Re: Rent and Basic Income

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 08:31:28 GMT, royls@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

(much snipped)

>>> Not minimum wage workers.
>>
>>I agree that if someone worked for minimum wage for the last 50 years, their
>>income would have fallen in real dollars. But that means they fell from
>>being WAY overpaid to being slightly overpaid. I mean if someone hasn't
>>learned enough to get a better job in 50 years of experience, they probably
>>don't contribute much to whoever they work for.

Problem is that they might be in an occupation class where
pay does not increase regardless of how long they've been
working for the same employer. The security industry is a
good example. Major reason is that after a person goes
through a period of "learning the ropes", that is about all
there is for them to learn. They might earn a bit more after
time due to being "promoted" in "rank", but this will be more
a matter of "nickel and dime", not really "serious" money.
Reason for this is that the employer can easily replace
anyone with a new hire who will "learn the job" in a week
or so. (speaking from experience both as an employee
and later on as an employer of security guards)

Even if the minimum wage worker takes an ICS course
or goes to "night school" for a while, most likely it won't
do them much good as wages at this level are determined
by "supply and demand". With plenty of potential employees
available to the employer to hold down wages. The only
possible chances they have is either to obtain enough
education past the HS level to get into fields where the
"competition" is less or where the jobs are "unionized".
Truck driving is one option if you can qualify for a CDL,
(assuming you can afford to take the training for it...)
Other options are getting into law enforcement (union),
but the educational requirements for this make it more
and more difficult for the person with only an HS degree.

Self employment is an "option" only to those who are
able to raise the necessary "capital" and have enough
savings to tide them over until they can establish their
business. Or can start a "family" business where they
can work long hours (well beyond the regular "40") to
make up for the relatively low "per hour income"...
You see this last frequently with certain ethnic groups,
where the entire family will be running the business and
perhaps putting in 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Of
course they can't afford to hire "help" because they'd
have to pay wages, government mandated "benefits",
along with overtime after 40 hours and so forth here.

There can be no doubt that it is more difficult today
than it was fifty years ago when there were many
more union manufacturing jobs still available.

>?? These aren't the same individuals. Duh.
>
>>>..See Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed"
>>> and Katherine Newman's "No Shame in My Game."
>>
>>I see a lot about people who can't get by on their US wages. It makes me
>>wonder how it is that so many people move to the US from Mexico or points
>>south, work for those low wages, and then send 1/3 or more of their income
>>home to relatives.
>
>I doubt that many do. And anyway, we've seen that the main way they
>do it is by saving on land rent, by sleeping several dozen of them in
>one house, in contravention of local land-use laws.
>
>>And when there is a TV newscast about those "working poor", they all seem to
>>be overweight and smoking cigarettes.

Don't know about the smoking of cigarettes, given today's
prices, but the cheapest foods tend to be the most fattening.
(I'm on the Atkin's Diet and it is fairly expensive relative to
what I could be eating if I ate like the poor people do...)

>Yes, addiction is very sad, especially when it is promoted as a matter
>of corporate profitability. Fat poor people do have their propaganda
>uses, too, of course.
>
>>I agree that making ends meet at any income level is difficult, and
>>especially for those who make poor choices about how to spend their income.
>
>And even more especially for those who have to actually earn their
>income.

(rest snipped)

Jerome Bigge
Member, Muskegon Astronomical Society
Author of the "Warlady" & "Wartime" series.
Download at "http://members.tripod.com/~jbigge";
.

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