7.
"It's Easy for the Middle Class to Call for Abolishing the Minimum Wage"
At this point it may occur to the proponents of minimum wage laws to say,
in effect, "Well, isn't it easy for someone like the author to call for
abolishing the minimum wage; after all he wouldn't have to settle for
a job paying only $4.00 an hour, so what's it to him to condemn others
to be paid so little?" But, this is not so. Everyone accepts less
than the minimum wage one way or another (this author certainly did).
A middle-class college student, for example, may be earning an above
minimum of $7.00 per hour in a part-time job while attending classes.
But when the time spent in class, studying, etc. is factored in,
the student is not earning so much. (As an example, 20 hours per week
devoted to school and 20 hours per week on the job averages out to only
$3.50 per hour's efforts.) Likewise, consider the doctor-to-be in
medical school. Taking into consideration the time in undergraduate
school and then in medical school and the expense of books, lab fees,
and tuition, this person is likely making a
negative
hourly wage!
Yet they do so willingly, in both cases taking a low per hour wage now
as an investment in their ability to earn a higher wage in the future.
As one last example, even multi-billionaire businessman Bill Gates spent
countless hours learning, developing and honing his computer abilities
in his youth without
any
hourly pay.
The minimum wage law is a civil rights issue. Everyone -- middle class
college students, future doctors, business owners -- is legally allowed to
accept the sub-minimum payment that may be necessary to get started and
acquire skills that will help them earn more later. Everyone, that is,
except the low-skilled with no prospects of otherwise improving their
earning abilities (see
Section 4 On-the-Job Training) -- the very ones who
need this opportunity the most. The minimum wage law is a violation of
the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and should be declared
unconstitutional.
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