Maybe it's time to enforce a maximum wage similar to how we enforce a minimum wage? Maybe maximum = 10000 * minimum? This won't stop people from amassing assets and power (i.e. we aren't enforcing a maximum number of expensive art you can own, or senators you can call), but might curb the inequality among wage workers and CEOs.
I feel that minimum wage pushes companies to invest in technology and automation. Which is always good. Set the minimum wage at $50 and eventually no human will need to work for so less money.
The thing I find most obnoxious is that people don't seem to understand that a minimum wage is necessary to prevent employee abuse. Without a minimum wage, corporations will gladly hire people who are unable to negotiate hire rates despite doing the same work as everyone else. The disabled, prison labor and immigrants are all examples of people who have been historically abused by companies in order to pay them much less.
Ultimately when any job is better than no job, people will take what they can get. Companies know this, and will pay people obscenely low amounts to take advantage of people without any other options. Therefore to protect them and ensure they can have a livable wage, we need to maintain a minimum wage.
If we are going to let this persist we should really just get rid of the minimum wage all together. Having a minimum wage for some jobs but not for others is just silly at this point.
I agree, but none of this is remotely just or fair without a minimum wage that is a living wage. And what that is needs to be reassessed if policies change the cost of living.
That'd just push down wages for the parts of your schedule you're actually working, though. Minimum wages are the type of thing where if you push on one side, it incentivizes employers to extract more value by any means possible out of you.
I'm a broken record on this, but: an unconditional basic income is the answer to this situation. The only way you can make sure every job has dignity is for every person to be able to quit their job without worrying about starving or being unable to afford any housing. Once everyone is guaranteed that bare minimum, employers have to treat their employees with a basic level of respect and dignity. Otherwise they'll quit.
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