While researching Robert Reich, I found a video on his website titled "What Low Wage Workers Need Most." He spoke about six main necessities, but I would like to focus on the first: Living Wage. Living wage is an income that is sufficient enough to support a life, including food, shelter, and clothing. When Reich created this video, minimum wage was $7.25 an hour, and he claimed that no individual could live on this income. He also elucidates that, if we had the same minimum wage that was around decades ago, and it had kept up with inflation, minimum wage workers would be making $10.40 an hour today. Although this minimum has increased to $8.75, I am sure Reich would consider this insufficient still.
Although Robert Reich is way more knowledgeable and educated than I, I can't help but question some of his points. For example, are minimum wage jobs really intended to provide someone with a living wage? In my opinion, minimum wage jobs are for high school and college students who are just entering the job force, and are not yet equipped for higher-paying jobs. With more experience and/or higher educational degrees, they can then reach for a better job.
Of course, there are many valid arguments that can be made against the above case. Some people can not afford a higher education, and therefore resort to minimum wage jobs to support their families. Although raising the minimum wage may seem like a win-win, teens get paid more while adults can better provide for their family, this is not a perfect solution. When wages are raised, employers usually resort to job cuts in order to maintain or increase profit. Additionally, heads of companies may choose to raise prices for this same reason, and less people will purchase their products. This takes away from the circulation of money in our economy.
Robert Reich raises many valid points, but I would just like to remind everyone to maintain their own opinions. Although his movie and videos are extremely eye opening, there are no simple solutions to our economic crises, and therefore we can not accept his suggestions as being the absolute answer to our problems.
I found your blog post to be both enlightening and interesting. I was glad to see you were confident enough in your own way of thinking to challenge the ideals of someone who many people would regard as highly educated. It shows that you won't be bullied into someone else's way of thinking just because they made a video claiming they were right. Your argument against him was intellectual and factually sound which shows you aren't disagreeing just to disagree. Free thinking is very important in a society that largely goes with the flow.
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