Good Friends Earn Their Own Money

Sorry, I know it’s been awhile.  I’ve been amazingly busy with work and such.  And I just got back from vacation on Wednesday. 

Anyways, something interesting happened yesterday.  I was going into work from the rear entrance, and somebody who was sitting his car called me over and asked if Jason was working.  I said that I would check.  Jason was working, so I sent him out to the parking lot.

I asked Jason what that guy had wanted and he said that it was his friend and that he had broken his toe.  The friend wanted to know if he could get a ride to the hospital.  I asked Jason why his friend had driven up to come find him instead of driving himself to the hospital.  He said the guy didn’t have enough gas and that he was always looking for an excuse for someone to drive him around.  The friend doesn’t have a job and he frequently asks Jason for gas money.

I said, “Sounds like he’s a good guy to have around,” and Jason just mumbled something like “Yeah, I know.”  Jason’s not the hardest worker around, but he doesn’t try to bum gas money off his friends.  He works for his own money.  Jason’s  friend doesn’t understand that in order to consume, he needs to produce.  This is what happens when people are placed in an environment where they can get by without doing anything.  They learn to “borrow” money and live off other people’s wealth.

Jason’s friend should remind you of what’s going on in politics every day.  Government officials believe that they need to redistribute wealth from people who earn their own money to people who either cannot or will not support themselves; to people like Jason’s friend.  One of the arguments that I keep hearing is that the rich can afford to be taxed more.  Therefore, they should be taxed more.  Or in the (paraphrased) words of Joe Biden, it is their patriotic duty to sacrifice their earnings to the greater good. 

I can’t find any logic in this idea.  Just because you think someone can afford to part with a few dollars doesn’t mean that it is right or moral for you to take money from them.  They earned it and they should spend it however they wish.  Now, hopefully they will choose to help a few people out with that money.  However, they should not be judged if they want to keep all the money for themselves.  It is within their rights to do so.

My Undeserved Raise; Courtesy of the Federal Government

On July 24 the American minimum wage will increase by 70 cents to an arbitrary rate of $7.25 an hour.  Since I work for the minimum wage, I’ll be seeing a fairly large chunk of change being added to my paychecks.  However, I don’t see the increase as necessarily beneficial to me, or to my fellow Americans.  

First of all, relatively few Americans actually work for the minimum wage.  I believe the number is less than five percent.  So already, we have a law that only benefits a relatively small amount of people.  Second of all, increasing minimum wage will increase inflation on the already struggling dollar.  

Perhaps Congress thought they were being nice and giving minimum wage earners a better shot at achieving the American Dream; but do the pros outweigh the cons? 

I’m going to have to say a most emphatic no.  Minimum wage earners are not the only people being affected by this law.  This law has huge consequences for business owners.  They have to pay their workers that 70 cents more and still make a decent profit off their product or service.  In order to do this at a steady rate, they’re going to have to make some cuts, or more likely, increase prices.  When prices increase, you’re going to see a decrease in customers, and when customers stop coming…well, you understand basic economics. 

Business owners should be free to decide for themselves how much they pay their employees.  You might say; “But they’ll just take advantage of their workers and pay them an unspeakably low wage.”  This is not very likely.  Competition between businesses will ensure that workers get paid fairly, without the inflation caused by a minimum wage increase.  If a worker is dissatisfied with one employer, he can find another that will pay him more. 

Letting businesses decide their own employees’ wages is a much more practical way to ensure economic growth.  Businesses will be free to grow, unrestrained by federal regulations. 

Do I really deserve this 70 cent increase at the expense of America’s economy?