• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Seattle city council approves $15/hour minimum wage

Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
shortylickens said:
When it all falls apart they will find some white heterosexual male not on welfare to blame. Then they'll find a way to tax him to fix everyone elses problems.
That wont work either, but it will keep the general populace of Seattle voting Liberal for a few more years, which is really all this is about.
Click to expand...

There is a huge fucking difference to being liberal and straight ass-fucking socialist like those asses in Washington.

Marijuana legalization is liberal. The government shouldn't have a say on what people do in the privacy of their own homes. This should be as much a conservative issue as a liberal one but the right has become a bunch of nazi's who spend all day praying to god when the right wing party used to care about the government having too much power.

Nationalization of companies and turning people's homes into public housing is strait communist Russian shit.
 
crashtestdummy said:
I find the amount of doomsday predictions amusing. This is an experiment being carried out by a single city. Will it work? Probably not to the extent that the proponents are hoping. But I really have nothing to base that conjecture on except my instincts and vague bits of economic theory. If in five years it becomes clear that this law was a huge benefit, then you'll see a lot more places pick it up. If, on the other hand, it ends up discouraging business to an unacceptable level, then it'll remain what it is now: a radical experiment by a city that can frankly afford to take a few risks.
Click to expand...

I think this is the first rising tide from a wave that Heinlein could see from the shore. It won't crest for a while yet, but it's coming. This isn't an isolated incident. It's just another step in a direction we've been going in for a while now.

Tell me this. Even if this experiment is a horrific failure, what politician in his right mind is ever going to repeal it? Who is going to be the one to take responsibility to the unwashed masses for taking their pay raise away from them? They would have to be one hell of a political idealist to put their neck on the chopping block like that. These are the kinds of moves you just can't undo.
 
Meh. Lots of people freaking out in here.

Why not just sit back and see your worst nightmare turn a city to shit? Or maybe it won't. We'll see? If it does, you can say you were right.
 
darkewaffle said:
Is that idea something that ever really existed though? Maybe it was before my time as I'm Gen Y, but I don't really consider "Anyone, skilled or not, can make a living in America" to be something I really consider a "tenant" or cornerstone of the country. I feel like growing up I was fed more of a "You have to work hard to go far" mentality - it was all about what you could do to excel and, more or less, subsisting was underachieving (unless you were in agriculture).

To me a minimum wage job is a stepping stone or a stopgap. And someone who stays in one long-term would need to adjust their definition/style of "living" to make it a workable living wage.
Click to expand...

Well maybe "skilled or not" is too low a bar. Basically, I think (and researchers have noted) a gap exists between highly cognitive individuals who can navigate the worlds of technology, finance, science, etc., and those who fall lower on the scale, and might in the past have worked for years at a factory, in landscaping, as crew on a ship, in a warehouse, etc. There's no reason to think all those people can migrate to skilled jobs, and those "mid-level" jobs are going to disappear.
 
Imp said:
Meh. Lots of people freaking out in here.

Why not just sit back and see your worst nightmare turn a city to shit? Or maybe it won't. We'll see? If it does, you can say you were right.
Click to expand...


Well, I happen to live there, so I prefer not to get fucked by inflation, high levels of unemployment or both.
 
SlitheryDee said:
Tell me this. Even if this experiment is a horrific failure, what politician in his right mind is ever going to repeal it? Who is going to be the one to take responsibility to the unwashed masses for taking their pay raise away from them? They would have to be one hell of a political idealist to put their neck on the chopping block like that. These are the kinds of moves you just can't undo.
Click to expand...

It probably won't have to be repealed. In other cities they have just delayed the scheduled increases after the first year or so when the grumbling got loud enough. Then it gets delayed indefinitely.

That's why it gets phased in. One group takes credit for raising it to $15. A couple years later another group takes credit for stopping it at $11. The underclass feels like they got a raise regardless. The political wheel keeps turning. Win-win-win.
 
Out of all the US states, I like the people of Washington - particularly Seattle - least. You seldom can't get into any discussion without interference from their one-minded (sometimes combative) political vision/agenda.

In Seattle, there's a frustratingly odd mix of entitlement and socialism mixed with greedy status-quo capitalism. I want an artifice in place that provides me only rewards and absolutely no risks... hmmm.

I personally have a preference to steer clear from the impractical, progressives and/or social engineers. Start with cleaning out your own closet first dammit. 🙂

Anyhow, setting a $15/hour minimum wage does absolutely nothing to address the sheer amount of inequity, graft and corruption ingrained into the current system. It only sets a very bad precedent and allows people to feel comfortable just eking out a living, not wanting anything more from life.

Once again we are left fighting over the crumbs of class welfare, while trillion-dollar robberies take place in the daylight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal

Andrew Lo said:
This dwarfs by orders of magnitude any financial scam in the history of markets.
Click to expand...

Damn right, I say, while playing my worn and broken record.
 
crashtestdummy said:
I find the amount of doomsday predictions amusing. This is an experiment being carried out by a single city. Will it work? Probably not to the extent that the proponents are hoping. But I really have nothing to base that conjecture on except my instincts and vague bits of economic theory. If in five years it becomes clear that this law was a huge benefit, then you'll see a lot more places pick it up. If, on the other hand, it ends up discouraging business to an unacceptable level, then it'll remain what it is now: a radical experiment by a city that can frankly afford to take a few risks.
Click to expand...

It is happening, you're just too blind to see it.
 
bradley said:
Out of all the US states, I like the people of Washington - particularly Seattle - least. You seldom can't get into any discussion without interference from their one-minded (sometimes combative) political vision/agenda.

In Seattle, there's a frustratingly odd mix of entitlement and socialism mixed with greedy status-quo capitalism. I want an artifice in place that provides me only rewards and absolutely no risks... hmmm.

I personally have a preference to steer clear from the impractical, progressives and/or social engineers. Start with cleaning out your own closet first dammit. 🙂

Anyhow, setting a $15/hour minimum wage does absolutely nothing to address the sheer amount of inequity, graft and corruption ingrained into the current system. It only sets a very bad precedent and allows people to feel comfortable just eking out a living, not wanting anything more from life.

Once again we are left fighting over the crumbs of class welfare, while trillion-dollar robberies take place in the daylight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal



Damn right, I say, while playing my worn and broken record.
Click to expand...


Seattle is the city that has public schools teaching the notion only whites can be racist. Its official. Its part of their curriculum.
 
rudder said:
So what is going to happen to all the people making $15/hour now? They will be expecting some kind of pay bump otherwise it would suck to be them.
Click to expand...
Answer:
disappoint said:
All those in favor of inflation say aye!
Click to expand...


Hey It's Snookie!
Printer Bandit said:
Kshama_Sawant.jpg


Kshama Sawant is a Seattle City Council member. A former software engineer from India, Sawant became a socialist activist and part-time economics professor in Seattle after immigrating to the United States.

The core issues of Sawant's campaign were a minimum wage increase to US$15/hour, a "millionaire's tax" or income tax on wealthy Seattleites, and rent control.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry. When I look into that woman's face it says 'clueless' to me. I'd like to believe she's well-intentioned, but cannot. All solutions looking for problems.
 
bradley said:
Out of all the US states, I like the people of Washington - particularly Seattle - least. You seldom can't get into any discussion without interference from their one-minded (sometimes combative) political vision/agenda.

In Seattle, there's a frustratingly odd mix of entitlement and socialism mixed with greedy status-quo capitalism. I want an artifice in place that provides me only rewards and absolutely no risks... hmmm.

I personally have a preference to steer clear from the impractical, progressives and/or social engineers. Start with cleaning out your own closet first dammit. 🙂

Anyhow, setting a $15/hour minimum wage does absolutely nothing to address the sheer amount of inequity, graft and corruption ingrained into the current system. It only sets a very bad precedent and allows people to feel comfortable just eking out a living, not wanting anything more from life.

Once again we are left fighting over the crumbs of class welfare, while trillion-dollar robberies take place in the daylight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal



Damn right, I say, while playing my worn and broken record.
Click to expand...

You can thank all the transplants for that 🙂 get outside of King County and you would (more than likely) be surprised at how different people are. not that all people in Seattle are that way but even i have noticed that. Same with many political issues stem from Seattle and it ends up being them vs the rest of the state.

The sad part is it is all political. I would bet money we see some of these City Council members run for state levels jobs here. And be damn sure they bring up how they brought $15 minimum wage to the city. They dont actually give a rats ass about it. Its just another notch on their belt for them and something they can ay they helped institute.
 
AMDZen said:
There is a huge fucking difference to being liberal and straight ass-fucking socialist like those asses in Washington.

Marijuana legalization is liberal. The government shouldn't have a say on what people do in the privacy of their own homes. This should be as much a conservative issue as a liberal one but the right has become a bunch of nazi's who spend all day praying to god when the right wing party used to care about the government having too much power.

Nationalization of companies and turning people's homes into public housing is strait communist Russian shit.
Click to expand...

Nothing even remotely socialist in washington. We have the most right wing government of all the first world countries. Hell, our democrats are further to the right of the rightmost parties in every other first world country! Enough with the conspiracy bullshit. Stop being told what to think by the right wing loonies that run this country.
 
Imp said:
Meh. Lots of people freaking out in here.

Why not just sit back and see your worst nightmare turn a city to shit? Or maybe it won't. We'll see? If it does, you can say you were right.
Click to expand...

Simply because the right wing uses fear tactics to prevent things from ever happening in the first place. This way, other options outside of right wing propaganda can never be tried and allowed to succeed.
 
shadow9d9 said:
Nothing even remotely socialist in washington. We have the most right wing government of all the first world countries. Hell, our democrats are further to the right of the rightmost parties in every other first world country! Enough with the conspiracy bullshit. Stop being told what to think by the right wing loonies that run this country.
Click to expand...

You're in NJ you dumb shit. You realize I was talking about the STATE of Washington and not DC, correct?

You fucking dumbass 🙄
 
Personally, I think this is the level we want the minimum wage addressed at. Government should be controlled on the smallest possible level. I'm all for cities and counties setting minimum wage. I'm against the federal government doing the same.
 
Caveman said:
Going to school isn't easy for anyone. That's why less and less people will do it if there's an easier way to opt out. Starvation is a great motovation. I paid for every penny of my Bachelor's degree including room and board for myself. Not having family support to get an education is a great example of a first world problem. Creating the appearance of an economy that can support flipping burgers as a full time job is creating a class of modern day slaves that will never escape from that lifestyle... Temporary welfare to get someone back on their feet is the duty of society - permanent welfare never works.
Click to expand...

You speak truth.
 
Costs of education spiral out of control, yet the job market is requiring a degree for jobs that historically never needed it. It isn't that the jobs need a degree to do the work, it is that there are so many degree'd individuals, why not get one with a degree. As an added bonus, companies are going with automated resume gathering. So instead of having a chance to point out your ability regardless of education, your resume is dumped before a human can even see it. Why? Because it didn't list a degree, and that is what they programmed that they are looking for. A McDonalds operator was requiring a degree to work the cash register. The owner stated that he had so many applicants, why not cut it off at a high level.

In the end, this is closing off relatively high paying jobs from those who don't go to college or to community college. People who won't go, can't go, or can't afford to go have to count on hardwork and connections to move ahead. Many don't have that drive, hence getting minimum wage. Plus, who never gets a pay raise? Even in those industries, you can get a raise if you are a valuable employee. If you are still earning minimum wage years after starting, you skating by.

In the end, it all won't matter. This will be an inflationary measure. The poverty line will move up because the cost of everything will rise proportional to the rise. It is simple economics. If people are willing to work for an amount, then the companies will pay that amount. If no one is willing to work at that wage, a company will naturally increase the pay until the labor pool grows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top