Quote:
Originally Posted by iggy_oi
There’s only a finite number of jobs and people need money to live, a business owner isn’t required to pay more than the bare minimum. If the reality were that every employer that pays minimum wage couldn’t possibly afford to pay more you might have a point, but we all know that’s simply not the case. The system in the states is currently designed to allow employers to exploit workers with impunity.
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There's a distinction to be made between a business that is profitable and could afford to pay employees more but chooses not to and a business where the model requires paying people little because there isn't sufficient revenue to cover higher costs. The latter doesn't seem like a business owner who is exploiting people so much as a business owner who is struggling to generate enough revenue to cover costs and be prosperous by selling their products/services. That’s not so different from employees who are struggling to find work that pays well. Employees are also participants in a market, selling their labor and time to generate revenue to cover their costs and hopefully prosper. Telling small business owners with struggling businesses that they just suck, don't deserve to be in business and should close up because they're having a hard time finding sufficient customers to generate revenue and cover their costs is pretty akin to telling an employee that they suck, don't deserve a decent job and should be out of the labor market because they can't find an employer willing to buy their labor and time at a high enough price to cover their costs.
I'm not even conservative, but I just don't get the sentiment of having no sympathy for business owners regardless of their circumstances. I agree that exploitative practices intended to leverage or expand power imbalances and profit off the suffering of others should be opposed, I just don't believe that's the nature of all businesses paying low wages. Sentiments that they just suck and should shut down their businesses seem like sentiments presented as humane while actually heartless.