You have no concept of the working poor (the new middle class). You don't even try to relate.
I'll put in perspective for you: When you have to work 2-3 jobs making $7/hour just to make ends meet, you do not have a choices. 75% of your time is taken up either at work, getting ready for work or commuting to work. There's no learning a new trade. 85% of your income is taken up by rent + food.
The executives you are referring to are of the same economic class that was OK with child labor, unsafe working conditions, the 7-day workweek, et cetera, until the unions started cracking down on what the government should have been doing. Make no mistake: We are going down that road again.
What century are you talking about? You think the owners of businesses want to exploit children? When I was a 10 years I was paid a penny a minute to do yard work. I didn't think I was being exploited. It was the only job I could get at the time until I was old enough to get a paper route (damn child labor laws). And I was happy to have that job since my only other alternative was nothing. That's life.
Getting what you get because those are the only choices available is what life is. Nobody, or very few, get exactly what they want. They always want more for less. I buy a Ford because I can't afford a Porche. If someone is still getting minimum wage after six months to a year on the job there is either something wrong with him or he should get another job. Virtually all fast food restaurants start at over the minimum and give raises as time and skill level goes up. Some even get promoted to higher positions. No one works for years in the same job at minimum wage.
Sure, some people have to work several jobs to make ends meet. I was one of them. I worked three jobs seven days a week but during that time I also got an education. It took me nearly eight years to get a college degree. Sure it was a lot harder than for someone who came from a rich family and had his way financed for him. It's unfair that someone else was born with better opportunities than I was. It's one of the things I hate about this world. How unfair it is. But that's how it is. Would it be more "fair" to force someone to pay what you think they should get to make a good living? How much should that be? Can you really make a good living making $15.00 an hour? How about $20/hr? In fact, why don't we start everybody at $50 grand a year. They won't be rich but I think you can living comfortably on that. And what effect will that have on the economy and business?
Again, it's very easy to be generous with other people's money and tell them how much you have determined that they can afford.
