Is there even a question as to how America's economy became so skewed or lopsided in favor of the wealthy?
All one need do is consider the lies that have become so ubiquitous in the United States when it comes to who's at fault for any economic downturn... Hint: It's never those who control said economy. It teachers or firefighters or something other underpaid, overworked unelected public servant. Hell, sometimes it's even been the police... Under the wealthy need them to put down some protest like Occupy Wall Street. I distinctly recall that before five (5) million dollars was donated to pay police to pepper spray peaceful protesters in Zuccotti Park, the news was demonizing them as a drag on the economy. I won't ask if you remember that because people can't even seem to remember that no one wins in nuclear war today.
Getting back to the point of this post, let's consider my favorite falsehood and what it entails or, more accurately would entail for Society, if it were true.
For decades now we have been told the following:
"If you raise the minimum wage, prices will go up."
On its face, this argument sounds reasonable. If people get paid more, the cost(s) of the goods and services they provide could increase to offset the expense incurred by the company supplying those goods and services. This argument, however, falls flat on it's face when you look at the reality history provides as refutation.
For at least forty years now, wages have remained fairly stagnant... Hell, it took a pandemic to do what none of our leaders in Washington D.C. could. Just visit any Taco Bell, McDonald's or plenty of the other retailers who are now offering almost double the wages dictated by law. Micky D's is offering $14/hr for starting employees willing to work the closing shift. What were the offering before COVID? Eight or nine bucks an hour? So, for me, the following question needs to be posted in response to anyone making the claim above.
"If increasing the minimum wage is the catalyst for rising prices. How then do you explain the rising pricesb that have occurred for the past forty years? I only ask because in the past four decades in which wages have remained relatively flat, prices have risen substantially."
And, as a follow up, I would query...
"Also, why would any American be so reluctant to pay a few cents more for their happy meal, so the person making said happy meal could make a living wage? So that same happy meal maker could afford their own happy meal... At a restaurant of their own choosing?"
Happy meals don't sound very happy when only one entity in that transaction benefits... And, I'm not even talking about the customer.
There is somehow an aire of irony in the FACT that it took COVID-19, a virus that takes lives to provide the better life that neither Democratic nor Republican leaders seemed capable of providing.... 2024: COVID-19 for President!
In this series of articles "Lies presented as facts", I will present arguments against the official narrative. Though some may be anecdotal, the reader is welcomed and encouraged to compare the claims, assertions or accusations made by main stream media to reality. Consumers of news stories should compare and contrast their own lives and the lives of those around them to what is presented in TV. It's really quite easy to tease out the truth when you look at your shrinking wallet and either freedoms. Like my book "Solutions: Enough complaining. Let's Fix America", these articles will only provide a starting point for the reader. Both only seek to inspire everyone to start their own journey to the truth.
Some people will be skeptical of the things I say in my book and in these articles, but that's the point. No one should take what I say in faith but with a grain of salt just as no one should take what CNN, FOX or MSNBC say without several grains of salt. Each individual should compare and contrast everything they hear or read with whatever the see in the real world. They should then look for sources that more accurately reflect their reality.
One other thing I would like to do within this series of articles is add to the Regaining American Democracy (RAD) dictionary, a lexicon of serious and not so serious words and phrases as defined by me.
Today's phrase basically describes the way I would describe myself these days:
Optimistic-Pessimist: One who knows Humanity can make the world a better place, but doubts it will.
