Propaganda Debunking Group - Hamburgers and the Minimum Wage

[Algernon Moncrieff]

Omaha Steve posted this in 2015. It continues to make the rounds:

For those fast food employees striking for $15 an hour, let's do some math.

At $15 an hour Johnny Fry-Boy working 40 hours per week would make $30,000
annually.

An E1 (Private) in the military makes $18,378 annually.

An E5 (Sergeant) with 8 years of service only makes $35,067 annually.

So you're telling me, Sally McBurgerflipper, that you deserve as much as
those kids getting shot at, deploying for months in hostile environments,
and putting themselves on the line every day protecting your unskilled
butt!?

Here's the deal Sweetheart Baconator, you are working in a job designed for
a kid in high school who is actually supposed to be learning how to work and
earning enough for gas, movies , and hanging out with their equally goofy
high school pals. If you have chosen this as your life long profession, you
have failed.

If you don't want minimum wage, don't have minimum skills!

If you can read this, thank a teacher.

If it's in English, thank a Veteran.

A somewhat more racist variant

Low military pay was not mentioned in the State Of The Union speech. However, increasing the minimum wage was for those fast food employees striking for $15 an hour. Let's do some math: At $15 an hour Johnny Fry-Boy would make $31,200 annually.

An E1 (Private) in the military makes $18,378. An E5 (Sergeant) with 8 years of service only makes $35,067 annually.

So you're telling me, LaTisha McBurger flipper, that you deserve as much as those kids getting shot at, deploying for months in hostile environments, and putting their collective asses on the line every day protecting your unskilled butt!?

Here's the deal, Baconator, you are working in a job designed for a kid in high school who is learning how to work and earning enough for gas, and hanging out with their equally goofy high school pals. If you have chosen this as your life long profession, you have failed. If you don't want minimum wage, don't have minimum skills.

My Two Cents worth, just saying......

The best rebuttal I've seen is here at MyRightWingDad

This is highly misleading.

It is true that an E-1 base pay is relatively low. However they also receive housing and food, either directly or through a tax free allowance called BAH and BAS. BAH varies by region with the cost of housing. In San Diego, an expensive market that has a high military presence, an unmarried E-1 Marine fresh out of boot camp will receive at BAH of $1713 per month, tax free, plus about $350 a month for food, tax free. That's an additional $25000 a year, tax free, and it goes up every year and every promotion. So the real "pay" for our hypothetical E-1 is closer to $43000 a year, with more than half of that exempt from taxation.

There are other benefits too: full medical and dental, tax free shopping, GI bill for college, etc.

Maybe this is not enough to pay our men and women in uniform. If you think so, ask yourself why it's so low? Answer: because their compensation package must compete with other opportunities, including minimum wage jobs. A low minimum wage means you can pay recruits less (not to mention other private sector workers). Raise the former and the latter will have to rise to be competitive.

There's also a sad (and cliche) helping of class on class warfare in this post, the same attitude that allows things like slavery and Jim Crow to exist. Too many people are happy to get shafted so long as they have someone else they can look down on.

[k8conant]

1. That rebuttal is exactly what I would say...

[daleanime]

2. Hell yes....

[SheilaT]

3. I have often heard complaints about the low pay in the military,

without the complainer ever noticing that generally those in the military are getting free room and board, which is actually worth quite a lot.

It's also sad and depressing to what extent so many of those who oppose any raise in the minimum wage don't seem to think that all workers should earn a decent wage.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

4. I think our soldiers, sailors, and Marines earn every buck they make

...but just taking the base pay they get -- as you very correctly point out -- does not tell the entire story. I've seen similar responses comparing the salaries of police and EMTs to $15/ hour wages for a fast food worker.

There is a world view that goes like this: if you are older than college age, and working for minimum wage, you are a loser. You are a loser because you made bad life choices -- like majoring in philosophy, developing a substance abuse problem, or not becoming a hedge fund manager. The holders of this world view want the losers of the world to be punished for their life choices, and to hold them up as figures of ridicule. Of course, when the moneyed (read "winners&quot make horrific life choices -- like getting caught in adultery, developing a substance abuse problem, or temporarily losing their hearing due to Oxycontin abuse it's OK -- because they have money.

[SheilaT]

5. Good point.

And that world view does not take into account to what extent people's life circumstances may change, and may put them where they can only get a minimum wage job.

I was a stay at home mom for twenty-five years, then my marriage came to an end. I needed to find employment, and I could essentially only make minimum wage. This is NOT a feel-sorry-for-SheilaT story, just an example of how that can happen. I am no where near as badly off as many people, and for me a minimum wage job was a huge help.

I can say that for many years now I've been telling young people that it is perfectly all right to major in what they love, even if it is philosophy or anthropology, just don't lose sight of the fact that you need to make a living once you graduate college. My younger son is a good example. He graduated, cum laude I must brag, from the University of Tulsa, a pretty decent school, with a psychology degree, and in only four years. He earns his living delivering pizza. And those first four words are the most important ones. He really likes doing pizza delivery. He has reasonable control over his time leaving him free to do things that matter to him, such as play Ultimate Frisbee. And he doesn't ask either of his parents for money, because he knows we'd tell him to get a better job. The important things are that he's self-sufficient and he's happy with what he's doing. Can hardly ask for more than that. So what if he'll never be as wealthy as a hedge fund manager or a neurosurgeon?

Too many people stay in jobs they hate, that are destroying their souls, because they can't think of an alternative. Our system tends to trap people, and it's a genuine shame.