Coming to the realization that almost everything I've been taught is a lie hasn't been very easy. My spirit has been agonized and grieved, and I have had many sleepless nights trying to figure out what I can do to help redeem civilization from its destructive ideologies. It wasn't easy arriving at this point. When prevailing orthodoxy is so different from what I believe, I almost feel quarantined from the world. In other words: It isn't easy being right when everybody else is wrong. Forgive me for my hubris, but I think I am finally entitled to some.
Many people believe that the government can - by fiat - raise wages. The government can no more raise wages through minimum wage laws than it can create prosperity by outlawing poverty. Real wages can only be increased through increased productivity. Creating a minimum wage does nothing to create a job. By creating a minimum wage, many productive jobs are eliminated. The effect is to create idleness, which reduces real wages.
Many people - both for and against minimum wage laws - construct their arguments based upon the fallacy that raising the minimum wage will be inconsequential, since most people get paid over minimum wage. Proponents of minimum wage laws believe government interference with the market isn't injurious, resulting in the belief that minimum wage is inconsequential - save to make everybody more prosperous. Many opponents argue that the minimum wage need not be increased, because they believe it to be entirely inconsequential. This is a myopic view, which only sees what exists, but not that which doesn't exist thanks to minimum wage.
It is state power that the wealthy elites use to manipulate the market on their behalf. Minimum wage is a good example of a fascist regulation which benefits the wealthy elites. Minimum wage ensures that only the very wealthy can become employers. How is one who gets $10 per hour to hire somebody for more than half of their own wage? These are the jobs that don't exist, which make up the hidden costs that can't be calculated. It may be true that by the time the government gets done regulating the economy, those who are still left with jobs may have higher nominal wages. However, due to the people who are now without productive jobs, real wages will be much lower.
A good way to illustrate how minimum wage laws help the wealthy elites control the poor is to look at political campaigns. Many politicians rely upon volunteer labor for their campaigns. Suppose politicians learned how to do proper math, and realized that volunteer workers get paid less than minimum wage. And then, seeing that paradox, those politicians decided to close up the "volunteer work loophole." What would this do to the poorer candidates who couldn't afford to pay all of their campaign volunteers? Who would be left to run for office then?
Seriously. Tell me if my math is wrong here, but don't people get paid less than minimum wage when they do volunteer work? Isn't zero less than minimum wage? If there should be a minimum wage, then shouldn't volunteer work be criminalized? Is there not at least a slight paradox here? It seems to me that being in favor of a minimum wage and volunteerism at the same time is schizophrenic. Yet, it isn't unusual to see politicians seek the help of campaign volunteers while at the same time advocating an increase in the minimum wage.
I could also make the argument that all forms of charity should be abolished. What is the objective difference between working for less than minimum wage, or giving away so much of your wages that you end up with less than minimum wage? There is nothing to prevent people from giving away their wages. If we are to take central planning to its own logical conclusion, then there should be laws to determine how much of your wages you are allowed to donate to charity.
And you thought those immigrants were "driving down wages" with cheap labor. What about the cheaper-than-dirt, free labor provided by volunteer workers? You now have to compete against people who are willing to work for free. The "evil" of volunteerism surpasses that of the immigrants. If only volunteers would get their heads together and stop working for free, unionize, and demand some pay. Come to think of it, home-cooked meals must be doing all sorts of "damage" to culinary workers. Maybe we should outlaw homemade meals.
Sadly, while what I am saying is self-evidently true, I find that minimum wage proponents like to play stupid when I explain the minimum wage/volunteerism paradox. They lose their ability to engage in abstract thinking, by repeating the truism that volunteer work is volunteer work, but the job you get paid for isn't. That is my entire point. It is as if they suddently forgot that no pay is less than some pay. Fine. Don't get rid of minimum wage laws. However, for the sake of logical consistency, I make this modest proposal: Ban volunteer work.
Mark served honorably for four years on active duty in the Marine Corps infantry, and was a Libertarian endorsed candidate for a municipal office in 2002. He has held the NFA Series 3 license (commodity futures and futures options broker) which he did a voluntary withdrawal on so that he can trade futures for his personal account. Since the year 2000, he has spent much of his free time reading the great minds of the Austrian School of economics, such as Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, Ludwig von Mises, et al.
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Mark served honorably for four years on active duty in the Marine Corps infantry, and was a Libertarian endorsed candidate for a municipal office in 2002. He has held the NFA Series 3 license (commodity futures and futures options broker) which he did a voluntary withdrawal on so that he can trade futures for his personal account. Since the year 2000, he has spent much of his free time reading the great minds of the Austrian School of economics, such as Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, Ludwig von Mises, et al.