$15/hr minimum wage

[Belsnickel]

(08-07-2018, 09:10 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Unfortunately, the only way I can see this happening is for the government to augment wages. You force the business owner to pay more he/she is going to raise prices. You tax the business owner more he/she is just going to raise prices. 

I suppose there could be tax incentives based on how much above minimum wage your employees make or number of employees per profit margin. I'm just one that believe the free market will bare out. 

The correlation between market deregulation and growing income inequality (thus more difficulty in upward mobility) leads me to believe that the market will not bare out. Leaving the market to do things on its own has resulted in things getting worse.

(08-07-2018, 10:08 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I'm all for guidance counselors and educators encouraging young folks to follow their dreams, but perhaps they need to look closer at the entire individual.  Just because someone can achieve a certain score on a standardized test, does not mean they are cut out for the university path.  Just the same as everyone that doesn't achieve a certain score on a standardized test isn't destined to work lowest common denominator jobs their entire life.

I've talked about this, but Germany actually does something like this. It is criticized because they don't always get it right, but overall it does a pretty good job of figuring out the best path for a student. Teachers evaluate students the entire time they have them, directing them to trade, professional, or academic paths depending upon how they perform. It isn't just a standardized test, but a judgement (based on criteria to an extent) from someone that spends a lot of time with the student on a daily basis. When they get done with 5th or 6th grade, they move on to a secondary school that prepares them for the next step based on that evaluation.

Here is the problem with this in the United States, well, problems. The first is funding. Something like this is going to require a lot more funding for education. The training for teachers to do the evaluations and know what to look for, updating curricula, adjusting schools, etc., etc. The adjustment to a new model like this, which is really what would be required to make something like this work, would take a lot of time and money. The public doesn't have the patience for this. It would be interesting to see if a locality would experiment with something like this as a bit of a laboratory.

The other major issue would be that the concept is going to be antithetical to many Americans. The American dream, albeit unrealistic today, is still something many people believe in. The idea that a child's path is going to be directed for them at such a young age like this is going to cause quite a stir. While a student could switch between schools if something changes, it is going to be seen as the government restricting freedoms and being overreaching, as the government knowing better than the student and their family.

(08-07-2018, 11:42 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I disagree with the general idea of raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, but I also disagree with the general idea of what you're preaching.  Good news for everyone is that my views on things seem to matter even less than most people's, so there is hope for both sides!

This progressive knows what you're saying and agrees, but my solutions may involve the government a bit more than you'd like.