"low skill" work is a myth. All work entails effort and skill. All work is respectable and necessary or why bother. All full time work should also be compensated with living wage and benefits package.
Even if everyone goes to college and betters themselves someone will always need to take out the trash and deliver the pizzas. Someone will always have to sweep the streets and wash the sheets. To say that they do not deserve to be able to pay their bills and buy food and that they deserve to be poor says more about you then it does about them. If this economic system can’t, of its own accord, pay a living wage to janitors, restaurant workers, cleaning staff at hotels and garbage collectors and store clerks; in essence a large segment of the working population, then as a system has failed.
It is quite telling that a few months back the stock market plunged on news that wages were rising. We have to stop measuring the health the economy by how well rich people are doing, that is misleading. we need to start measuring the economy by how well the least among us manage to get along.
A truly strong economy can carry the labor force even the bottom of the labor force. A weak economy is that one that cannot actually carry the janitors and labors. If it can’t actually afford to pay for them then it is a very weak economy on the verge of collapse. And that is because it can’t sustain itself if it can’t afford the labor that it relies on for its very survival.
The question of what any given job "should" make is a very interesting one, both on the low end and on the high end. What "should" investment banking make? The answer to that question evolves over time (especially with investment banking). The point I would make is that any answer is really just the product of social/cultural values. There is no "real" answer in any truly objective sense. Now there is an ideology of market capitalism that likes to pretend that there is an "invisible hand" that is as objective as the laws of gravity that set's wages and profits where they "should" be. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that the ideology of free-market capitalism is about as objective as the "mandate of heaven"; more often than not it is just a post hoc rationalization of a power grab.
Low skill is NOT a myth. where do you guys come up with this shyt?
All work may entail effort and skill but not all effort and skill is equal. Also, don't confuse effort and skill with being respectable. that is a different argument and one I would agree with you on. just because you may work in a lower skilled job than the next person doesn't make it any less respectable. That is one of the problems with our society is that ppl think that their job somehow provides them with greater respect and/or "status" over the next person.
which is one of the reasons I have many arguments with ppl that think University is the be all/end all of life, and shyt on trade schools or labourers.
however, your worth to the company is only so much that you can provide. If you provide enough "effort" and "skill" to increase your worth then you should be paid more, because you bring back more to the company.
Someone working the counter at mcdonalds doesn't' provide enough return that they should be making the same amount of money as someone that manages that same restaurant, thus they should NOT be making the same money.
also, I think a big talking point when it comes to a "living wage" is what is determined by living wage?
to me a living wage ensures that you, as a single adult, have a roof over your head and food on the table.
basic utilities are paid and you are safe from the elements and the basics are met.
it doesn't mean that you can afford a new car, a new 70" TV, a new iPhone every year, or even a smart phone plan.
Also, if you have kids then that is on you as well. If you CHOOSE to have kids while working that same minimum wage job then YOU have to make the change in your life. if YOU choose to sleep with someone that is a dead beat then that was YOUR CHOICE. no employer, or anyone else should be held responsible for your choices, or your "wants".
This thread is about the wonders and intricacies of socialism... why should astronauts/doctors make more than people who pick strawberries/pump gas? shyt makes no sense... 
Stay on topic!
#socialism
accidentally come up with good ideas, brehs
this would solve the problem of income inequality, by definition
no one would live in squalor, and Jeff Bezos wouldn't have to look to space for places to put his money
