Daily Discussion No. 3: Working and Wages - Minimum, Maximum, Fair - What IS "Fair?"

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What Does a "Fair Wage" Look Like?

These days, there seems to be a lot of controversy over the pay people receive for their work efforts. Most of the time, there are more heated disagreements than consensus.

Perhaps we should start by looking at what most people can agree on: If we "work" at something, we have the expectation that we should get compensated in some fashion, be it through wages, barter/trade, "in-kind" agreements or something else.

So that's our starting point. 

But then everything falls apart.

What does "Fair" compensation look like? 

Let's say I go to work and bust my butt for 40-50 hours a week at something... does that entitle me to receive compensation sufficient that I can afford basic housing, living expenses and food? Would that be a "fair" wage?

Should we even EXPECT "Fair" Payment?

Maybe fair is not important. 

You get paid whatever is agreed upon... represented by some amount that represent some combination the least an employer can get away with paying and the least the most desperate and starving person in the employment market is willing to work for.

Is that how wages should be determined? Should wages exist independently of whether they afford the person being paid the ability to live? Typically, you can always find someone willing to do it "for less." 

Many supporters of a free-market capitalist system would say so. 

The Purpose of a Corporation is to Maximize Profit

One of the problems people run into in this debate is the assumption that the primary objective of a corporation is to produce goods and services.

That's actually not true. The primary objective of a corporation is to maximize profit-- "producing goods and services" is merely the vehicle that serves this ultimate goal.

Hence we have the trend of companies in industrialized nations outsourcing much of their work to parts of the world where wages are lower, so profits can be higher.

Minimum Wage? Living Wage? Basic Income?

On the other side of the table, many argue that there should be a minimum pay level for work done that allows someone doing full-time work to be compensated sufficiently that they can afford their lives. 

I can appreciate that perspective, having at various times in my life worked 60+ hours a week and been forced to live "in digs" as the only way to get by. If you live in a mid-sized to larger city in the US, the current minimum wage of $7.25/hour will not take you very far-- and you certainly wouldn't be able to afford rent on a place to live.

Some argue that overall employment (the number of jobs in existence) is declining and will continue to decline-- due to automation-- and a time will come when having a job will be more of a privilege than a daily reality. The same folks argue for the idea of "Universal Basic Income" although it remains unclear how such a thing would be funded.

Is it just a "Rules" vs "No Rules" Situation?

In looking at these different perspectives and "reading between the lines," it often seems more like we have people who "hate rules" on one side of the table and people who feel "protected by rules" on the other.

Seems to me it's a whole lot more complex than that. 

Personally, I left the employment market because-- in spite of having a college degree-- I never worked at anything that made me a "living wage." 

Now I am self-employed, work pretty much non-stop and still don't make much of a living wage, but at least I get to live life more or less on my own terms. And it's hard to place a value on that.

Let's Discuss!

But to get to the discussion end of things, what do YOU think about income and wages? Should there be a minimum wage? Moreover, should full time work afford a person a basic living, or should that not be a guarantee? At the other end of the scale, is there such a things as wages that are too high? Is it reasonable for someone to make $100 million a year... and perhaps employ 1000's whose pay is low enough that they live in poverty? 

Share your thoughts and experiences below!

And remember... the purpose of the Daily Discussion initiative is to interact, and however little or large your contribution, it does matter! If you write an entire post as a response, remember to use the tag #dailydiscussion and include "Daily Discussion No. 3" as part of your title, then share a link to your post in the comment section! 

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Created at 171126 15:53 PDT