Good old Henry Ford.
For all his flaws and imperfections (bit of an anti-Semite, for one thing), he did understand one thing that we in the modern age seem to have forgotten. He thought it was a good idea that his workers should be paid well enough that they should be able to afford the car they made.
And thus was born the collective popularization of the automobile. It wasn't going to be the tool or plaything of the well-to-do. It was going to be something that virtually every American could own. And thus we developed the mightiest automobile industry in the world, built a tremendous network of quality roads, fueled the connectivity and vitality of our commerce, increased the mobility of our populace, and well, also gave the start to many a family.
All because Henry Ford recognized that his workers should be paid a decent wage, not just for their benefit but also his,
It's fairly simple and common sense.
How do you get out of a recession? By increasing demand.
How do you increase demand? By increasing the amount of spending money available to those willing to spend it.
If you hand more money over to the rich, tax them less, what are they going to do? Create more stuff, provide more services, that people can't afford to buy? No. They're going to park their money, and make money off of money.
Give it to a family who is barely making rent, and what are they going to do? Spend it on other necessities, retire the drag of debt that is harming all Americans, or heaven forbend, and as much as it bothers my Calvinistic conservative friends, go take the family out to a movie.
Could the lower economic echelons spend it on something stupid or destructive? In a free choice society, that for some will probably be true. But here's a clue for ya - the rich are doing that already!
We're not even talking about government handouts...we're talking about paying hard working Americans a decent wage for a job well done. We're talking about giving dignity to ALL work, while collar and manufacturing, public workers and service workers. Whether you're cleaning toilets or greeting customers, keeping books or playing ball, you deserve a wage that can support your family. Well, OK, you probably don't have to worry about the ball players.
I know that many of you have bought into the propaganda. You cannot raise wages without raising the hell of inflation. If only economics were that simple. There is a lot of catch up to do. While American productivity has skyrocketed, American wages have remained stagnant. A recent study has shown that if McDonald's wages were raised to the $10 range, it would increase the cost of a Big Mac 17 cents. 17 cents to bring more people to a living wage. To help them earn enough to support their family and get off government assistance programs. Which is what Walmart does - encourages their workers to seek out government assistance programs rather than pay them more. Those low prices at Walmart? You're helping subsidize their Chinese merchandise and wage practices with your tax dollars.
If we raise wages, businesses will shut down in a hissy fit because they don't want to pay them, and they think their business will go under if they do. Well, isn't that counter-productive! And with all the other wage increases and unions and other labor accommodations and benefits in the past, they found a way to cope. True business people, finding every other business in the same boat, will find a way to mange, survive AND thrive.
Won't the jobs just go overseas? Yes, that's exactly what we want to do. We want Americans to compete with the wages in Bangladesh. Let's just cut our current minimum wage legislation and pay Americans less than a $1 an hour. Afford a car? They won't even be able to afford the public transportation to get to the job. Living standards need to be raised around the world, and we need to stop rewarding companies for taking our jobs overseas. There are countries in the world that pay a living wage and thrive economically. We can do it too.
Costco is an example of how it can be done right. They pay their workers a wage significantly better than the industry average. And they turn quite a tidy profit. They're competing against one of the most prominent low wage companies in the county, Sam's Club, and they're doing perfectly fine, thank you very much. Wall Street is constantly hounding them to slash wages and Costco refuses to do it. And they continue to prosper.
Sam Walton was right, in wanting to turn his associates into stockholders, and to buy American. It is a shame that subsequent generations of the family have turned so selfish and greedy.
Henry Ford was right. We need to go back to this basic, biblical value.
A fair day's wages for a fair day's work.
What's the matter with that?
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