The outlook is likely to worsen for American workers as the economic disparity gap widens. The minimum wage law is a cruel hoax against the working poor. The champions of capital, as evidenced in the statistics cited above, do not care about the poor. America's vast economic divide is the deliberate result of policies enacted by both Republicans and Democrats. That is why political reform is a pipe dream. The workers have no one representing them in government.
The minimum wage must be abolished and replaced by a living wage. In the wealthiest nation on earth there is no excuse why every worker should not earn a decent living by working forty hours or less per week with full benefits and guaranteed pensions upon retirement. Ultimately, the wage system must be abolished and the ownership of production given to the workers-those who produce all of the wealth.
The appalling social cost of the minimum wage may be the underlying cause for the demise of the American family. When parents are forced to work for slave wages at multiple jobs the family suffers. The basic inequity of our culture of greed sets in motion waves of criminal activity, as desperate people seek any means of providing for their families. Desperate people do desperate things. It also gives rise to a culture of violence, drugs and widespread alcoholism that characterize America.
The per capita rate of incarceration in the U.S. exceeds that of any industrialized nation, with the poor and people of color disproportionately affected. Disparity doesn't just happen. It is the result of social and economic policy deliberately enacted against the poor. The evidence speaks for itself in the voting records of Congress. It is there for all to see.
Sources:
Ambrose I. Lane, Sr., XM-Satellite radio channel 169, The Power, 6/23/2006
The Congressional Millionaires Club, Charles Sullivan, ICH 11/21/05
How the System Works (or doesn't), http://www.corporations.org/system/
Ralph Nader, Cutting Corporate Welfare, Seven Stories Press, 2000
American Friends Service Committee, http://www.afsc.org
Lionheart, www.lionheart.org
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