[extropy-chat] Re: Minimum wages laws

[Rik van Riel]

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005, David Masten wrote:
> On Sun, 2005-11-20 at 20:36 -0800, The Avantguardian wrote:
> > In comparison, a sub-poverty level worker is also
> > compelled to perform labor, but not for any one
> > specific entity. Instead he is forced to work for
> > anybody willing to pay him what meager wages he can
> > get.
> 
> Which in every case is better than the alternatives - in most countries
> this would be prostitution, begging, or subsistence farming.

On a sub-poverty wage, working is not an alternative to these.
A job is something that needs to be done in addition to some
of the above.

After having lived in Brazil for a few years I do know 
some of the consequences of not paying people a living 
wage.

There are slums filled with factory workers, who are
desperately trying to keep their family alive on $100
to $150 a month.

Thanks to a partially globalized market, the cost of
most goods is comparable to European prices.  However,
importing goods from Brazil into Europe or the US is
very heavily taxed, so it is extremely hard for a
company in Brazil to make money...

This results in families that live in slums, have food
2 out of 3 days and cannot afford to buy school books
for their children.  The only reason the children are
allowed to go to school at all (instead of trying to
make money) is that the government gives them some food 
at school.

-- 
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are,
by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan