Steve Shatsky had a great featured post today. It was basically about forcing change by not spending our money with companies that are doing things that we disagree with. I'm all for voting with my dollars. That's what the free market is all about.
It's always easy to protest and complain about some big bad company or some big bad government. But how do we handle it when we are in charge of hiring people? What sort of employment conditions and benefits do we offer?
Unions are always fighting the good fight for better working conditions and better wages. Who doesn't like seeing them sticking it to a big, mean corporation such as Wal Mart? I'm sure that if the unions hired workers, those workers would be paid wages and benefits comparable to what the unions are fighting for. Or would they. Check this video out from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It is classic.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | ||
| Working Stiffed | |||
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Sure, a living wage sounds dandy and great benefits for all would be wonderful. But everything in life is full of compromises. Some seem to think that there is an unlimited supply of money and resourses and life's inequities are due to how the people in power distribute those resources.
But what is stopping you from becoming an employer and paying your employees a nice living wage and an incredible benefits package? Do you have a lawn that needs mowing or a house that needs cleaning? That's a job that you can create. You can then implement all of the things you'd like to see Wal Mart do. Pay your cleaing lady $30/hour. Give her 4 weeks paid vacation. Give her a whole bunch of sick days. Provide a great health benefits package.
Oh, you say that you can't afford it? You only have so much money? Are you maybe being a little greedy about this? So you don't want to pay your cleaning lady $30/hour because you wouldn't have enough to go on vacation or enough to fund your retirement plan. Instead, you want a working family to starve?
I'm sure you think all the government regulations are just dandy so I'm sure you will make sure that your home complies with all of the OSHA requirements. I'm sure you'll make sure your home complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. I'm sure you'll submit all of the tax reports that are required. I'm sure you'll have systems in place so that you don't end up hiring any illegal aliens.
If you are like most, you'll probably think about all of these requirements and decide that it's just not worth hiring that cleaning lady. And there goes another job that isn't created. What a shame.
If you are for a living wage and you are for all of the government regulations protecting the workers and you are for great benefits and vacations benefits and the family leave benefits and all of the other stuff that makes America great, then quit complaining and start creating your own jobs and be the employer you want others to be.
Change starts with you. You have the power to employ and create the jobs. Walk in another man's shoes and maybe then we can really understand the things that are hindering jobs and protest the things that will actually do something about it.
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