With a new effort by "moderate" Republicans to push through a modest hike in the minimum wage in the vain attempt to separate themselves from their far-Right fellow travelers, the economic/commentariat industrial complex status quo machine that maintains our inequitable socioeconomic system is once again kicking into gear. Raising the minimum wage to a level that working people in our country can actually live on is presented as the greatest threat to the American way of life since child labor laws. I say let's challenge the capitali sts to put their comfortable mouths where the real lack of money is.
The usual rhetorical/statistical line up of suspects is once again being trotted out, you know them: A higher minimum wage would actually cost jobs, especially entry level ones, small businesses and restaurant owners would be forced to close, our competiveness would nosedive, and besides, most minimum wage workers are just teenagers or housewives or students or eccentric millionaires who are working just for the hell of it.
Rather than debating these rhetorical ravens point by point, I am instead calling for a national movement to call on all opponents of the minimum wage, whether politicians, academics, lobbyists, editorial writers, commentators, business owners, or that miserable lot who call themselves economists to live on the actual minimum wage for an extended period of time, say two months. During that time they could only live on a salary based on a 40-hour work week paid at the minimum wage per hour. No extra sources of income, no savings, no royalties, stock dividends, or medical benefits.
If, after this immersion in the world of the working poor, minimum wage opponents find they can still support themselves and their families, pay their bills, and deal with any emergencies that might arise during this period, like, say, taking sick kid to the doctor or having their car break down, then and only then will the country be able to take seriously their stance against raising the minimum wage.
Let's get this campaign started!