Mo Money

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I recall seeing the paperwork which determined my first paycheck. Dad literally sat down with Mom, reviewed the week and assigned a dollar figure to each day to each person. Some made more, some made less.

Me, I was at the bottom of the heap which annoyed me immensely. Never mind that I was 10 or so years old and working alongside people in the late teens and 20s and older.

Think about the way the pay was determined.

A employee's pay is based on whatever the employer feels the employee deserves.

Would you work for that kinda pay?

If you have a job, you do work for that kind of pay, most likely. The exceptions are minimum wage jobs. If you make more than minimum wage, you make what your employer thinks you deserve.

But would you work on a sliding scale, like I did. Would you work where your pay varied each day based on what the employer wanted to pay you?

At the time that kind of pay for farm labor was legal. I don't know about today.

People of Wal-Mart.

Would you work on a "pay by the piece" rate? In other words, you get paid based exactly on the amount of useful work you produce. Performance-based pay.

Many many many people do, not just on the farm.

Would you work for a flat amount of pay? You get the same amount of pay regardless of how much or how little you work. You get the same pay regardless of the quality or quantity of your work.

Many people do.

How about work by the hour? You get paid for the hours you are at work, regardless of the amount or quality of the work you produce.

Many people do.

Do you?

Which is the most fair form of compensation?

Before you answer that question, answer this one - if you got paid based directly on the amount of useful work you provide, is your present pay about right, too high or too low?

While you chew on that, consider the minimum wage. A lot of people (I am among them) say the federal minimum wage is not a living wage. It never WILL be a living wage as long as government is involved.

Can't be. Which I explain in a moment.

I am also opposed to the minimum wage. I object to government telling employers what they have to pay employees.

How many people support the idea of raising the minimum wage? How about raising it to $10 a hour? $15 an hour? Egad! What about $20 an hour?

Now what about the effects of this hike.

First, who would it really help?

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/03/144594861/raising-the-minimum-wage-who-does-it-help?sc=fb&cc=fp

A hike in the min wage will also result in a near immediate price hike for volatile and short-shelf-life commodities.

If the grocery store has to pay a stocking clerk more money, the grocery store is going to raise prices to cover that new expense. Same with everything else where minimum wage is involved.

If you like the idea of a $20 an hour minimum wage, do you also like the idea of a loaf of bread costing $15? That's what will happen.

Performance-based pay will do it.

Further, as the min wage goes up, salary creep will adjust higher pay levels as well. This'll be translated as higher prices down the supply chain for eventual consumers.

You may say that won't happen. It just means corporations will make less profit.

When you get done living in a fantasy land and return to this thing I call reality, we'll talk more. For those already living in reality, we know corporations will raise their prices to their customers and keep profit levels where they are.

But I am not certain abolishing the min wage "help" people as Ron Paul suggests. http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/09/ron-paul-abolish-minimum-wage-to-help-poor-people/

Me? I'm in favor of performance-based pay. You get paid based on the quality and quantity of your work. Want more money? Work harder and smarter.

What should the pay rate be? Whatever the open market decides it is worth. If that happens, we'll start seeing some fundamental shifts in priorities.

You don't have to believe me. But I ask you, which is more important to you: having cable TV or having your garbage collected and disposed of on a regular basis?