Dr. Michael Omidi is the co-founder of No More Poverty, as well as several other charities. Today he discusses why the proposed $15 federal minimum wage increase is a good idea, but it may be too little too late.
Income inequality is one of the biggest issues in American politics today, and has been for at least the past 5 years. Going all the way back to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Americans have broadcast loud and clear that they want a larger share of the pie.
But how do you make that happen? Can the government really tell a business owner how much to pay his or her employees? And how does that factor into our idea of freedom, one of the most important American values.
Inequality skyrocketed between 2009 and 2014, beginning with the financial crisis of 2008. As the economy recovered, it didn’t recover to the same degree for everybody. The wealthiest 10 percent of earners saw their income increase $41,300 per family. The rest of us? Only $533.
This has people upset, and rightly so.
You’ve probably heard about the growing movement to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. There were numerous strikes and demonstrations around the country, mostly by fast food workers, who demanded an increase in wages.
In June, Los Angeles became the largest city in America to guarantee workers at least $15 dollars an hour. The state is set to raise the minimum wage to $10.
The question that a recent New York Times article begs is whether $15 is even enough to begin with. They say it will take considerably more.
The catchphrase these days is income inequality, but for incomes to be equal, $15 won’t cut it. It would have to be at least twice as much to make up for the $41,000 in inequality we’ve stacked on in the last 6 years.
At No More Poverty, we’re committed to the fight for income equality and human dignity. These are American values. We hope you’ll support us in this fight.
Be well,
Michael Omidi
Michael Omidi is co-founder of No More Poverty, an organization that seeks to end poverty in the United States and around the world. Look how we write essay writing essays here – buy essay, welcome. Also we write essay writer essays here.
