this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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If everyone who flips burgers gets a "better job" are you going to stop having burgers?
The issue is that while there is work that needs to be done, then there will be a need to pay people to do it. If you're a business owner and you have work that needs to be done, and you can't afford to pay your employees enough for them to pay their bills and lube decent lives, and you can't personally take the hit to your own income to cover the difference, then your business should fail.
Right now, the arrangement forces people to work more than 40 hours a week -- which is illegal, but companies get away with it because they don't work at the same company for the whole time. In fact, many people with multiple jobs don't even have full time jobs -- they have 3 part time jobs, all working them less than 40 hours a week, so they don't have to give them the benefits they're required to provide for full time employees.
(Personally, when I was young I had multiple places scheduling me for 39.5 hours a week. Now I'm a white collar FTE and I work 35 hours a week.)
So, next time you call someone who's flipping burgers "lazy," think about how lazy a person must be to work 100 hours a week. Is that what laziness looks like to you? How many hours a week do you have to work too not be considered not lazy?
Because, the thing is, you know they aren't lacy. They're working their fingers to the bone, and have much shittier and shorter lives than middle class people. Calling them lazy (or stupid or unlucky or whatever) is how you rationalize the fact that you're unwilling to accept any inconvenience it might cause you to help them.
In this scenario -- aka, the real world, the world we are in right now -- they are working harder than the rest of us are, for less money.
Why can't they just flip burgers from the age of 16 till 65? What if they don't mind the work, they have a full and fulfilling life outside of work, and their job is just what they do to make ends meet? Does that mean they deserve to live in debt and working 100 hours a week? Are you so ignorant that you don't understand that, in any economic system, capitalism or otherwise, not everyone can move up?
It's literally not possible. There have to be people flipping the burgers. That's a fact of the system; there's no way around that. And it's ok -- not perfect, but acceptable -- as long as we treat those people with dignity and respect.
And that means paying them enough to survive -- and thrive -- on 40 hours a week. No one's saying they should have enough money to buy megayachts -- or even regular yachts. But they should be able to buy a shitty canoe -- and still be able to pay all their bills, and not have to work more than 40 hours.
If you're concerned about the possibility that, if they earn more, you'll earn less, that's just not true. There's no scenario in the USA where a company is charging customers any less than the most they possibly can, and paying their workers any more than as little as possible. That's literally the law. There is plenty of extra money that can be used to cover the needs of our poorest people -- and to raise the salaries of more scarce labor who would otherwise turn to flipping burgers if burger-flipping salaries went up.
Literally every business that's even a little successful has extra money. ("Extra money" is also known as profit.) There is no reason why one person should have to work more than 40 hours a week while another person has more money then they can possibly spend in a lifetime; it's illogical and irrational, and cruel.
Well obviously because burger flippers are only detrimental to society. These people should be THANKFUL we're paying them at all to play around behind a stove all day!
In all seriousness, lad has some screws loose, you're wasting time and effort if you expect to change their opinion. Dudes a slave to the system he's defending. Sad.
Yeah I'm kind of dumb like that. But honestly I don't actually do it for them -- I do it for noobs. Like, there's a long way for that person to go before my input will be helpful -- but there are young people who have heard those arguments and may not have a compelling response -- so hopefully my post will help.