> Larry wrote: > Single cases don't make a trend. Let's try this case: USSR.
If you pay someone more than they're worth, but enough to keep them from making a change, the majority won't change. That's basic human nature, and the point has been solved decades ago. It goes like this: (A.) One the one hand there's the viewpoint that if the gov't doles out money based on "morality" rather than market forces then society, on the whole, will be better off. Unfortunately they discovered that gov't is made up of people who can't shake the profit motive so corruption becomes rampant and the whole thing implodes. (b.) Then there's the capitalist side which says that all humans are driven by a profit motive (it's right after basic food and shelter, but before security and s3x). However most people, beyond a certain point of wealth become benevolent. That is, capitalism relies on using a fundamentally destructive quality of human nature, greed, and turns into a wealth building enterprise. So, this debate has already been solved: earning is better that taking what's not earned. What you're questioning is the disparities in wealth that can occur, specifically among the poor. This is due to a few causes: 1.) Physically/mentally unable to compete. 2.) Lack of knowledge on how to compete (how to analyze market forces, education, etc). 3.) Lack of resources to compete (rural, Internet, cell phones, time, materials, etc). 4.) Lack of will to compete. Point #1 cannot be solved and society must bear those costs. Points 2, 3, and 4 can all be solved with the right policy however, as is implicit, minimum wage does nothing to solve any of them. As I've been saying, MW only masks the symptoms of points 2-4; it's does nothing to solve them. Therefore what's needed is some clever policy to actually SOLVE the problem rather than treat the symptoms. I've previously detailed some ideas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:175693 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
