"Why are you so opposed to people taking personal responsibility for their lives? "
Why are you tying this to the welfare mentality some people have? Did it occur to you that there are people who through no fault of their own have been thrown out of good paying jobs back into the minimum wage arena? Did it occur to you that highschool and college kids all over America are working minimum wage jobs sometimes two and three at a time to keep themselves in school? These are kind of people I have in mind, that's why your opinion is less than charitable.
Free enterprise and capitalism is all well and good when you're on the high end of it as you seem to be. I'd rather a decent minimum wage than living on welfare any day. Why are you opposed to giving those less fortunate who have a work ethic a hand back up?
Don't sweat it. I was once making just above minimum wage, IN NEW YORK CITY no less, but was able to survive. I also have experienced job losses TWICE when I was a "youth" after the minimum wage was raised.
One of Maggie Thatcher's great achievements was ABOLISHING the minimum wage in the UK. Youth unemployment in the UK went down considerably as a result.
What did my time as a minimum wage slave teach me? The importance of working hard, being responsible, negotiating a raise and for swearing to continue my studies. Shaped the values that have allowed me to become successful since then.
If an employer is willing to pay someone $5/hour and that person is willing to accept $5/hour, why are you opposed to allowing this?
Say, if labor costs go above $5/hour, it would be cheaper for the employer to buy a machine to replace the worker. Would you prefer that alternative to someone earning $5/hour?
Hey, I for one am not opposed to your giving those less fortunate a hand up, or back up in some cases... I think that is commendable and you are a charitable soul and I salute you for your efforts.
But why do you want to force me to pay for your charity? Cannot you see the incongruity of your belief? Donate to your church or give to a deserving family directly, one you know, but don't ask me to do it so you can get a warm glow self-satisfaction at my expense. That is so selfish, uncaring, and thoughtless this it is the cliche knee-jerk liberal mantra. Ask yourself what you are doing here on a conservative board? Do you think you are owed something because of your education? Learn to be productive, you will be amazed how much better you feel if you don't beg for a government teat for yourself or others. Then you can afford to be charitable yourself and not expect others to be charitable for you.
If you would READ my posts instead of jumping in, you would see that I worked a 40 hr week (5PM to 1AM) while attending college. I did not go out and protest my LOW WAGES, I just thanked God that I had a job. That's my point.