I was commenting on a Facebook page, where someone posted a rant about fast food workers fighting for higher wages. They made a comment that people in the military get $31,000/year. I made a comment where low-balling hard workers is an epidemic. One man commented "Australian army rates...Trainee $35K, Private $45K, Sargeant $65,,,,McDonalds Adult rates $21 to $24 per hour" The way I figure it, adjusted for inflation, dollar values, and cost of living, that's at least $10 an hour.
Interestingly enough, if minimum wage kept up with inflation and cost of living here, it would be at least $10.50/hour.
The fear-mongering of "If people get paid more, they'll get price-gouged more" is bullshit, too. Renowned economist Robert Reich even stated that the impact on prices would be minimal, compared to having that additional income in consumers' hands.
The Fight For 15, while taken up by fast food workers, is everyone's cause. The reasoning is that if they get paid more, so would everyone else. Yes, as many people love to point out, fast food jobs were intended to be upstart jobs for high schoolers and young college students. But there's an increase in the number of educated fast food workers who didn't jump into the grease pit because they thought it'd be a fun swim; they were pushed overboard and fell in when other jobs became more scarce.
I think this revival of the Gilded Age has its roots in the Cold War. America didn't want to be like the Communists, so America was force-fed the mantra "Capitalism gives us the highest standard of living. It's the American way! Work hard, and you'll be rewarded. Any other way is Communist!" America swallowed it - hook, line, and sinker - along with the fast food boom and the increase in big box stores. America gorged on it, trading democracy for corporate feudalism.
But America is still buying it! Now, case in point here, people who fight for better are painted by neocons as whiny Commies who want a handout, convincing CNAs, etc, to look down fast food workers for Fighting For 15, when they themselves need to be fighting for 20.
Some would say that it's a crackpot conspiracy theory about how rich people are conspiring with politicians to take over the country, then the world. A conspiracy requires silence of multiple parts working in perfect concert. It's not, especially when you consider that this nation was founded by lawyers. Combine the "Corporate feudalism is American" mindset, you turn a congress of lawyers into a circus of shysters. It's less of a conspiracy, and more of a culture of corruption; it's marketing. The steps are simple:
1. Buy politicians, lobbyists, and media outlets
2. Treat workers like shit
3. Raise prices
4. When they complain, use the media to call them names like "unAmerican", "bleeding heart", and "whiny"
5. When they start to ban together, use their race ("Blacks are always looking for a handout") or jobs ("They're just service workers") to turn them against each other
