$10 Minimum Wage

I don't often post about politics or issues cause I just don't see the point. It's like chasing your own tail for your own amusement. The only people listening are other people chasing their tail too.

I was thinking this morning about the up and coming raise to minimum wage. It's going to go to $10 an hour as the standard. I forget just when, next year I think. Some people think this is just grand, an answer to all their problems. But, I think, it's going to cause massive unemployment and prices on everything from your toe nail cutters to your car insurance are going to go way up.

Think of it as the retail store selling gizmos. They now have to pay their employees an extra $2.something an hour. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Under water that iceberg includes the services the retailer uses to get the gizmos they sell, the services the retailer uses to present the gizmos to the public and the services the retailer uses to be allowed to stay in business. We can call them insurance companies, electric power companies, transport companies and window display small business companies for short, though there is a much longer list. Ask your local retailer about the services and businesses they use for their business and services. All of those companies are also having to pay the new minimum wage and have put their prices up.

So how does the gizmo seller stay in business? In order to stay in business they have to raise the price of gizmos, quite a bit likely. Just to try to pay for their increased costs and their employee wages. If they can get rid of a few employees they will. They will have to. Likely they will struggle awhile. Then the company that mass produces the gizmos for the retailer begins to get greedy and offer them at wholesale prices from some warehouse instead of going through retail. So now the retailer is cut off. They can't compete against that.

The politicians who started this are trying to throw a bone. Thinking that the public will think this is just great. Hoping that we will be so overwhelmed by their generousity and concern for our welfare that we will actually feel we should get out to vote for them. There has been a huge lack of turn out for elections. I haven't voted for a long time myself. Not that I don't care. I just don't see anyone I'm willing to pay the cost of gas for to go out and vote. No one stands out as someone worth my time. Whichever party put this through is just hoping to get the support of the huge amount of the public who work dead end minimum wage jobs and those who have less than that but aspire to more.

In reality, we've just been royally screwed over. Once this whole things starts within a year there will be tons of unemployment. Which will be a drain on government support services which comes from the average person making minimum wage at a dead end job. So taxes will go up too. Which means your grand minimum wage raise will be sucked right back up by the government. Thank you very much.

Don't worry about the politicians though. Even if only a handful of people vote they give themselves another raise, take a few months off. Just pay them in margaritas and send them to the summer cottage in Muskoka.

Light the fire. I'm done.