A More Equitable Income

I have to admit, I have been distressed by the lack of people standing up for their rights in this country, especially when it comes to the exchange of their time for an income.

Since the 1970's the average income has fallen well below sustainability.  I remember as a youth when minimum wage was $2.90 and hour, more than enough to pay for everything. Now, minimum wage has not even doubled in 30 years and yet inflation has doubled several times since the 70s.

People have allowed themselves to be lulled into believing that if they try change things, they would lose their job because there is no way to pay them more. Lie! If a company can afford to pay executives their outlandish wages and benefits then there is plenty of money to go around.

The reason wages are kept low is because executives increased their wages to astronomical levels. Not only are their wages at unsustainable levels but so are their benefit packages: health care, cars, housing, golden parachutes, memberships and more.  Executives of corporations do not need these outlandish sums they are getting, especially when their own employees do not receive a livable wage.

Looking around the world at other industrialized westernized countries: Germany, Austria, France, Australia, New Zealand, among others, you will find they pay a minimum wage that is much higher than our own. Often these countries pay no less than $20,000 to $30,000 a year. The U.S. is the only industrialize country that does not pay a livable minimum wage! Not only are we the only industrilized country that pays its employees one of the lowest wages, but we also have no gauranteed paid days off: vacation, sick time, personal time, a minimum number of holidays.

There is more than enough to pay a minimum wage that starts at $15 an hour, today, without increasing prices. Just lower executive pay and benefits and put them back into the hands of the employees who are truly responsible for the wealth of a company, not the people at the top. Don't get me wrong, I am not proposing some sort of communistic ideal here. All I am saying is, the greed at the top will never trickle down, so force a more realistic distribution of wealth a company has. One that rewards hard working people at a more equitable level.