In response to the Alligator’s editorial “Get your own fries with that” on Oct. 17:
In typical pseudo-progressive fashion, we see in this editorial more theory and no proof that a national minimum wage law results in a higher national standard of living.
To the contrary, it ignores how the most stable European countries have NO national minimum wage, while neighboring countries that do have the most unstable societies.
The following have NO minimum wage laws: Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and now Italy (after learning their lesson).
Their living standards and their government fiscal soundness is far more stable than countries with a minimum wage: Greece, Spain, France and (until recently) Italy.
Yes, the nations with no minimum wage have labor unions for some skills, but so do we.
The fact is, some people there work for about $1 per hour doing unskilled labor, and they are citizens!
Why? Because those countries smartly decided it is far better to work for any wage to pay for universal health care, than to sit idle on welfare soaking up middle class taxpayer sweat.
Just like we see here, in parts of Europe a national minimum wage law causes social decline on a general scale, starting with more high school dropouts, more gang and illegal drug culture, more underground labor and human trafficking, more illegal immigration — since citizens won’t work when welfare is handed to them instead.
It is insane to encourage more high school dropouts, which is what a $15 per hour wage would do.
So what if today’s workers also get welfare? Isn’t that what they pay taxes for, a safety net, too? And who says fast food workers must be the sole bread earners in a household? Today, like in most of the world, there are two or more wage earners per household; it’s what has distorted the shrinking middle class numbers since women entered the workforce in droves 40 years ago.
But fact is, in human history there’s always been more than one worker in a family farm or family business: the father, the mother, the grandparents and even the kids all worked in the family trade to keep a roof.
Sincerely, J. D. Knee.
This letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 10/18/2013 under the headline "Minimum wage should be abolished"
