…is not a shortage of workers. We have a shortage of jobs in these United States of America. Now, I’m going to use a definition of “job” that has fallen out of favor, but it’s certainly in line with historical usage: A “job” is paid work that provides a good living in a standard 40-hour workweek. That’s the minimum standard for a “job.” Anything else is a hobby, a side hustle, or some such thing.
Now, since I mentioned the word “minimum,” this is when I should bring up “minimum wage.” If your upbringing was anything like mine, you were probably taught that minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage; it existed to provide work for teenagers and other people who apparently did not need and/or deserve a living wage.
This is, of course, absolutely false.
Minimum wage was supposed to have been a good living wage from the very beginning. Here’s what the father of the minimum wage had to say about labor during his first term:
“In my Inaugural, I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By “business” I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. Throughout industry, the change from starvation wages and starvation employment to living wages and sustained employment can, in large part, be made by an industrial covenant to which all employers shall subscribe.”
I would say that, while we can argue about the specifics of what constitutes “living wages,” I think the intent is pretty clear. The bare minimum any business should pay any employee is a living wage. I threw in the bit about the 40 hour work week because it’s the only way you get parity with the different classes of workers described in Roosevelt’s statement. In addition, companies have become altogether too dependent on abusing workers who are exempt from overtime:
Fun fact: It is illegal to do volunteer work for your employer. Working extended hours for no additional pay isn’t illegal, even though it’s the same thing. This needs to stop. That brings us to “living wage, 40 hour work week.” That’s a “job.”
Now, it may shock you to discover that there are many, many “jobs” that do not meet either-or, in many cases, both of these two standards. The minimum wage is nowhere near a living wage and, speaking from experience, getting into triple-digit hours during a crunch isn’t unheard of. Not only do people pay a massive physical toll for doing this, but it is, in essence, volunteering free labor to your company and keeping them from having to hire two more people, depressing wages, and taking away jobs.
You might ask yourself “Well if these people are not receiving a living wage, how come they are, you know, living?” That’s an excellent question! There’s no one answer for it. In some cases, it really is a case of teenagers working nights and weekends for spending money. In others, they’re working multiple, full-time jobs, which is deeply problematic.
Most people who live on sub-living wages receive assistance. That means that government money (“muh tax dollars!”) is keeping these folks afloat. Or, to put a finer point on it, the government is subsidizing company profits by allowing them to pay a sub-living wage to their employees. Let me restate it for emphasis: Any company paying less than a living wage making its profits off of government subsidies.
This brings me to another point: Your employer is your employer, not your family or your friend. You and your co-workers are a cost to the company. Companies try to minimize costs because, you know, capitalism. There’s nothing uniquely sinister about a company trying to pay you as little as possible, trying to get as many free hours from you as they can, or replacing you when it’s cost-effective to do so. The whole system is set up that way. In fact, each company should do all those things in order to remain a company.
They probably shouldn’t be so open about how much they enjoy it as this guy, though. This guy is an idiot and he’s wrong about how they treat dogs in the military, too.
So what was my point? My point was that, with assistance actually going to people and not just businesses during this pandemic, workers are able to eschew low-wage, dangerous jobs (look up the COVID rates for restaurant cooks when you have a sec; it’s too depressing for me to link) and hold out for jobs that pay a living wage. I don’t blame anyone who does this. No business has a right to cheap, sub-living-wage labor.
Now, it’s been pointed out to me that there is no actual need for as many workers as currently exist. This is true. It’s also been mentioned that this model of sustenance being based on work is a crappy way to organize society and this is also true. But, I’m just trying to color within the lines for once. There’s really no way to make capitalism “work.” I’m just trying to highlight the fact that it has been badly corrupted over the last forty years and suggest that going back to the original concept behind minimum wage would make a bad thing better.
So, happy Labor Day, y’all.
