OMG, I don't know where this conversation is heading so I'm out - you guys know my opinion.
But one final thought is that growing up I was NOT one of those lucky ones. I remember picking dirt off of our little apartment because my parents couldn't afford a vacuum cleaner. That was how dirt poor I was growing up and I decided that I wasn't ever going to be that way down the road. So my first job was at age 15 making minimum wage, I worked through college, I worked my ass off. And by age 19 I was far past the minimum wage level at a college research position. I did it and I know hundreds of people that have followed suite so come on - I find it very hard to believe that despite the sheer motivation someone would be stuck in a minimum wage position for their entire life. Irvinecommuter do you have minimum wage employees working for you or under you? Have you run into those that are so motivated and yet cannot move beyond that position? I have many working under me (and ones we have fired, and who have gone of disability and ones that have requested workers comp - the list goes on) and MANY that remain in those positions long term are very unmotivated and very entitled.
My husband has teams in India working for him and they are some of the hardest working people - so humble and yet intelligent, hard working, so productive. No wonder corporate America outsources their jobs. They get triple the work done for one tenth of the pay. As a business model it just makes sense to them. Some of his teams in NYC (esp the younger college grads) come out with such an entitled attitude, it's disheartening and impedes their growth within the business.
And on top of that in the tech industry they just cannot find American workers with the adequate skills they need and they find these workers EASILY in countries like India. The jobs are often there but the companies need certain skill sets that are lacking in our work force.
Anyway I agree to disagree with some your points. I do believe we have to increase minimum wage over time. I also do believe there are some very genuine hard working citizens out there that need an increase in pay to keep up and that not everyone is lazy. I mean all of Irvine would not exist if it weren't for the construction folk, the landscapers, the gardners, the house cleaners etc that are at the bottom of that pyramid and yet so vital to our society. But these people are very hard working, 1st generation immigrants and as I talk to them, I see their motivation, their plans to move up in the industry. I refuse to believe that in America people who truly are motivated find it difficult to move beyond that minimum wage position. There is always opportunities - you just have to seek them.
Anyway interesting debate points and obviously a hot topic amongst many here. Good luck with the Taiwan debate ;D
