Quote:
Originally Posted by PsYcNeT
I didn't claim the use of low-skill labor was unethical, I said that paying low-skill labor a wage below the cost of living is unethical, particularly since the majority of those prior to and after the minimum wage changes were not teenagers living with their parents.
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Ah. I see your problem.
You are taking a moral stance (ethics) on an economical issue.
The correlation between the value of labour and the cost of living are not direct and would vary by jurisdiction but minimum wage should be a big blanket and nor do either have anything to do with ethics.
Theres the confusion. You're looking at a social problem, defining it by your own ethical code and then applying that code externally onto others making pretty much anything anyone else does that you find distasteful but that doesnt affect you or that you personally do nothing about 'unethical' and thus allowing yourself to maintain your preposterous moral high-ground and condescend upon others with meaningless blanket statements.
This is some good stuff. Cognitive Dissonance 101.
So...
You see a business owner making money but not paying his workers what you consider to be a 'living wage' which is a nebulous and fictitious concept in and of itself, much like 'Social License' which I gather you're also a fan of, ergo this business owner, to your standards, is unethical.
What you're really doing is saying:
"Hey!!! Hey!! That guy is making money and not paying his workers what I arbitrarily have determined to be a Living Wage!!! Look at me! As such I am morally outraged at that Business Owner's lack of ethics to my personal satisfaction!! Hey everyone look at me!!! I'm morally outraged over this social injustice!! Look how morally pious I am!!"
Holding people to an unreasonable and fluctuating personal standard, if you think about it, is also pretty unethical.
I wonder if EI is a 'Living Wage?' If it isnt, is EI then morally reprehensible?
This is just a crazy rabbit hole. But at least I understand where you're coming from now.