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Originally Posted by JohnnyB
Is this just because of wages? Why not target costs of goods, services, and housing to mandate a 50% cut in prices of all these?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyB
I wouldn't do that. It would be kind of silly to look at a complex system with systematic problems and just crank hard on one lever to fix the system's problems. It would certainly cause a lot of other problems.
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It would also be kind of silly to pretend a 50% reduction in the cost of literally everything is a remotely logical comparison to raising the wages of those who are below a living wage to a living wage, but you still went ahead with it, so let’s not pretend silly is out of the question.
As much as I do love a good socialist utopia (reduce by 50%? forget it, let’s make everything free and just give it out according to need), we’re talking things that are a little more realistic here. The rebuttals are just the same tired excuses.
“But it will cause problems!” Cool, which problems and how exactly? Because we’re trying to fix a very big problem that exists right now, not hypothetical fantasy problems that may or may not exist in the future.
“But businesses will close!” maybe they’re bad businesses? Businesses close now. What are you doing to save them now? There will be more people with more money, perhaps they will even be able to save enough to start that business they’ve always wanted to start!
“$15 isn’t the magic number!” cool, let’s find the number that is correct, whether that’s city-by-city or area-by-area, and go with that one.
“What about business owners?” What about the greater numbers of people they employ?
“Costs will just go up!” Sure, and let’s have the living wage everyone gets go up with them. A select number of people hold the vast majority of the wealth, and people are acting like it’s a bad thing if people at the bottom rung keep getting more money and the gap starts to close.
The system isn’t that complex. We invented it. Every single complexity that exists is one we invented and one we can change if we want to.
The biggest single issue is that people don’t want it to change. People like that there are people who are poorer than they are. The system might be broken, but gosh darn it, I’ve done ok so how bad can it be. Any change that might have an impact on them that could be perceived as negative is too much.
As I said, mandate higher minimum wages to match a cost of living, or implement a UBI. We’re all paying for it either way, so let’s go. Or everyone middle class and lower can keep licking the boots of the rich and continue waiting patiently for whatever they want to send down the line. Because it’s been so, so much, hasn’t it?