Gauging the impacts of California’s $15 base pay
March 29, 2016 |
| 2 min read
The California government has made a useless gesture in their ostensible compassion on the poor and working class. No individual can pay California rents, utilities, food prices, clothing prices, basic healthcare prices, and education on $15 per hour. No one can pay for these on $20 per hour.
This recent move, which won’t even be implemented completely until 2022 (and how many poor will suffer during the meantime?) will only lead to more poverty and desperation. Why?
The wealthy, who own the properties that people are forced to rent will raise their rents according to the demand. When there are more people making more money, the demand for goods and services goes up, as people are able to afford a better apartment, or even an apartment that they couldn’t afford on a lower wage. Capitalism in a free market economic system allows property owners to charge rents according to the demand.
The only solution is to give free basic housing (in this example) to all equally; and legislate (create a law) safeguards that limit inflation (the amount property owners can raise their rents) to 1.5% annum (see our proposed Constitution, Article I: Section 9, c.). Some might argue that property owners will not want to participate in a government program to provide free rent to people because they want the freedom to charge whatever they can get for rents. Not a valid argument. Because there will always be property owners who make plenty of money off the rents they fairly charge; and if the government guarantees payment, an owner would much rather have the guarantee. Also, if property owners don’t want to participate in a government mandated program that limits their greed to 1.5% annum, then there are plenty of other property owners who would gladly accept the contract.
Why is it fair and the right thing to do to provide free basic necessities of life to all people? Because the world has changed. People are now FORCED to work (this is called slavery); whereas many years ago, a person was able to travel throughout the earth and provide for oneself from the natural abundance of Earth’s resources, which no one, at that time, owned. The earth and its resources are now owned by less than 1% of the world’s population. Everyone else must rent from them and pay them for the earth’s resources to survive. This is not fair. This is not equal. This must change or people will continue to rebel and fight this inequality with violence. Do you blame them?
THumP® has the solutions.
