Minumium wage is wrong and is bad

Before I address the specific issues raised by CON, I feel that a few facts should be presented on the larger subject of the minimum wage.Minimum Wage FAQWhat is a minimum wage?Every society has a certain minimum level of economic strength that each member needs to achieve in order to remain an asset to that society, and not become a burden.In the United States, for example, that minimum level of economic achievement (for workers in most regions) is around $15/hour. [1] Those who earn less than $15/hour are unable to obtain adequate levels of food, housing, and other needs in our society. That means that society has to come to decision about what to do with these people. Do we abandon them to be supported by family and friends? Or do we support them with public assistance and welfare programs? Some other combination of participants.The concept of a minimum wage argues that employers should pay for the labor that they purchase from their workers with wages that are attractive when compared to welfare. Moreover, minimum levels of wage requirements prevent societal over-saturation of workers who are desperate for work, and impoverished. History has proven that very large numbers of people who are willing to subjugate themselves to powerful employers can destabilize a society. [2]It is in the best interest of the public to require that these minimum economic needs are met somehow - and asking that employers pay a fair price for the labor that they purchase is one important part of how a society can ensure that those who work can avoid poverty.This is especially true if the public is going to pay tax money to prevent mass poverty. The taxpaying society has the right to ask employers to pay their workers fairly if those taxpayers are required to maintain the welfare system that could otherwise be relieved by fair wages. If the public were to choose not to help alleviate poverty within its society, then the public will be forced to pay to remedy the many negative effects that deep poverty can cause. (High levels of crime, disease among those who cannot afford health care, wage slavery and worker subjugation are all very expensive societal ailments.) So taxpayers are left with the bill either way... unless employers are required to help out as well. Minimum wage laws are intended to ask employers to help create a society that has more members that are made self-sufficient through work, and not burdensome to the public, by paying a fair wage for the labor that they purchase from their workers.What happens if the minimum wage is set too low?When workers cannot work hard enough to lift themselves out of poverty, they lose the incentive to productively sell their labor. Instead, they begin to rely on more lucrative methods of sustenance, for example returning to a gathering/scavenging lifestyle, begging, or finding private benefactors who will support them. In developed nations such as the US and Great Britain, a minimum wage that is set too low will trigger an economic migration onto social welfare systems. Faced with the choice between unproductive work and more profitable welfare, most workers will choose the option that presents them with the most beneficial reward for their efforts. The welfare system should be seen as a subsidy to employers that do not pay their workers a wage that is high enough to prevent those workers from falling below certain poverty thresholds that society has deemed to be unacceptable. Taxpayers add to the inadequate paychecks with food stamps, housing assistance and other welfare programs, so that these workers do not fall into extreme poverty. How Do Minimum Wages Impact Supply and Demand?The need to be a self-sufficient member of society as a result of engaging in productive labor is a society-wide requirement. That means that the demand is universal - no significant portion of society wants to live in lethal levels of poverty, and no society wants large numbers of impoverished populations living nearby. Therefore, since the demand to be self-sufficient is universal, the typical economicrules that regulate "Supply and Demand" mechanisms do not apply. The minimum economic needs of these people will be met somehow - the question is why employers should not be required to meet some of this burden by paying workers a fair price based on the value of the work that they perform? [3]Society should balance these social engineering priorities. The public also has a need to support employers by creating a welfare state that will permit business owners to pay their workers somewhat less than their competitors abroad must. These welfare subsidies allow American workers to be cost-competitive compared to foreign labor pools in other nations. However, a balance must be struck: make the welfare programs too lucrative for workers, and the American work force becomes unproductive. Make these programs too stingy, and American labor becomes too expensive (or else Americans become underpaid and impoverished.)Supply and demand forces are not only economic: they are also societal. Balancing the economic needs of society with the needs of the public to remain a good source of productivity is an important reason to maintain minimum wage laws. [4]Can We Make Everyone Wealthy by Setting a Very High Minimum Wage?No. Other pay scales would increase in a way that is commensurate with the minimum wage, thus reducing the delta between the minimum pay rates and those for better paid workers.Do Minimum Wages Violate Free Speech?No. [1] http://livingwage.mit.edu...[2] http://en.wikipedia.org...[3] http://www.dailykos.com...[4] http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu...