Thrilled to hear the news today that Rep. Val Demings announced she is running against Sen.Marco Rubio. She will fight for racial equality. Her confrontation of Jim Jordan's hypocritical bluster was priceless. The former Chief of Police of Orlando has guts. Oh, and she is a real " Florida Woman"---a brain and a beauty!!!!
That’s fantastic news! Val Demings is one tough, smart woman. The Senate needs people like her who bring a different perspective. Marco Rubio adds no value to the legislative process. He’s become a performer.
Please make a contribution to her campaign. I know Val Demings and her husband, Jerry, well and there could be no better Senator to represent all Floridians than Val Demings.
Yes, it is sad that the generation which was informed by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi must now expect young people to “save the world” I cringe every time I read of the need for the young people to clean up after “my” mess.
I am so weary of explaining this to people who refuse to understand. I hope this forum of those who respect the historical perspective provided by dear Dr. Richardson will be more receptive.
It is important to understand the discriminatory nature of refusing to raise the minimum wage to a living wage standard. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) a non-partisan research organization, the majority of minimum wage workers are women and people of color. Right now, 59% of workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are women, with nearly one in four of these women being Latina or Black. African Americans make up 31% of the workforce that would benefit from a minimum wage increase and Latinos make up 26%, reports EPI.
Depriving these workers of a living wage is one more racist and misogynistic policy of Republicans. Everyone should understand how discriminatory and unfair this Republican position is. Do not be blind to this.
Those who oppose a raise of the minimum wage to a living wage standard do so only because of a desire to exploit poverty and the labor of those less fortunate and those they wish to discriminate unjustly against. This is unjust, inequitable, and evil.
A careful observation of Republican policies reveals they believe that to incent the wealthy you should give them more money but to incent the less wealthy you take money away from them. Tax breaks for the rich to incent them to create jobs and invest in our economy, but repress wages and reduce unemployment benefits to incent the poor to work for substandard wages. Is there truly anyone who does not see the inequity, unfairness, and evil in this philosophy? If you vote for this you join in their conspiracy against humanity and decency.
Let us not pretend that there is anything beyond racist and misogynistic motivations for the suppression of wages below a living wage standard. Those who support this need to understand they are in the minority. Do not let them forget it. Vote like your own welfare and that of your family and neighbors depends on it. They do!
Continuing to suppress wages below a living wage standard is simply the 21st century equivalent of chattel slavery. Those who support exploiting the labor of others without paying them a fair value for their labor are exploiting the labors of others just as those who supported slavery. Do not let them tell you otherwise.
Businesses always feel a relentless urge to reduce overhead costs, and include labor in those costs. Thus a constant incentive to underpay wages, salaries and benefits. The law regulates some elements of overhead costs: if there's shoddy materials, poor craft work or negligence, several parties may be liable. Why not uphold labor's wage rights at least as strongly? Currently there's a minimum wage -- minimal enough to need a microscope to find it.
$15/hr is essential as an obvious start, but the "Fight for Fifteen" involves many other fronts, such as strict limits on mis-classifying jobs, e.g. salaried and contracted work. Also, crucially, stricter enforcement of all public and consumer protections. I'm 100% behind the Green New Deal as a solution to our woes, but even the GND will rely on thorough regulation and enforcement.
Why a specific dollar amount for the minimum wage? Would it not make more sense to tie the minimum wage to cost of living, a set amount over the poverty rate, inflation, or even prime? A specific dollar amount in relation to a living wage can become obsolete as soon as it’s set, can it not?
My take on one of the arguments against the living wage is that if your business can't be profitable if you're paying your employees a living wage, perhaps you should hire a better manager.
Well said. Too often I have heard minimum wage is for kids; kids don't deserve more. I always thought that if a business is only profitable by low wages - it should fail. I have also wondered beyond prison and child labor, what other 3rd countries have yet to be exploited in the name of profit.
It's not that kids don't deserve more. It's that they are still living at home, being supported in the main by their parents, and do not have, in most cases, adult expenses yet. Their parents are claiming them as dependents on taxes. In many and most cases teenagers do not bring experience or work ethic to their first job. They are learning how to work. As a small business owner I pay a living wage to supervisor level and above. I pay wages above minimum, regardless of age, as to how valuable they make themselves to my business, how badly I want to keep them. I'm more than willing to pay $15 an hour to adults, (even when their work is sub-standard) but I do object to paying a kid living at home that I am "training" a high minimum wage. Believe me, I'm not getting rich off the sweat off their backs. I do not think you can equate it to child labor in third world countries. At what point do employees have to meet a standard to "deserve" a wage?
As to your question on “at what point do employees have to meet a standard to ‘deserve’ a minimum wage,” I suggest the answer is when they show up for work. Are you really suggesting you are in favor of child labor abuse? Shame on you.
Supporting the idea that minors deserve a lower wage as they live at home with their parents ignores the realities of many. This also sounds remarkably similar to the misogynistic argument offered for so many years that women deserved to be paid less as they were not the primary support for the household. These arguments are wrong and unjust. Equal pay for equal work. Taking advantage of the labors of any without paying for fair value is simply another form of chattel slavery. It does not matter the age, gender, race, ethnicity, or any other characteristic of the worker - equal pay and a living eage should be the standard and the law.
Are you a business owner? My employees do not do "equal work". Some have more responsibility than others and that is the basis for the pay scale, not race, age, gender, etc, etc.. Just because someone may be capable of the same responsibility or job that another has, I do not need both of them doing the same thing, and one position comes with a higher pay rate. And it just so happens that a lot of teenagers do not yet have the experience to be given the greater responsibility level jobs. So it's misogynistic to pay someone what they are "worth", to pay depending on experience, or DOE? I've hired people who are capable of doing what another is doing, but they aren't doing that thing, so I should pay them more just because they "could" do it? And there are other considerations, such as seniority, commitment, loyalty, seasonality of the work and so forth. Should I pay a youngster who is leaving for college in two months and hasn't even learned the job yet the same as my full time permanent staff? I'm sorry, but I don't think so... My starting wage has always been well above minimum, even for minors, because there is a high cost of living where I reside and I have to pay competitive wages. So, shame on you for trying to shame me. I think I've been pretty fair in my minuscule little corner of the world. There's politics and then there's common sense. Are you willing to pay the 13 YO neighbor kid who wants a job mowing your lawn and doesn't even know how to start the mower yet the same rate you pay an experienced lawn care professional? Of course you just wanna disregard the fact that the 13 year old next door doesn't have to pay any rent yet, because to consider THAT would be misogynistic....
The unfortunate experience of France...and much of Europe...with significant increases to the minimum wage has been an increase in the numbers of people who are paid at that level. The positive "social" decision to do this does nothing for those who were previously paid a little more for slightly more or different responsibilities as yoyu say. The pay scales are effectively crushed like a concertina. The other interesting experience to which you elude is youth unemployment. In France it is found "socially unacceptable to pay the young without any experience and often with poor education as much as the experienced workers. Unemployment of those under 25 in France is around 25%. In Germany there is a 50% minimum wage for beginners under 25 and unemployment in that age group is 5%. With that of course most young germans in such jobs live at home...so what? Getting started in life requires effort and perseverance.
No, actually I am in favor of a $15 minimum wage. In fact where I live that is barely a living wage, and I've paid double that. I've had plenty of people who just "show up" for work: drunk, high, argumentative, even taking naps, going in the bathroom for a half hour to text the boyfriend. Clearly you haven't been in the trenches. Shame right back at ya.
Glad to know you support a living wage. And yes, I am a business owner, in fact several and all my employees, several thousand of them make considerably more than a living wage. We also offer paid internship programs and support work study programs as well. We also have a policy that no executive including the owners of the business make more than 10 times the rate of our lowest paid employees. But that is our choice on how to run our businesses. You are certainly free to run yours in whatever manner you wish.
After saying all of that I still believe in and strongly support a minimum wage standard that assures all a minimum of a living wage. I will leave the issue of indexation for another discussion.
Apparently then you are several magnitudes beyond having any day to day interaction with entry level employees. Well good for you. We don't live in the same universe, with regard to "business". I'm encouraged to hear someone at the top of the corporate ladder wants to do right by the common folks.
There is enough shame to go around and around and around. Bruce, Stuart and Marsha I believe share many of the same, or similar ideas regarding the world and its politics.
Minimum wage is an idea that is difficult to get a handle on. I remember when I was 11 and worked for 50cents an hour. It was my first job and big money as I had little concept of what money meant. As that wage grew with my ever growing experience I began to appreciate money and wages and what they could do with my life and its goals.
At that time I had the support of my family for food, housing, clothing, etc. Later in life that changed to where they needed that same support from me and family had a fuller meaning.
The question of "minimum wage" was there then and it is here now, although it has changed to a "living wage".
We all need to live and we know what it costs in the United States. That is the simple part. It gets tougher when we realize someone has to pay for a "living wage".
As we edge into the 21st century we have begun to realize that "someone" has to have a name and a connection to the power brokers of the country to make these decision.
Our country is wealthy, very wealthy, but it belongs to businesses. We have provided the means and methods to allow the successful business person to accumulate wealth. This is the complicated part.
If you noticed, during part of this pandemic the Federal Government gave millions to the airlines to keep them in existence. This was tax money that was spent....individuals and businesses. There was no public outcry against this and other types of business aid, nor did I expect any.
What we found out once again is that the country did have real wealth and that "someone" had a name....the United States Government as defined by our people and their businesses.. So, what about the minimum or living wage discussion????
If you have noticed, I am sure you have, there is a new child income law that has been passed. President Joe Biden and his Democratic followers decided to bypass the "living wage" discussion. Instead each child with a family whose income is less than a specified amount will receive $300 a month.
The President and his advisors seem to think that ending child poverty is
important and this measure will lessen it by approximately 45%. WOW!
That is a big, big thing!
Perhaps another outcome might be a resolution to the "living wage" discussion that has gone on forever. Is there still a huge need for it? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Is this the answer? Hmmmm, maybe, and maybe not.
Just a thought. Good things do happen after DJT and his cronies.
And I am highly offended by the accusation of "child labor abuse". There's politics and then there's common sense, see my comments below. You are one of those people who make me want to reconsider my liberal bent.
I regret you were offended. My intent was not to offend. However, it seems from your comments you do support a living wage standard, at least for some employees.
Sadly, this is not the case for many of my daughter's high school classmates. They are working during the school day at drive thru windows during pandemic. They've opted to remain "virtual' students so they can work. My daughter's best friend is the middle child with 4 younger siblings. Her parents were recently in a car accident. Her parents work at hourly wage jobs. They can't work. So it is up to the teenager to help support her family.
Bruce, this is well put. Power, control and wealth overwhelm those who cannot vote and are second citizens in this nation, or any nation. It is no simpler, nor no more complicated than that.
It’s about capitalism. Unregulated capitalism. Racism is ancillary, a tool for the ultimate aim.Power untrammeled by democracy’s impractical, unwanted bow to regular peoples’ voice. It’s about money and power exploiting racial sentiments or any other exploitable sentiment - guns, sexuality, religion, gender, unions, for its aggrandizement. It’s about protecting unregulated capitalism. Corporations calling the shots. Don’t get side tracked.
Thank you Heather for taking the time to resend. Your letters provide an immensely important frame around our current events and a rich informed voice of reason. And possibilities. I am so grateful.
Josh Marshall on Kevin "an empty suit full of ambition and lacking a moral compass" McCarthy's demonstration of why he is the dumbest fucking Okiefornian in Dumbfuckingokiefornia:
Kevin McCarthy’s turnabout on a Jan 6th Commission proposal that was negotiated by his chosen negotiator and, by all indications, at his direction is a good reminder – for anyone who needed reminding, and really who are you who needed reminding? – of the reality of bipartisan negotiations in the Trump era. As I noted yesterday, Rep. Katko does not appear to have been freelancing. McCarthy chose him to negotiate on his behalf. And reporting suggests Katko worked from McCarthy’s directives and kept him in the loop. But once the deal was announced McCarthy felt he needed to torpedo it.
The only plausible explanation here is that McCarthy didn’t really think the negotiations would go anywhere. When the Democrats agreed with most of his demands, he had a hot potato in his hand and didn’t know what to do with it.
Trump clearly made clear he doesn’t want any commission under any circumstances ever. And I mean … of course he doesn’t. The perp never wants an investigation. That’s obvious. As my colleague Kate Riga has noted a number of times, McCarthy has his own reasons not to want any commission, even over and above Trump’s opposition. McCarthy was on the phone with Trump at the critical moments demanding the then-President do something. McCarthy’s testimony would likely be some of the most illuminating about the President’s state of mind and actions. That’s a nightmare for McCarthy. Of course he wants to avoid it.
The other possibility, though I find it a bit hard to credit, is that Katko basically sandbagged McCarthy. Perhaps Katko got McCarthy most of what he said he wanted but knew McCarthy would probably not accept any deal. So rather than showing McCarthy the deal which he said he wanted, he just announced it. As I said, that’s a bit hard for me to believe. Members don’t usually cut their leaders off at the knees like that.
On the other hand, Katko is one of the ten members who voted to impeach President Trump over January 6th. That alone makes me wonder why McCarthy put him in charge of the negotiation. But he did. The whole thing is a mystery.
The only global reality we can glean from this is one I think we already know: that the leader of the House GOP caucus is Donald Trump. He’s a big factor in the Senate. But he’s not the leader. He’s the leader in the House. McCarthy is most charitably seen as his spokesman.
Hate to give DJT any kind of a pass(and this isnt one) , but this routine went on all thru Obama's administration, remember TC? The Rs "negotiated" then refused to do the deed!
The Republicans have no interest in governing for the people, and little ability to do so.. They govern for the private sector and the wealthy. Early in 2014, McConnell as much as admitted this.
They and their minions are all about power -- power to turn the government over to the private sector and the rich, and the white Christian nationalists. Everything they do these days is governed by getting the power back in DC. There is nothing else -- education, immigration, voting rights, and on and on -- it is all about one thing. POWER.
And to explain how they still get support—I remember a journalist once said that Trump’s great success was making people who don’t care about policy care about politics.
The lack of connection to any workable policy means the party is solely driven by power, and explains why they couldn’t even pull together a platform for the 2020 election.
I’m reading you Heather and reading Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. It is not a pretty picture. Then or now. I’m shocked. I saw little of this living in WA state. I’m getting a very sad reality of humanity.
I hope I don’t lose all my innocence.
Well being 81 yrs young maybe not.
Thank you. I love learning even though it is enlightening and painful.
I'm with you there. And admire you for being willing and open to learning. Thank you. If you do lose your innocence, you will gain much in integrity - which I think is an honest form of innocence. You are not much older than I am, and I am full on excited about being alive now to catch a glimpse of a future that I hope will be a better reflection of America's potential.
Washington state has had many of the same dynamics as those Caste is about, though perhaps not as visible. In particular, the history of the indigenous people there was itself not pretty. I am happy to say that there seems to be a growing sense of recognition by the non-Indians there of the relevance of native people to both Washington's past and its present, thus its future.
I have been driving around with an "=" sticker on my car for years now. Although the impetus for putting it there was to call attention to the issue of marriage equality before the law for LGBTQ people, it certainly is meant to call attention to equality for ALL people.
I recently found an old essay written in 2006 by our then 12 year old daughter. In it she wrote, " My parents are a lesbian couple who were allowed to get married in Massachusetts only two years ago. We eat together and take care of our cat together. We are a family. But when we travel outside our state to go on vacation, we are not considered a family. This is sometimes worrying because if something happened, the law in those other states wouldn't recognize us as a family, and I don't know what would happen. It isn't fair. When my friends travel with their parents they are considered a family everywhere they go, but we are not. " (paraphrased slightly)
Fifteen years ago when I read this it made me cry. Now it just makes me angry...for everyone who has ever been denied equality before the law, for whatever reason. The current Republican assault on voting rights aims to legalize discrimination on whatever basis they feel like using to usurp and keep power for themselves. We simply cannot allow it to happen.
As someone who knows up close and personal what one fight for equality looked and felt like over many years, I am doing what I can to make sure they do not succeed in denying voting rights to anyone.
I am ready to march in Washington or Georgia or wherever we need to go to take back our Democracy. Not with violence against people or property but with non-violent protest. I am ready.
Grading is exhausting; no apology needed. I googled you and found it there - Thanks for your good work, your even-handed approach, and your historical perspective, by the way
Also did not receive it either time, and had to go to Substack. When I awoke at my usual time (5 a.m.) and the Letter was not there, my thoughts were: "Where art thou, Heather?" and "you (Heather) have, i greatly fear, been the victim of some 'foul deed' (Antony in Julius Caesar), almost certainly at the hands of hit men/women contracted for by the G.O.P."
Got it finally! Dear Heather, I know all too well how stressful it is trying to get stacks of things graded with a deadline looming. (Try grading music manuscript, 4-part chord and rhythmic dictation exams!) I'm sure your exams probably involve sorting through a lot of essay questions, which take time and consideration. You have to have your wits about you to concentrate and think. Take all the time you need! Added to that, in my experience for the past couple of days, Substack has been acting kind of wonky, taking forever for pages to download, if they even do. The little gremlins that run things have not been doing their jobs. We'll survive...
I have been asserting from the get-go that the voting reforms in H.B. 1 are of the utmost importance to holding on to representational democracy in this country. If we let that slip away and let Republicans re-carve up voting districts in their favour, we risk losing it all. Manchin and Sinema are major flies in the ointment for Democrats and we HAVE to figure out how to get around their obstructionist tactics. My feeling is the midterm elections might be up in the air right now, because of waning Republican support of You-Know-Who, and the usual voter apathy, especially from Democrats. Thank you for reminding us yet again what is at stake!
The core issue is unregulated capitalism which - given the tales told by the workers of one epitome of that, Amazon - seeks to enchain anyone and everyone and eviscerate Nature out of a disconnected (w/ self/others/Nature) psychopathic mindset wholly driven by greed for power and wealth over all. Isn't this the Rich and Super White Men's Club? Today voter suppression of blacks, tomorrow women, day after tomorrow, nonwhites and Jews. I'm an old person. And, lived during the Cold War and McCarthy craziness and abomination. So today, I find rather astonishing that Americans who are incrementally being dug into their graves by corporate intentional deceit and materialistic obsessions go cross eyed with fear, trembling and horror at mention of socialism. And clam shut their mouths when the not insignificant demerits of unregulated capitalism are broached.
Thanks for resending. I needed this. We are down to such basics. We have come so far forward, have so far to go and cannot go backwards and expect a sustainable outcome for our country.
Didn’t receive this either time and hope ot’s getting solved. I always look forward to your latest post and this one is no exception. If Republican senators block re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act, Joe Manchin will have to decide whether he is willing to let any party consolidate minority rule. There comes a time when you need to do what’s right, to lead instead of following opinion polls of the people you represent.
Thrilled to hear the news today that Rep. Val Demings announced she is running against Sen.Marco Rubio. She will fight for racial equality. Her confrontation of Jim Jordan's hypocritical bluster was priceless. The former Chief of Police of Orlando has guts. Oh, and she is a real " Florida Woman"---a brain and a beauty!!!!
That’s fantastic news! Val Demings is one tough, smart woman. The Senate needs people like her who bring a different perspective. Marco Rubio adds no value to the legislative process. He’s become a performer.
Please make a contribution to her campaign. I know Val Demings and her husband, Jerry, well and there could be no better Senator to represent all Floridians than Val Demings.
Val Demings is fabulous.
Say Amen, Somebody!
Amen.
Amen, and Awomen
This is great news! For those of you who wish to read the full story: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/18/demings-running-for-senate-rubio-489137
I wish Emma Gonzalez was eligible. I'd love to see her debate Wee Marco -- she'd thrash him like a rag doll. Our Youngers gonna save the world!
Yes, it is sad that the generation which was informed by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi must now expect young people to “save the world” I cringe every time I read of the need for the young people to clean up after “my” mess.
Best news ever!!!!
I am so weary of explaining this to people who refuse to understand. I hope this forum of those who respect the historical perspective provided by dear Dr. Richardson will be more receptive.
It is important to understand the discriminatory nature of refusing to raise the minimum wage to a living wage standard. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) a non-partisan research organization, the majority of minimum wage workers are women and people of color. Right now, 59% of workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are women, with nearly one in four of these women being Latina or Black. African Americans make up 31% of the workforce that would benefit from a minimum wage increase and Latinos make up 26%, reports EPI.
Depriving these workers of a living wage is one more racist and misogynistic policy of Republicans. Everyone should understand how discriminatory and unfair this Republican position is. Do not be blind to this.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/what-15-minimum-wage-could-mean-for-women-and-the-pay-gap.html
Those who oppose a raise of the minimum wage to a living wage standard do so only because of a desire to exploit poverty and the labor of those less fortunate and those they wish to discriminate unjustly against. This is unjust, inequitable, and evil.
A careful observation of Republican policies reveals they believe that to incent the wealthy you should give them more money but to incent the less wealthy you take money away from them. Tax breaks for the rich to incent them to create jobs and invest in our economy, but repress wages and reduce unemployment benefits to incent the poor to work for substandard wages. Is there truly anyone who does not see the inequity, unfairness, and evil in this philosophy? If you vote for this you join in their conspiracy against humanity and decency.
Let us not pretend that there is anything beyond racist and misogynistic motivations for the suppression of wages below a living wage standard. Those who support this need to understand they are in the minority. Do not let them forget it. Vote like your own welfare and that of your family and neighbors depends on it. They do!
Continuing to suppress wages below a living wage standard is simply the 21st century equivalent of chattel slavery. Those who support exploiting the labor of others without paying them a fair value for their labor are exploiting the labors of others just as those who supported slavery. Do not let them tell you otherwise.
Thank you for your insights, Bruce.
Businesses always feel a relentless urge to reduce overhead costs, and include labor in those costs. Thus a constant incentive to underpay wages, salaries and benefits. The law regulates some elements of overhead costs: if there's shoddy materials, poor craft work or negligence, several parties may be liable. Why not uphold labor's wage rights at least as strongly? Currently there's a minimum wage -- minimal enough to need a microscope to find it.
$15/hr is essential as an obvious start, but the "Fight for Fifteen" involves many other fronts, such as strict limits on mis-classifying jobs, e.g. salaried and contracted work. Also, crucially, stricter enforcement of all public and consumer protections. I'm 100% behind the Green New Deal as a solution to our woes, but even the GND will rely on thorough regulation and enforcement.
Why a specific dollar amount for the minimum wage? Would it not make more sense to tie the minimum wage to cost of living, a set amount over the poverty rate, inflation, or even prime? A specific dollar amount in relation to a living wage can become obsolete as soon as it’s set, can it not?
Agree but let's get started by getting it to $15./hour at least.
My take on one of the arguments against the living wage is that if your business can't be profitable if you're paying your employees a living wage, perhaps you should hire a better manager.
Well said. Too often I have heard minimum wage is for kids; kids don't deserve more. I always thought that if a business is only profitable by low wages - it should fail. I have also wondered beyond prison and child labor, what other 3rd countries have yet to be exploited in the name of profit.
f you or your business does not support a living wage you are not a job creator you are a poverty exploiter.
It's not that kids don't deserve more. It's that they are still living at home, being supported in the main by their parents, and do not have, in most cases, adult expenses yet. Their parents are claiming them as dependents on taxes. In many and most cases teenagers do not bring experience or work ethic to their first job. They are learning how to work. As a small business owner I pay a living wage to supervisor level and above. I pay wages above minimum, regardless of age, as to how valuable they make themselves to my business, how badly I want to keep them. I'm more than willing to pay $15 an hour to adults, (even when their work is sub-standard) but I do object to paying a kid living at home that I am "training" a high minimum wage. Believe me, I'm not getting rich off the sweat off their backs. I do not think you can equate it to child labor in third world countries. At what point do employees have to meet a standard to "deserve" a wage?
Although there is some distortion in 2020 due to the affect of the pandemic, here are the Bureau of Labor statistics on minimum wage workers:
https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2020/home.htm
As to your question on “at what point do employees have to meet a standard to ‘deserve’ a minimum wage,” I suggest the answer is when they show up for work. Are you really suggesting you are in favor of child labor abuse? Shame on you.
Supporting the idea that minors deserve a lower wage as they live at home with their parents ignores the realities of many. This also sounds remarkably similar to the misogynistic argument offered for so many years that women deserved to be paid less as they were not the primary support for the household. These arguments are wrong and unjust. Equal pay for equal work. Taking advantage of the labors of any without paying for fair value is simply another form of chattel slavery. It does not matter the age, gender, race, ethnicity, or any other characteristic of the worker - equal pay and a living eage should be the standard and the law.
Are you a business owner? My employees do not do "equal work". Some have more responsibility than others and that is the basis for the pay scale, not race, age, gender, etc, etc.. Just because someone may be capable of the same responsibility or job that another has, I do not need both of them doing the same thing, and one position comes with a higher pay rate. And it just so happens that a lot of teenagers do not yet have the experience to be given the greater responsibility level jobs. So it's misogynistic to pay someone what they are "worth", to pay depending on experience, or DOE? I've hired people who are capable of doing what another is doing, but they aren't doing that thing, so I should pay them more just because they "could" do it? And there are other considerations, such as seniority, commitment, loyalty, seasonality of the work and so forth. Should I pay a youngster who is leaving for college in two months and hasn't even learned the job yet the same as my full time permanent staff? I'm sorry, but I don't think so... My starting wage has always been well above minimum, even for minors, because there is a high cost of living where I reside and I have to pay competitive wages. So, shame on you for trying to shame me. I think I've been pretty fair in my minuscule little corner of the world. There's politics and then there's common sense. Are you willing to pay the 13 YO neighbor kid who wants a job mowing your lawn and doesn't even know how to start the mower yet the same rate you pay an experienced lawn care professional? Of course you just wanna disregard the fact that the 13 year old next door doesn't have to pay any rent yet, because to consider THAT would be misogynistic....
The unfortunate experience of France...and much of Europe...with significant increases to the minimum wage has been an increase in the numbers of people who are paid at that level. The positive "social" decision to do this does nothing for those who were previously paid a little more for slightly more or different responsibilities as yoyu say. The pay scales are effectively crushed like a concertina. The other interesting experience to which you elude is youth unemployment. In France it is found "socially unacceptable to pay the young without any experience and often with poor education as much as the experienced workers. Unemployment of those under 25 in France is around 25%. In Germany there is a 50% minimum wage for beginners under 25 and unemployment in that age group is 5%. With that of course most young germans in such jobs live at home...so what? Getting started in life requires effort and perseverance.
No, actually I am in favor of a $15 minimum wage. In fact where I live that is barely a living wage, and I've paid double that. I've had plenty of people who just "show up" for work: drunk, high, argumentative, even taking naps, going in the bathroom for a half hour to text the boyfriend. Clearly you haven't been in the trenches. Shame right back at ya.
Glad to know you support a living wage. And yes, I am a business owner, in fact several and all my employees, several thousand of them make considerably more than a living wage. We also offer paid internship programs and support work study programs as well. We also have a policy that no executive including the owners of the business make more than 10 times the rate of our lowest paid employees. But that is our choice on how to run our businesses. You are certainly free to run yours in whatever manner you wish.
After saying all of that I still believe in and strongly support a minimum wage standard that assures all a minimum of a living wage. I will leave the issue of indexation for another discussion.
Apparently then you are several magnitudes beyond having any day to day interaction with entry level employees. Well good for you. We don't live in the same universe, with regard to "business". I'm encouraged to hear someone at the top of the corporate ladder wants to do right by the common folks.
There is enough shame to go around and around and around. Bruce, Stuart and Marsha I believe share many of the same, or similar ideas regarding the world and its politics.
Minimum wage is an idea that is difficult to get a handle on. I remember when I was 11 and worked for 50cents an hour. It was my first job and big money as I had little concept of what money meant. As that wage grew with my ever growing experience I began to appreciate money and wages and what they could do with my life and its goals.
At that time I had the support of my family for food, housing, clothing, etc. Later in life that changed to where they needed that same support from me and family had a fuller meaning.
The question of "minimum wage" was there then and it is here now, although it has changed to a "living wage".
We all need to live and we know what it costs in the United States. That is the simple part. It gets tougher when we realize someone has to pay for a "living wage".
As we edge into the 21st century we have begun to realize that "someone" has to have a name and a connection to the power brokers of the country to make these decision.
Our country is wealthy, very wealthy, but it belongs to businesses. We have provided the means and methods to allow the successful business person to accumulate wealth. This is the complicated part.
If you noticed, during part of this pandemic the Federal Government gave millions to the airlines to keep them in existence. This was tax money that was spent....individuals and businesses. There was no public outcry against this and other types of business aid, nor did I expect any.
What we found out once again is that the country did have real wealth and that "someone" had a name....the United States Government as defined by our people and their businesses.. So, what about the minimum or living wage discussion????
If you have noticed, I am sure you have, there is a new child income law that has been passed. President Joe Biden and his Democratic followers decided to bypass the "living wage" discussion. Instead each child with a family whose income is less than a specified amount will receive $300 a month.
The President and his advisors seem to think that ending child poverty is
important and this measure will lessen it by approximately 45%. WOW!
That is a big, big thing!
Perhaps another outcome might be a resolution to the "living wage" discussion that has gone on forever. Is there still a huge need for it? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Is this the answer? Hmmmm, maybe, and maybe not.
Just a thought. Good things do happen after DJT and his cronies.
And I am highly offended by the accusation of "child labor abuse". There's politics and then there's common sense, see my comments below. You are one of those people who make me want to reconsider my liberal bent.
I regret you were offended. My intent was not to offend. However, it seems from your comments you do support a living wage standard, at least for some employees.
Sadly, this is not the case for many of my daughter's high school classmates. They are working during the school day at drive thru windows during pandemic. They've opted to remain "virtual' students so they can work. My daughter's best friend is the middle child with 4 younger siblings. Her parents were recently in a car accident. Her parents work at hourly wage jobs. They can't work. So it is up to the teenager to help support her family.
...does NOT support... Fixed it for ya. 😉
Thank you
Better now
You have so aptly described this unconscionable situation. I just wish more mainstream Republicans would listen to you.
Bruce 1000%
Bruce, this is well put. Power, control and wealth overwhelm those who cannot vote and are second citizens in this nation, or any nation. It is no simpler, nor no more complicated than that.
It’s about capitalism. Unregulated capitalism. Racism is ancillary, a tool for the ultimate aim.Power untrammeled by democracy’s impractical, unwanted bow to regular peoples’ voice. It’s about money and power exploiting racial sentiments or any other exploitable sentiment - guns, sexuality, religion, gender, unions, for its aggrandizement. It’s about protecting unregulated capitalism. Corporations calling the shots. Don’t get side tracked.
Thank you Heather for taking the time to resend. Your letters provide an immensely important frame around our current events and a rich informed voice of reason. And possibilities. I am so grateful.
Josh Marshall on Kevin "an empty suit full of ambition and lacking a moral compass" McCarthy's demonstration of why he is the dumbest fucking Okiefornian in Dumbfuckingokiefornia:
Kevin McCarthy’s turnabout on a Jan 6th Commission proposal that was negotiated by his chosen negotiator and, by all indications, at his direction is a good reminder – for anyone who needed reminding, and really who are you who needed reminding? – of the reality of bipartisan negotiations in the Trump era. As I noted yesterday, Rep. Katko does not appear to have been freelancing. McCarthy chose him to negotiate on his behalf. And reporting suggests Katko worked from McCarthy’s directives and kept him in the loop. But once the deal was announced McCarthy felt he needed to torpedo it.
The only plausible explanation here is that McCarthy didn’t really think the negotiations would go anywhere. When the Democrats agreed with most of his demands, he had a hot potato in his hand and didn’t know what to do with it.
Trump clearly made clear he doesn’t want any commission under any circumstances ever. And I mean … of course he doesn’t. The perp never wants an investigation. That’s obvious. As my colleague Kate Riga has noted a number of times, McCarthy has his own reasons not to want any commission, even over and above Trump’s opposition. McCarthy was on the phone with Trump at the critical moments demanding the then-President do something. McCarthy’s testimony would likely be some of the most illuminating about the President’s state of mind and actions. That’s a nightmare for McCarthy. Of course he wants to avoid it.
The other possibility, though I find it a bit hard to credit, is that Katko basically sandbagged McCarthy. Perhaps Katko got McCarthy most of what he said he wanted but knew McCarthy would probably not accept any deal. So rather than showing McCarthy the deal which he said he wanted, he just announced it. As I said, that’s a bit hard for me to believe. Members don’t usually cut their leaders off at the knees like that.
On the other hand, Katko is one of the ten members who voted to impeach President Trump over January 6th. That alone makes me wonder why McCarthy put him in charge of the negotiation. But he did. The whole thing is a mystery.
The only global reality we can glean from this is one I think we already know: that the leader of the House GOP caucus is Donald Trump. He’s a big factor in the Senate. But he’s not the leader. He’s the leader in the House. McCarthy is most charitably seen as his spokesman.
Hate to give DJT any kind of a pass(and this isnt one) , but this routine went on all thru Obama's administration, remember TC? The Rs "negotiated" then refused to do the deed!
The Republicans have no interest in governing for the people, and little ability to do so.. They govern for the private sector and the wealthy. Early in 2014, McConnell as much as admitted this.
They and their minions are all about power -- power to turn the government over to the private sector and the rich, and the white Christian nationalists. Everything they do these days is governed by getting the power back in DC. There is nothing else -- education, immigration, voting rights, and on and on -- it is all about one thing. POWER.
Fully agree.
And to explain how they still get support—I remember a journalist once said that Trump’s great success was making people who don’t care about policy care about politics.
The lack of connection to any workable policy means the party is solely driven by power, and explains why they couldn’t even pull together a platform for the 2020 election.
I’m reading you Heather and reading Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. It is not a pretty picture. Then or now. I’m shocked. I saw little of this living in WA state. I’m getting a very sad reality of humanity.
I hope I don’t lose all my innocence.
Well being 81 yrs young maybe not.
Thank you. I love learning even though it is enlightening and painful.
Sherry 100%. Remaining innocent into our 80s is already quite an achievement. And remember, no one is old, just less young.
I'm with you there. And admire you for being willing and open to learning. Thank you. If you do lose your innocence, you will gain much in integrity - which I think is an honest form of innocence. You are not much older than I am, and I am full on excited about being alive now to catch a glimpse of a future that I hope will be a better reflection of America's potential.
Washington state has had many of the same dynamics as those Caste is about, though perhaps not as visible. In particular, the history of the indigenous people there was itself not pretty. I am happy to say that there seems to be a growing sense of recognition by the non-Indians there of the relevance of native people to both Washington's past and its present, thus its future.
I have been driving around with an "=" sticker on my car for years now. Although the impetus for putting it there was to call attention to the issue of marriage equality before the law for LGBTQ people, it certainly is meant to call attention to equality for ALL people.
I recently found an old essay written in 2006 by our then 12 year old daughter. In it she wrote, " My parents are a lesbian couple who were allowed to get married in Massachusetts only two years ago. We eat together and take care of our cat together. We are a family. But when we travel outside our state to go on vacation, we are not considered a family. This is sometimes worrying because if something happened, the law in those other states wouldn't recognize us as a family, and I don't know what would happen. It isn't fair. When my friends travel with their parents they are considered a family everywhere they go, but we are not. " (paraphrased slightly)
Fifteen years ago when I read this it made me cry. Now it just makes me angry...for everyone who has ever been denied equality before the law, for whatever reason. The current Republican assault on voting rights aims to legalize discrimination on whatever basis they feel like using to usurp and keep power for themselves. We simply cannot allow it to happen.
As someone who knows up close and personal what one fight for equality looked and felt like over many years, I am doing what I can to make sure they do not succeed in denying voting rights to anyone.
Carolyn,
Thank you for Sharing This with us!!! I agree 1000% with You!💖
I am ready to march in Washington or Georgia or wherever we need to go to take back our Democracy. Not with violence against people or property but with non-violent protest. I am ready.
So why is it any of the government's representatives business what a person's sex habits are? I missed that point?
Grading is exhausting; no apology needed. I googled you and found it there - Thanks for your good work, your even-handed approach, and your historical perspective, by the way
Thank you Heather, you are one tremendously strong and very talented woman-indebted to you for keeping us so well informed.
Also did not receive it either time, and had to go to Substack. When I awoke at my usual time (5 a.m.) and the Letter was not there, my thoughts were: "Where art thou, Heather?" and "you (Heather) have, i greatly fear, been the victim of some 'foul deed' (Antony in Julius Caesar), almost certainly at the hands of hit men/women contracted for by the G.O.P."
Same reaction here, Robert... then a huge sigh of relief!
Exactly my same reaction.
Had the same awful thought!!
At this point, there can be little questioning that the Republicans' sole "raison d'etre" is to capture and maintain power at any cost to the country.
Got it finally! Dear Heather, I know all too well how stressful it is trying to get stacks of things graded with a deadline looming. (Try grading music manuscript, 4-part chord and rhythmic dictation exams!) I'm sure your exams probably involve sorting through a lot of essay questions, which take time and consideration. You have to have your wits about you to concentrate and think. Take all the time you need! Added to that, in my experience for the past couple of days, Substack has been acting kind of wonky, taking forever for pages to download, if they even do. The little gremlins that run things have not been doing their jobs. We'll survive...
I have been asserting from the get-go that the voting reforms in H.B. 1 are of the utmost importance to holding on to representational democracy in this country. If we let that slip away and let Republicans re-carve up voting districts in their favour, we risk losing it all. Manchin and Sinema are major flies in the ointment for Democrats and we HAVE to figure out how to get around their obstructionist tactics. My feeling is the midterm elections might be up in the air right now, because of waning Republican support of You-Know-Who, and the usual voter apathy, especially from Democrats. Thank you for reminding us yet again what is at stake!
Case in point:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/554002-republicans-eye-new-house-majority-through-redistricting
I sent the link to Susan Collins.
I’m sure she will be very concerned.
I have zero doubt.
Ms. Senator Collins will reprise her role as Lucy "again" and move the football if she is forced into a situation.
The core issue is unregulated capitalism which - given the tales told by the workers of one epitome of that, Amazon - seeks to enchain anyone and everyone and eviscerate Nature out of a disconnected (w/ self/others/Nature) psychopathic mindset wholly driven by greed for power and wealth over all. Isn't this the Rich and Super White Men's Club? Today voter suppression of blacks, tomorrow women, day after tomorrow, nonwhites and Jews. I'm an old person. And, lived during the Cold War and McCarthy craziness and abomination. So today, I find rather astonishing that Americans who are incrementally being dug into their graves by corporate intentional deceit and materialistic obsessions go cross eyed with fear, trembling and horror at mention of socialism. And clam shut their mouths when the not insignificant demerits of unregulated capitalism are broached.
Remember that the GOP is now led by and supported by a grown up group of fascists.
Physically grown up. Psychologically what? hmm maybe terrible 2’s or perhaps, what, 13-16 years old?
Thanks for resending. I needed this. We are down to such basics. We have come so far forward, have so far to go and cannot go backwards and expect a sustainable outcome for our country.
I’m afraid you’ve created some HCR addicts. I didn’t know who to contact when I didn’t wake to your letter.
Didn’t receive this either time and hope ot’s getting solved. I always look forward to your latest post and this one is no exception. If Republican senators block re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act, Joe Manchin will have to decide whether he is willing to let any party consolidate minority rule. There comes a time when you need to do what’s right, to lead instead of following opinion polls of the people you represent.