billy g Wrote:
Borg166 Wrote:
I think that we could do a lot for the poor by developing some kind of employee bill of rights, or providing a living wage and universal health care now before things get even worse. The reason I say this is because take home pay is at the lowest percentage of GDP since the late 20s and there has been an ongoing decline in median family income. Maybe we wouldn't need so much welfare if people were actually paid enough to survive.
The top CEOs of giant corporations today are making 415 times the entry wage in their own company. In 1940 it was 12, in 1980 it was 40, and now it is 415. I mean, what the fuck? And to top it off, the rich are getting their taxes lowered even more under the current administration which means even less money for welfare programs. Talk about the majority being screwed.
This is kind of silly. Increasing the price of entry level, low-skilled workers is going to make corporations hire more of 'em or even keep more of them around? Is there anything you buy more of when its price goes up absent some improvement in quality to justify the price increase?
As far as the differential in wages goes, who's to say its not justified. Look at the differential in baseball salaries for instance. The minimum salary for a single A minor leaguer is $850/month. The average major league salary is $2.6 MM. I'd argue that the difference between Bill Gates and the guy who scrubs Microsoft's toliets is much greater than the difference between a minor leaguer and A-Rod. On top of that, a much larger % of a CEO's compensation is based on company performance.
np: Magnet Magazine Sampler #34
1st, using baseball salaries as justification of reasonable salaries is getting a bit out there. You're not helping your arguement there.
2nd, the two issues, CEO pay and decent wages, are related. A 20 million CEO package could hire plenty of additional workers. It's not that large companies can't afford to hire more workers. They're just going to keep making bigger profits and keeping the money upstairs rather than inversting it back into workers because they frankly don't give a shit about the average American worker. They care about profit and their own fat wallets.
And, yes this marks a change in corporate culture. It's only been in the last few decades where you see headlines the likes of profits at an all-time high...thousands more to get the axe.
It's bullshit, and then the rich fuckers have the nerve to accept corporate welfare and tax breaks due to their "service to society" as they complain about giving food stamps to the un or under employed mother of five kids living in a shack in the ghetto.
Fuck 'em.
Eat the rich.