"Generation whatever" as heard on NPR

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: yukichigai
It needs to be tied to certain rights or tax breaks. Y'know, something like "no driver's license unless you vote". Of course then to be fair there would have to be several opportunities to vote and to file papers in case you miss a vote. The bottom line is that in order to get people to vote you have to make not voting more of a pain in the ass than voting.

Do you really want people who are too lazy to even get out and vote deciding your future?

No. And it doesn't concern me in the least that young people don't vote. Most of them are too stupid to be deciding how the government should spend my money anyway.

I don't really care about it in the age sense but it does make you stop and think when you consider that roughly 50% of those eligible to vote do so and that of that 50% they are really only fighting for the 20% that are considered up for grabs.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
haha i was mean but i didn't know i knew you.

😕

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
No. And it doesn't concern me in the least that young people don't vote. Most of them are too stupid to be deciding how the government should spend my money anyway.

That's how I feel.

There was a thing in our local paper saying that the minimum wage should be brought up to like $9.90/hr because that's what it takes to raise a family of three. What they don't understand is that prices will go up by that same amount and people who made $9/hr which is 74% more than minimum wage would then be making mimum wage and their quality of life would fall through the floor.

$9.90/hr is pretty excessive. But I do think minimum wage should be raised. The last increase was in, what, 1995? Inflation has diminished the value of that minimum wage in the 9 years since it was set, whereas the prices on almost everything else have gone up to match inflation.

What needs to be done with the minimum wage -- and certain taxes -- is that it be tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is a good measure of inflation. That way if in one year the average cost of living goes up 5%, so does the minimum wage.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
No. And it doesn't concern me in the least that young people don't vote. Most of them are too stupid to be deciding how the government should spend my money anyway.

That's how I feel.

There was a thing in our local paper saying that the minimum wage should be brought up to like $9.90/hr because that's what it takes to raise a family of three. What they don't understand is that prices will go up by that same amount and people who made $9/hr which is 74% more than minimum wage would then be making mimum wage and their quality of life would fall through the floor.

$9.90/hr is pretty excessive. But I do think minimum wage should be raised. The last increase was in, what, 1995? Inflation has diminished the value of that minimum wage in the 9 years since it was set, whereas the prices on almost everything else have gone up to match inflation.

What needs to be done with the minimum wage -- and certain taxes -- is that it be tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is a good measure of inflation. That way if in one year the average cost of living goes up 5%, so does the minimum wage.

The problem isn't that the minimum wage is too low. The problem is that there are groups of people who are trying to earn a living on minimum wage for years and years at a time making no effort to improve themselves or raise themselves up from where they are.

 

[clamum]

Speaking for "Generation Whatever," I think a lot of kids my age (21) have opinions on these topics (hell I have opinions on any topic to vote for) but are just too apathetic or lazy to vote. They think that their vote doesn't matter in the big picture so they don't do it, plus it's an inconvenience to go to their local voting place. Whether their/my vote actually counts is true or not, I don't really know.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: yukichigai
It needs to be tied to certain rights or tax breaks. Y'know, something like "no driver's license unless you vote". Of course then to be fair there would have to be several opportunities to vote and to file papers in case you miss a vote. The bottom line is that in order to get people to vote you have to make not voting more of a pain in the ass than voting.

Do you really want people who are too lazy to even get out and vote deciding your future?

Exactly, why force people who don't give a sh*t about politics and have no idea what they're getting themselves into vote?

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: yukichigai
$9.90/hr is pretty excessive. But I do think minimum wage should be raised. The last increase was in, what, 1995? Inflation has diminished the value of that minimum wage in the 9 years since it was set, whereas the prices on almost everything else have gone up to match inflation.

What needs to be done with the minimum wage -- and certain taxes -- is that it be tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is a good measure of inflation. That way if in one year the average cost of living goes up 5%, so does the minimum wage.

The problem isn't that the minimum wage is too low. The problem is that there are groups of people who are trying to earn a living on minimum wage for years and years at a time making no effort to improve themselves or raise themselves up from where they are.

Yes, that is a problem. But it isn't the problem. There isn't even a "the problem"; it's a number of things. I mean let's look at it logically: if minimum wage is supposed to serve as the bare minimum someone can make, in order to ensure they can earn enough to meet the cost of living, then minimum wage needs to adjust for inflation. Otherwise over time you get a group of people who are simply unable to support themselves at a minimum wage job. And improving themselves is definitely out of the question when conditions become like that; schooling and learning trade skills costs money and requires time, and they'll either be just scraping by with what money they have, or working two jobs with no time to take classes. (Barring, of course, the small percentage of people who in one way or another cheat the system and are lazy)

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
The problem isn't that the minimum wage is too low. The problem is that there are groups of people who are trying to earn a living on minimum wage for years and years at a time making no effort to improve themselves or raise themselves up from where they are.

You realize that the world isn't the same as it was when you entered the work force(I assume you're a boomer, judging from your comments)? A college/university degree is expected for all but the most basic jobs, and it's just not in everyone's nature to study that long. It used to be that if you weren't inclined to study, you could pick up some trade or some manual labour job and earn a decent living.

Now, all these jobs have been outsourced to places where they can be done more cheaply and everyone wants to see a college degree even when it's not needed. Heck, some entry-level office/sales jobs "prefer" to see candidates with university degrees. People who didn't get their degrees can't get this job and are stuck in some dead-end job because no one will give them a chance. That's how people end up with minimum wage jobs in today's economy.

 

[vi edit]

I'd make more of an effort to get to the voting booths if I had somebody to vote for that wasn't a puppet of thier platform. Somebody independent speaking, didn't play bipartisan politics the whole damn time, and was wasn't a lifelong politician.

I voted in 2k for the Libertarian party and voted largely libertarian minded candidates for local offices. Hell, this year I don't even know if there is someone running on the libertarian ticket. In 2k the Libs took in what, 2% of the vote? Really, does that do any good? I was one of like 7 people in my county that voted that way.

It's sad, because this year it seems like half the people voting Democrat aren't doing it because they actually like Kerry, but because they want Bush out.

When we get some real people to vote for, this 26 year old would make more of an effort to get out.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
$9.90/hr is pretty excessive. But I do think minimum wage should be raised. The last increase was in, what, 1995? Inflation has diminished the value of that minimum wage in the 9 years since it was set, whereas the prices on almost everything else have gone up to match inflation.

What needs to be done with the minimum wage -- and certain taxes -- is that it be tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is a good measure of inflation. That way if in one year the average cost of living goes up 5%, so does the minimum wage.

If minimum wage goes up, will your job give you a wage increase? If not, your quality of life just went down slightly.