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Originally Posted by RichieRich
Whilst there's no doubt that costs of living have increased, it cannot be discounted either that the North American society (and likely others) has become an insane consumer of goods based mostly upon wants rather than needs. There is planned obsolescence with so so many goods too. Advertising has convinced so many that they need their daily coffee, internet subscriptions, data packages, tv packages, bigger better TV's and electronics every couple of years, heck throw in "starter" homes that "need" upgrades and eventually larger homes, same with vehicles... where does it end? Why don't we have conversations and education around the opportunity costs of so many non-essential goods and services?
So in our world rife with expectations where the answer is always more more more, it's easy to be convinced (either externally or internal dialogue) that the answer is always that we are being underpaid and someone is grossly profiting. Why is the answer that those richer/wealthier than ourselves somehow have an unfair advantage and hence "DESERVE" to be taxed more heavily? that's another whole thread I suppose...
In any case, some jobs have been deemed unskilled, or have lower level of importance assigned to them, or require different levels of life-experience and/or education. It's why I expect to get paid more than many other fields... at the cost of job uncertainty though.
Logically compensation will range immensely according to type of job but also general cost of living in a particular area. Should a coffee barista need to be paid less working in Airdrie or more working in downtown Banff where making ends meet is much harder? What about owners expectation of profit and margins?
Although AB minimum wage is ~$15/hr... that's an immense amount of money to a teenager/student living at home. But to a single parent it's barely enough. There's no "right" or "easy" answer, and I certainly don't want to go the socialist route of "a job for everyone, no pay for over/under performance, same pay regardless of job" as that's quickly racing to the bottom. Continuously aggressively raising minimum wage is also a race to the bottom for most starting business' who may not be able to afford staff or have the endurance to themselves work 80 hour weeks.
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What you're describing is essentially the result of largely unchecked capitalism. More capitalism, or solutions developed within a capitalist ideology are not going to fix it. You may not want to go a "socialist route" but a balance is required, which naturally means the infusion of solutions drawn from socialist ideologies. It's unavoidable.
There is no fix for this otherwise.
You can say this or that is a race to the bottom, but we're racing to the bottom as we speak.
And I would argue that your perception of a consumerist society (daily coffee, new TVs, starter homes, new vehicles) is completely from a point of privilege. The problem isn't the consumerist society, it's... sadly... that large sections of the population no longer have the option to even participate in that consumerist society. I agree that what you mentioned is a problem, but it's a very middle-upper class problem. There are people who work 40+ hours a week and cannot afford any of what you've mentioned. That's the issue.
It also seems like a constant red herring. Older generations seem fixated on consumerism as a key problem holding young people and people with lower incomes back. "Stop buying the new phone every year! Stop with the avocado toast!" It's a sign to me that someone has no clue how people are actually living and the significance of the problems they face. The issue is not that people need to be paid more because they're wasting money on a new phone every year.
Whether the solution is higher taxes across the board (I favour a flat income tax and a high sales tax that fully exempts essentials), increased subsidies, programs like UBI, better housing regulation, or whatever else, the solution is not coming from capitalism, and it is not coming from pulling up your boot straps and minding your spending.