to do this work, but that person should be destitute.
If someone wants to do something on the side as a hobby, that’s fine, and that’s not what we’re talking about here, obviously.
Lots of things are nice to have’s, almost everything actually. Door greeter, ice cream server, shoe shiner, small gyms, and probably a million more. There are so many small things that by themselves, cannot generate even 2 or 3 employees worth of revenue, which is like at least 250,000 a year. Lots of jobs have to be part time or side hustles, and when you allow that, some people will take those jobs as their primary full time job even though it is not a livable wage. Sometimes because that’s what’s available, and sometimes because that’s all they can do. If you open that door then someone will walk through it, and if you close that door, I bet a shit ton of things we all enjoy would disappear. For better or worse, without UBI, there will be jobs that don’t and cannot pay a living wage, that will exist, that people would like to exist, and that people will do. Any rules or sentiment surrounding that must take all that into account.
A lot of jobs only exist because we need people to be working. There’s no societal need for a door greeter. If your ice cream shop doesn’t generate enough revenue to pay someone working there a living wage, it isn’t a viable business, or your prices are too low.
You mention UBI and really, that’s the answer, but without it, everyone needs to work to survive and when there isn’t enough work that needs doing, we invent bullshit work just to say we’re employing someone.
Most of these services are exactly the places that expect the most demanding work for the lowest pay. Easy to fix: make sure the c-suite does not get more than 10x of the lowest salary in the company, and suddenly the there is enough money available for a living wage.
Rent nothing, minimum wage should enable home ownership.
That depends a lot on the housing market of the specific country. Here in Vienna, renting is the normal thing to do. we have lots of Apartments which are property of the city, renting them out to make sure living space stays affordable as much as possible, and that is a valid way of doing things too. I am currently living in one of these, and i never had a living space that cheap while also in good condition before (my last apartment on the open market was 1.5x the price, while being not a lot bigger and being utterly outdated regarding heating, electricals and isolation, with walls so thin that you could hear the neighbor sneeze)
I came to say the same thing. It’s a good message but we could improve it by not having too low of a bar. Fuck landlords, everyone should own their housing.
Everyone should be able to afford their necessities even if they’re unable to work
There’s more than enough wealth in this world to do it too. We just let greedy parasites hoard it for no good reason.
Basic healthcare should be covered without any wage.
While disconnecting health care from a wage, may as well disconnect the others also with a UBI. People shouldn’t be living on the street, no matter their circumstances.
Incorrect.
They should also be able to afford basic creature comforts.
People love to ignore that part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs :’)
“Just be a workslave bro! Just don’t do literally anything fun; don’t watch TV, don’t watch movies, don’t play games, don’t go out with friends. Just go to work and go home and that’s it, and you’ll be set for life!”
Ah the 50s. Wish I was an adult back then to experience that
Apparently it really only existed for a subset of white men and wasn’t this glorious era of affordability that we make it sound like
Seriously? What decade do these tales of being able go afford a car and a mortgage and a smoking habit while working as a gas station attendand come from?
Oh, its the right decade alright, but the wrong skin color (or even being italian or irish) meant a lot of hardship.
Well, not really. Even in Slovenia (where I live) - known as one of the most decent capitalists countries for the worker rights apparently, you get paid a minimum wage. But when working in a factory, you already get a decent wage for the living standard (but many still have extra jobs to support their hobbies, transport and legal drug addictions (since it’s Slovenia)).
That one probably, it just wasn’t as widespread as we think. I’ll see if I can find any sources
That’s literally just a stereotype about immigrant workers, which stems from the middle class immigrants, not the minimum wage workers.
And it might have been a reality in Yugoslavia (I know from my family’s experience).
Absolutely. If you’re in the US, and you believe this, make sure you get out and vote in November. Trump wants to make this problem worse.
Almost as though that wage should pay at least the minimum to accomplish that.
