A Livable Wage

No quote today, either. I cannot find one that adequately states the way I feel about the state of the economy, and the betrayal of the people regarding a minimum wage.
When I began my career as a carpenter, I did so out of a need to pay the rent, and find some extra money for college. As I had no experience as a carpenter, I was paid the minimum wage of the day, 1.75 per hour. Sure doesn't seem like much now, does it? It didn't seem like much then, either, but I was able to save money at that wage. Of course, everything cost much less then- bread was 15 cents a loaf, gas was 20 cents a gallon, cigarettes were 35 cents a pack, even a new truck, right off of the lot, was 2,000 dollars.
Now, fast forward into the future thirty five years-bread is 1.50 a loaf, gas is 2.50 to 3.00 a gallon, cigarettes are 3.50 a pack, and trucks are at least 20,000 dollars if you want one brand new, and in some cases even more. Yet the minimum wage, which if adjusted for the inflation of other goods would be 17.50, is instead at 5.65 per hour. And economists everywhere ask why people cannot save money. I'll tell you why- the federal government, both parties, and both houses, have conspired for years to keep the wages down. They say it is to stay competitive with the rest of the world, but that is flat out bullshit. It would, on the face of it, seem to be their way of dragging us down to the level of the rest of the world, and I think that if this is true, all these politicians should be bitch slapped all the way down Constitution Avenue.
This is just a way for the businesses to have a larger share. These businesses can say all they wish about the rising cost of doing business, but the percentage of their costs was the same in 1970, so I would like to know how they made it then, and can't make it now, if the wages were adjusted fairly to allow for the rise in inflation, which is about 3.3 percent annually.
This is the overriding reason that the illegal horde is allowed to enter so freely- if they will take these jobs cheaper, then there is more money for the CEOs- God forbid they actually pass that surplus on to their stockholders, as they should ( adn they are richly rewarded for their thievery ), but the average working man doesn't really see this money, as he has been " locally outsourced."
I know many people will say, hey, these minimum wage jobs are not meant to be anything but " entry" jobs, and as such, they shouldn't pay as well. Perhaps, but what most economists lose sight of is the fact that ALL other jobs, one way or another, use the minimum wage as a baseline from which they determine the worth of all other jobs. So, if the wage is 5.65, and you are making 20.00 per hour, you feel pretty good. If the wage is 17.50, and you are making 20.00 per hour, you do not feel as if you are advancing as fast or far as you might otherwise. Especially if you have spent 35 years becoming a premier carpenter, and you are told, that your wages would buy the services of two Mexicans. That hurts.
Now I know that my days as a carpenter are numbered, i am getting older, and I have the reminders of accidents on the job that slow me down but I still have knowlege that I use to my advantage, something immigrants won't get for awhile, if they stay in carpentry.
I use my experience as an example, but this is true throughout the whole economy, and the sooner the people wake up to this the better, or we will be down to the level of Mexico, or Bangla Desh, an abhorrent prospect, as we as a people, have spent years trying to get ahead oonly to slip further and further behind, thanks to our Government.
Don't you just love politics in action?