This wonderful new machine, shown in prototype here, comes from the web page of Cesarea Treehugger of Duluth, Minnesota. It provides an answer to the question that many young people, including ones with excellent credentials and experience, are asking these days: "Where can I find a decent, well-paying job?" Here's the product description from April 10, 2013.
"This machine allows anyone to work for minimum
wage for as long as they like. Turning the crank on the side releases
one penny every 4.97 seconds, for a total of $7.25 per hour. This
corresponds to minimum wage for a person in New York. This
piece is brilliant on multiple levels, particularly as social
commentary. Without a doubt, most people who started operating the
machine for fun would quickly grow disheartened and stop when realizing
just how little they’re earning by turning this mindless crank. A person
would then conceivably realize that this is what nearly two million
people in the United States do every day…at much harder [...jobs] than
turning a crank. This turns the piece into a simple, yet effective
argument for raising the minimum wage."
The likely demand for this much needed device is indicated by a story in today's New York Times:
City Report Shows a Growing Number Are Near Poverty
" The rise in New York City’s poverty rate as a result of the recession
has apparently eased, but not before pushing nearly half of the city’s
population into the ranks of the poor or near-poor in 2011, according to
an analysis by the ...[mayor's] administration."
Many of my colleagues tell me that the cure for joblessness and poverty is a talisman called "technological innovation." The minimum wage machine seems to be yet another example of the kinds of "breakthroughs" that have done so much to boost the fortunes of American working people since the late 1970s.
"The minimum wage machine seems to be yet another example of the kinds of "breakthroughs" that have done so much to boost the fortunes of American working people since the late 1970s."
ReplyDeleteOn really? Says who, your typical run-of-the mill social constructivist?
Is that why engineers in China, on average, make less than $20,000/year?
What about the 3/7 of the world's population that lives on just three dollars a day?
$7.25/hour is a King's ransom to them. Insisting on an artificially-set-to-the-market minimum wage hardly seems fair to that 3/7's.
If social constructivist reality wants a truly equitable society for mankind, then free market ideals should set wages.
Or is social equality simply only for those who live in certain countries in the world?
Funny how we value things. Most often those working for minimum wage provide essential services, while a corporate CEO who defrauds investors and causes near collapse of the world's financial systems can walk away with tens of millions for their trouble. Who knew?
ReplyDelete