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Broken Logic: The irony of a 15 dollar minimum wage and an alternative solution

By Michael Hickey | WeaponizedNews.Com | Jan 15, 2016

A hot topic of discussion and debate this election cycle has been the increase in a minimum wage. A repetitive argument brought fourth by the left with a number chosen by the democratic party that they believe sounds good. 15 dollars an hour, and hey that does sound pretty good to the ear of the working class (which includes myself). However the irony in this debate is mind boggling when you also consider that the left vigorously argues against corporate America and pretends to favor small business.

It is no secret that for the past 16 plus years small business in this country has been crumbling and decaying. With large corporations able to out source and out price small business in almost every category it leaves small locally owned business scrambling to stay afloat, barely able to survive under the current federally enforced minimum wage.

The bottom line here is that by enforcing a 15 an hour minimum wage across the nation will kill small business like an executioner wielding and ax. This wage increase will either result in your local mom and pop shop going our of business or having to cut they’re employment levels in half. The only type of business that can afford this minimum wage is that of corporations. There is where the irony lies.

By forcing all business to pay their employees 15 dollars an hour we are in return selling the people into slavery to corporate America. There would be no other option but to work for a Walmart or a Home Depot as your local hardware store will have to either cut down employment costs, raise prices, or shutdown all together in order make up for the loss in revenue for business’ that are already having a hard enough time breaking even under the current system.

This would be a catastrophic use of federal power that would change the very landscape of cities across America. Resulting in more ‘going out of business’ and ‘for lease’ signs than already litter current and former mom and pop shops that used to be the foundation of our economy and our communities. As if the federal government hasn’t done enough already to injure small business via health care reform and constantly rising taxes. No the federal government has already shot small business in the heart and now they want come through and finish it off with a bullet to the head.

Now something i think most us can agree on is that there is a gross mal-distribution of wealth in this country. Whether or not you think that is justifiable is a different story, often pending on the individuals fiscal condition but most can at least recognize the issue at hand. So what can we realistically do about it?

The only logical resolution i can come up with is a minimum wage pending company profits. The problem here is that a company can make a billion dollars and the average Joe who has worked tirelessly on the bottom level to make those profits possible get nothing. This current system does not align with the American values that hard work pays off. Now if we were to designate a quarterly profit margin, for the sake of argument lets say a modest 10%, into wage distribution this would leave owners profits still in tact and allow for higher wages among the lower class. In order to do this you would have to decipher how much it would cost for the company to break even and anything made above that would be considered profit.

Lets use this model for what most consider the corporations of all corporations, Walmart. Last year Walmart made 482 billion dollars net profit and currently employ 2.1 million employees. Now if you took 10 percent of that net profit you get 48.2 billion dollars, now if you divide that by the 2.1 million employees it would result in a bonus of $22,952.38 a year per employee and hardly puts a dent in the companies net gains and would nearly double the their current annual income of $24,960 dollars a year. Making their new salary $47,912. That is a wage that people can live on. That is a wage that can take someone out of poverty.

This would result in an inconsistency in wages throughout the year. Though it would still be higher than current wages regardless. It is an idea that allows for the people to get paid what they deserve and would still allow for the preservation of small business. With this model realistically 10% wouldn’t even be necessary to fairly increase wages and I’m sure the stingy underside of America will argue that 10% is still too high but even at %5 the difference is remarkable. It is amazing the options we have as a nation to fix our economy yet we only see the false solutions our politicians wave in our faces. We need to begin to think outside the box that we as Americans are being shoved into. We don’t have to settle for being cornered into poverty and we don’t need more cripplingly ignorant legislation that merely sounds good to common voters. We need practical ideas that actually make sense logistically before we have no other option but to work for Walmart or Home Depot for 15 dollars an hour because personally I would rather work the local grocery outlet for 10.

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About Stuart Webb

Stuart Webb is an activist, citizen journalist as well as entrepreneur. Stuart's educational background is self education, common sense, the U.S. Constitution and is currently studying at BYU Idaho working towards a degree in Accounting then Law. He currently works full time at a marketing company in Fresno, California. Stuart is the Co-Owner/CEO/Editor of Weaponized News.

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