To The Editor:
Rarely do I disagree with my favorite news personality, but tonight was one of those rare occasions. This evening he stated and outright demanded that the GOP should shift their position to that of support for a mandatory $10.00 minimum wage per hour. While I’m certainly not against wage increases, I am hesitant of the supposed greater benefits of the demands for it to be across the board. Indeed it is right to support our individual fellow man and hope for his better quality of life, but it is wrong to believe that in so doing it won’t come at a cost to all.
By demanding a higher wage increase we ensure for ourselves a higher price at the retail end. When minimum wage is elevated by any government on its society all of its citizens should carefully consider the likelihood of there then being offered fewer jobs.
The reason why we’ve endured financially in our society has been because we’ve lived by the rules of capitalism. Since our birth as a nation we have found that the rules of competition between producers yield the best results. If and when we no longer believe in these principles and begin to buy into socialistic views of governing that will seal our doom.
If we want to truly help the folks with lowest incomes simply reward those big businesses with tax relief and incentives to reinvest in their employees.
When our people are given opportunities for work pay always cares for itself. Those whom perform the best, have the skills, as well as the desire to use those skills, will always prosper. Every reputable employer in America is seeking for these kind of workers and will no doubt invest well in them in order to keep them.
We don’t need to again take the position that the employer is the bad guy when in fact he is the means of all employees being able to make a living. Leave the negotiations of their financial work agreement between the two of them. No government should be able to demand of the employer what he can and cannot give to his employees. We live in a equal opportunity society, not an equal reward society. The quality and amount that one produces should be given thought for higher pay, or less thereof.
The capitalist position is the only means of promoting true growth once again in this nation. If we are to see prosperity once again we must seek to reward work not mere employment.
If we will simply remove the idea of being divisive and allow the employer and the employee to come together, they themselves will create their own solution. Perhaps the best thing to do when it comes to employers and employees is to leave their financial arrangements between them.
On this issue of demanding wages I hope that my anchor friend will revisit his own position and consider just merely staying out of the way. (© 2014 by James W. Bryant, Wednesday, January 30th, 2014 @ 12:24am HOS )
James W. Bryant
Dillon, SC
