The elite’s excuse for opposing a living wage

Don’t you love hearing the rich say the working poor can’t have more pay? The faux concern that higher wages cost jobs from the same people who support huge executive pay packets and tax cuts? If you really believed higher wages meant fewer jobs, you would cut the CEO’s pay in half, not dick around over a few dollars an hour for real workers.

Of course, the truth is more money in working people’s hands means more demand for the basics, meaning more jobs. It’s well-established empirical fact. Anyone who argues otherwise is just using a false justification that masks their real – much less altruistic reasons – for wanting the poor to stay poor.

Well, let’s test them. How about this – the 44 top paid CEOs in the country get over $62 million between them. Halve that and you’ve got enough for over 800 living wage jobs. What do you reckon, righties? If you really honestly believe higher wages leads to unemployment, you’ll join with me in calling on those CEOs to take 50% less of the ungodly amounts they’re paid and put 800 Kiwis into work with the savings.

No? Don’t support that? Just want to sanctimoniously tell the working poor they mustn’t have more pay and give bullshit excuses about job losses when what you’re really worried about is making sure the labour cost in your retail goods and restaurant bills doesn’t go up, and, of course, in maintaining the gap between you as the wealthy elite and the poor?

Because, really, what’s the point in being rich if there’s no poor to look down your nose at?

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