Vitaliy wrote:

>> And perhaps those a little higher on the food chain sometimes?
> 
> Absolutely. You pay more for everything from food, to clothes, to hamburgers
> at your local MacDonalds.

And what is wrong with that?

> Bob, the problem with your sob story is that I am not the exploiting rich
> capitalist s.o.b. that you seem to make me out to be.

In relative terms you are rich, because you are smart and talented, and
make enough money for some luxuries.

How about the teeming masses who have no talent, a low IQ, etc. etc? Do
we just let them suffere and die, or do we act like citizens of a first
world country and do something about it?

> I came to the States as a teenager. I bought my first PC with the money I
> made working for a a schoolteacher, mowing the lawn, weeding the plants, and
> doing all kinds of work around the house. Then I worked as a bagger at
> Safeway. I won't bore you with the dozen other jobs (from tech support to
> pizza driver) that I held at one point or another.
> 
> When my friend and I started ScanTool.net in 2002, we were both freshmen in
> college. That year, we routinely worked 40-50 hour weeks, while going to
> college. I got married the year before, my daughter was born in September
> 2002, so I juggled family and college life with running a business for five
> years (instead of the three years it was supposed to take, because I had to
> drop out so many times). I still put in 50 hours/week on average, although
> at various points in time 60 hours (Mon-Sat) was the norm. My wife and I are
> still paying our school loans, since our immigrant parents weren't able to
> assist us financially (nor did we ever expect them to).
> 
> I know what hard work is, and I know financial hardship.

I believe you. But you have talent, too. Lots of hardworking people will
never be able to achieve what you have, and will be stuck with minimum
wage all their lives.

 Your hypothetical
> Jim is your own invention, by the way -- because the real Jim is nothing
> like the dope-smoking lazyass you dreamed up. Although the story perfectly
> illustrates the attitude of many people: poor people's problems are always
> somebody else's fault.

The same with everybody else who won't take some responsibility

> "Economists connected with the Left -orientated Economic Policy Institute
> and the Clinton Administration have concocted a rational for minimum wage
> increases. According to these economists higher wages make employees more
> content with their jobs, and this leads to higher worker productivity. Thus
> workers will be worth paying a minimum wage once their employers are forced
> to pay these wages. Of course, if this were true - if employers could get
> higher productivity out of less educated and experienced workers by paying
> higher wages - they would be willing to do this without minimum wage
> legislation."   [http://mises.org/story/2130]

Ahh, Ron Paul :) Libertarian thinking has no place for human suffering.
It is ignored.

> Give me one instance, when you paid more and got better work. My experience
> was that increasing the salary of a sloppy or lazy worker doesn't make them
> work harder. Salary matters, but for a different reason -- unless the pay is
> competitive (at or above the market rate), the best workers will find
> employment elsewhere.

I think people who work low-end jobs need a living wage. If better work
is a side-effect, fine.

> Put another way, productivity drives wages -- wages do not drive
> productivity. Want to make more money? Make yourself more productive!

Actually I'm happy where I am. But you seem to base everything solely on
an economic model(one that I don't agree with) and don't seem to care
about the huddled masses or social justice. Not everyone has an IQ of
140 or the ambition of a CEO or the body of an athlete/supermodel, but
they are still human beings and deserve to be treated as such.

Cheerful regards,

Bob


P.S. Jim Anchower is from The Onion and quite a laugh to read.
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