Resolved: Just governments ought to require that employers pay a living wage.

I value morality. Knowledge is created through the reflection of objective reality onto our consciousness. UTI:[1] “cognition takes place as objective reality is reflected… onto consciousness. … we comprehend …concepts… -as … the reflection by the …mind… of an external world existing … independently …The first step in the process of cognition is contact with the …external …this …[is] perception… The second step is to synthesize …perception …this … [is]the… rational … cognition proceeds from sensory cognition to rational cognition… and from rational cognition to practice. … knowledge can in no way be separated from …human action… and social activities, …” This rules out a priori side-constraints since objective reality is the only truth and human experience is the only relevant way of understanding it, making material ends ontologically and epistemologically relevant. And, the universe is causally closed, so moral statements must be based in physical facts about our mental states. Papineau:[2] “the conservation of energy … impl[ies] that … if mental … forces arose spontaneously, then there would be nothing to ensure that they never led to energy increases.…Detailed physiological research, … gave no indication of any physical effects that cannot be explained in terms of basic physical forces that also occur outside living bodies. ...since the only laws governing behaviour are those connecting behaviour with physical antecedents, mental events can only be causes of behaviour if they are identical with those physical antecedents.” This means util since there are no side-constraints in nature – suffering is a mental state which we have a reason to avoid. Metaphysics confirms the undesirability of suffering - each agent values their own pleasure, so they must also value the pleasure of others. Sayre McCord:[3] “the evaluative starting point is … each person thinking "my own happiness is valuable," … this fact about each person is taken as evidence, with respect to each bit of happiness that is valued … Each person … ha[s]… reason to think … there is the same evidence available to each for the value of the happiness that another person enjoys as there is for the value of one's own happiness. … happiness is such that every piece of it is desired by someone, … in taking ourselves to have reason to see the bit we value as valuable, we are committed to acknowledging the value of all the rest.” Even respect for the rationality of persons mandates consequentialism. Cummiskey:[4] “If I sacrifice some for the sake of others, … I do not deny the unconditional value of rational beings. Persons may have … unconditional …worth” …but persons also have a fundamental equality that dictates that some must sometimes give way for the sake of others … The concept of the end-in-itself thus … dictates that one maysacrifice some to save many.” Thus, the standard is maximizing wellbeing. First, a living wage encourages economic growth. Luce[5]: “the Boston living wage ordinance begins with … the City of Boston awards millions of dollars in contracts for services each year that result in the creation or maintenance of a wide variety of employment opportunities; and … these contracts are paid for by taxpayer dollars and-should be used to promote the sustenance and creation of jobs that will increase consumer income, decrease levels of poverty, invigorate neighborhood businesses and reduce the need for taxpayer-funded programs in other areas; … living wages can be good for businesses: If employers raised wages they would benefit from lower turnover and increased productivity. “ Covert[6] furthers how a living wage would help the economy: “Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016 would increases wages by $35 billion, and the resulting increase in consumer spending would mean a GDP boost of $22.1 billion, which would support about 85,000 new jobs, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. …” And, implementing a living wage means that we can preserve social security and ensure that it doesn’t go away. Burton ‘14[7]: “Current projections about the future of the Social Security trust fund are made with certain assumptions in mind, such as economic growth, job growth and wage growth (or lack thereof). If we increase wages for millions of low-wage workers making less than $10 an hour, that will mean more revenue for the Social Security system, and likely a rosier financial picture for its future. Yes, it also will mean higher future payments to those workers. But we have seen that economic booms and downturns always affect Social Security's solvency. More jobs and more revenue will … help shore up the system, …” And, this works both ways. Living wage increases worker productivity, which helps businesses prosper. Brenner[8]: “the higher wages associated with living wage laws are also likely to have a salutary effect on employee performance. In the latter case, the benefits of higher wages have several sources. For example, … paying higher wages is likely to increase the individual effort and motivation of those workers receiving raises. These higher wages are also likely to reduce other less appreciated labor costs, such as turnover and absenteeism. While their precise costs are difficult to quantify, the evidence is clear that living wage laws can dramatically effect on both turnover and absenteeism. …” Second, implementing a living wage solves for poverty. Without a living wage, poor workers are caught in a deadly catch-22: too little money to support themselves, but too much money to qualify for government aid. It becomes impossible for them to escape the cycle. Living wage solves this. Lipp[9]: “The working poor consist of people whose “full-time, year-round earnings are so meager that despite their best efforts they can’t afford decent housing, diets, health care or child care.” They illustrate the inability that many wageworkers face trying to support themselves … without … assistance, … The problems facing the working poor remain … removed from … their nonworking counterparts, as full-time minimum wage earners often make too much money to qualify for government assistance.” This is mathematically true for many minimum wage workers: they physically can’t meet their needs on a minimum wage job alone. Wilson[10] “Today, a parent working full-time at minimum wage will simply not earn enough income to cover basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter. Even working a second job and well over 40-hours a week, it's mathematically impossible for many minimum wage workers to pay for childcare, clothing, and gas. …” And, solving for poverty is key. Poverty directly correlates with higher HIV and other deadly illness infection rates. Varela[11]: “the maps of poverty in the United States—where officially 14.5 percent of the population is poor and another 5 percent are nearly poor—overlay quite seamlessly onto the maps of HIV. That should come as no surprise to anyone who studies or treats chronic conditions, most of which—diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, etc.—correlate with poverty.” This is even more key since HIV claimed the lives of almost 14 thousand people in 2011[12] and has killed more than 640,000 people in the United States alone. On a global scale, 1.5 million people died in 2013 alone[13], and AIDs has claimed the lives of 39 million people since it’s discovery. This makes the reduction of poverty via implementing a living way a key way to fighting the spread of deadly diseases such as AIDs. [1] [Unification Thought Institute. The Essentials of Unification Thought. 2007. Pp 179-180.] [2] David Papineau, “Naturalism,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007. [3] Geoffrey, “Mill's "Proof" of the Principle of Utility: A More than Half-Hearted Defense.” UNC/Chapel Hill: Social Philosophy & Policy, vol. 18, no. 2; Spring 2001, p. 330-360. [4] Cummiskey, David. Kantian Consequentialism. Published by Oxford University Press. 1996. (p.142). [5] Stephanie Luce, Economist and Contributor to the Living Wolf Project, January 25, 2011, Living Wage Ordinances, p. 2 [6] Bryce Covert, Economic Policy Editor for ThinkProgress, December 19, 2013, “Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 would Boost Growth by $22 Billion,” ThinkProgress.org, http://thinkprogress.org... (accessed 7/20/2014) [7] Wayne Burton, Professor Emeritus of political science at West Chester University, May 25, 2014, "Hike in Minimum Wage Could Benefit Senior Citizens," Lancaster Online, http://lancasteronline.com... (accessed 7/7/14) [8] Mark Brenner, Assistant Research Professor at Political Economy Research Institute University of Massachusetts, July 2003, The Economic Impact of Living Wage Ordinances, p. 26-27 [9] Marybeth Lipp, USC Law School, 2002, Legislators' Obligation to Support a Living Wage: A Comparative Constitutional Vision of Justice, p. 480-481. [10] Frederica Wilson, U.S. Congresswoman from Florida's 24th District, October 30, 2013, “Raising the Minimum Wage: Good Ethics and Good Economics,” Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com..., Accessed 12-5-2014 [11] Alejandro Varela, teaches public health advocacy and policy to graduate students at Long Island University, December 7, 2014, “The Best Way to Beat AIDS Isn't Drug Treatment. It's a Living Wage,” The New Republic, http://www.newrepublic.com... cuomos-truvada-hivaids-plan-should-include-living-wage-too, Accessed 12-9-2014 [12] https://www.aids.gov... [13] http://www.amfar.org...