I agree about the first line there. How else can we turn ignorance into knowledge? But I don't want to ridicule people like that.
I will defend
@INVAR ,
@Cyber Liberty ...
The subject of his message is an 'it', not a 'they', suggesting the point of ridicule and evisceration is the subject of 'living wage', and not the person delivering the words.
And it is a subject which is worthy of ridicule.
The matter of a wage is directly figured into the bottom line of a product or service.
If the cost of wages is too high, just like the cost of materials or any other thing, only a few things can happen:
The cost is too high, and the RISK of creating the job is without reward, and thus the job is not offered, to include not producing the product or service at all.
The cost is too high, and the RISK will require raising the bottom line (retail cost) to cover the cost of the wage. Normally, this causes the product to be priced out of the market, and the product will fail, thus causing the product line to be discontinued, even if it means going out of business.
However, in the case where a minimum wage is imposed, and retail costs are artificially raised because of the imposition of the wage, it causes the cost of living to go up exponentially in that locale, as everyone struggles to adjust to cover the extra cost, rendering whatever value there might have been in increasing the minimum wage to be made moot by the higher cost of living. And it will invariably tighten the job market at the bottom - Because employers with low margins rely on the low(er) wage in order to make a profit. If the cost cannot be justified, and the market will not bear a retail increase, the jobs leave, in whichever way they must.
Inevitably, an employer must be able to make a profit or there is no reason to employ anyone. It is he who takes the RISK - And all capital systems are based on risk vs. reward. If there is no reward, there is no reason to assume the risk. End_of_story.
Whether the wage is capable of being a 'living wage' has nothing at all to do with anything. And imposing a 'living wage' artificially, only increases retail cost and dries up jobs.
Stupidity in motion.