Why Low Wages in the U.S. Are "Acceptable"

© Getty Images/iStockphoto

I spend a good deal of time thinking about our American economic system, and how it abuses labor, consumers, and the environment. There has, in my opinion, been an elaborate orchestration of the illusion of wage fairness that has helped pacify what should be an outraged labor force. The entire idea of a “Middle Class” is, in fact, an illusion. Allow me to outline first why a minimum wage that no longer keeps up with the cost of living has endured for so long.

Ways in Which Labor is Encouraged to Augment Low Wages

The corporate world has dictated how the labor force is allowed to make up for low wages. We are led to believe that it is our responsibility to make up the deficit in earning a livable income by....

1. Taking a second job (or third). As fewer and fewer jobs exist with full-time hours, the need to secure a second job is becoming the standard for more and more workers. Even full-time jobs may not pay enough to cover rent, food, utilities, and other necessities, so workers end up taking at least a part-time job to supplement the full-time job.
   
2. Side Hustle. Labor is encouraged to monetize activities that they may otherwise consider hobbies. Platforms like Etsy and e-bay are examples of this, but also blog platforms like Medium, and video outlets like YouTube. These are all still largely corporate marketplaces, and subject to the same problems as other corporate entities. Uber, Lyft, and other transportation services, including delivery of food and merchandise, is another form of the side hustle, and they carry added risks to personal safety. In all cases, such endeavors tend to take the fun out of pursuits that one once found pleasurable.
   
3. Borrowing. This broad category includes credit cards, lines of credit, conventional loans, mortgages, and other forms of lending through banks, plus loans from family and friends. This naturally produces debt that is rarely paid off in a timely fashion, and the borrower actually loses money in the long run thanks to interest, fees, and other attached expenses.
   
4. Lotteries, legalized gambling. National and state lotteries have become commonplace, and there is now widespread legalized sports betting. Most states also have casinos, often on Indigenous reservations or "offshore" on rivers. Once again, odds are stacked against patrons of those enterprises. Enough low-level prize money is made available, with enough regularity, to keep gamblers coming back for more. It can become an addiction that necessitates borrowing again, sometimes from ruthless sources.
   
5. Civil Litigation. Have you noticed how many law firms advertise these days? The implication is that through lawsuits, an individual can recoup what they believe they are already entitled to. It is classic displacement. Your wrath over low wages or salary at your job is taken out on a third party when circumstances such as traffic accidents or malpractice on the part of physicians or hospitals present themselves. Guess who is footing the bill for those prime time television advertisements. The expense and emotional stress of litigation is seldom worth the trial, or even the settlement. It is also an enterprise ripe for corruption itself by unscrupulous attorneys.
   
6. Government Assistance. Low-level employees at many corporations still qualify for government assistance in the form of foodstamps, Medicaid, the Child Care Credit, and related programs. Because there is still a social stigma attached to receiving government benefits prior to retirement age, there is reluctance to avail oneself to those avenues of income.
   
7. Crowdfunding. Social fundraising has become a popular go-to for individuals facing tragedy or trauma, to cover the expenses of medical, veterinary, or repair and reconstruction emergencies. Platforms like Kickstarter can also help someone launch their own business, or creative project, in the hopes of abandoning their dependence on corporate wages over which they have no control. Again, there exists some social stigma over the idea that individuals are self-indulgent and/or "needy."
   
8. Pawning, garage sales. Selling one's existing possessions is a socially-acceptable way of generating money, albeit precious little. The assumption is that you are making a sacrifice, something laudible, and also providing other people with items that they need or desire. Pawning something of sentimental value, on the other hand, like a wedding ring, may signal that you assign little true value to the object, and thus the person or institution it represents.
   
9. Service gigs. What was once the domain of child and teenage money-making opportunities is now being undertaken by people of all ages. Lawn-mowing. Snow shoveling. Running errands. The classic lemonade stand. All are acceptable enterprises because customers are receiving a product or service. The supposition is that you are also teaching your children lessons in economics, either by example, or by encouraging your children to contribute to family income.
   
10. Illegal activities. There are some enterprises that are expressly unlawful, but for which enforcement is lax or applied prejudicially. Selling illicit substances, engaging in prostitution, participating in illegal gambling, and other criminal activity is risky, but potentially highly lucrative. Besides the obvious legal downside, there is extreme risk of physical and emotional abuse. The idea that these pursuits are encouraged would be laughable were it not for the example of decriminalizing marijuana. Can decriminalization of other activities be far behind?

All of the above ways of earning supplemental income are frought with uncertainties, and expenses, if only in terms of taxes. There is frequently great emotional and physical stress involved. Many of these include a social cost where you are subject to incorrect assumptions over your work ethic, morality, or other aspects of your persona. You deserve better.

You are more than your credit score. The normality of borrowing has turned the "Middle Class" into the Debt Class. It is no accident that debt liability is not figured into poverty statistics. If that were so, the veil would finally be lifted and we would see the Emperor indeed has no clothes. Corporations would at last be exposed as the greedy organizations we all know they are, but cannot otherwise prove. Only corporate executives and majority shareholders matter. Capital is not "scarce" as we are told, it is being hoarded. That this is in any way legal is reprehensible.

What is the solution? Until Universal Basic Income and reparations are the order of the day, cancel, as much as humanly possible, your subscription to this corporate economic model. It is, arguably, nearly impossible to do so, but we have to try. The irony that I am writing this post on a platform owned by a monolithic digital tech entity (Google) does not escape me. Still, I buy little beyond food, utilities, communication devices, and fuel. We are fortunate to be privileged by a modest inheritance from my late father that allows us to live debt free for now, but that does not mean we feel safe from financial ruin. More on that in another post.

Privileged Whites

White privilege undeniably drives racism in the U.S., but reverse those two words and you have the root of what cripples us all: Privileged Whites. Are all wealthy Caucasians villains in our society? No, but it is the few who are greediest and most corrupt that have captured power. The solution is to recognize their tools and strategies and then refuse to participate in their games.

One could argue that the concept of privileged Whites could be narrowed further to privileged White men. The fraction of excessively wealthy women who lack empathy for the less fortunate are simply subscribing to the model set forth by their male counterparts. It is an unfortunate perversion of feminism that suggests that if women are to succeed in a male-dominated world, then they must act like men, stripping themselves of compassion in the ruthless pursuit of material wealth.

Misguided Aspirations

The best way to combat the wealth gap, and general divisiveness in America, is to stop aspiring to excessive material affluence. Period. Refuse to compete with others. Meet your needs, live within your means, share with others what you have in goods, services, and experiences. Reject the temptation of credit, loans, and other financial products and services designed to mask the reality that we are a debt class instead of a Middle Class. Stop consuming media that feeds impulsive purchases, erodes your self-esteem, and presents a skewed reality (if not fantasy). You are not a product yourself, so stop treating yourself that way. Stop mindlessly subscribing to the idea that it is your responsibility to fulfill the obligations of others, outside of children, the elderly, and the ill. Periodic indulgences are fine, but you may find yourself in a healthier frame of mind by downsizing the number of products you already own. It is not your responsibility to line the pockets of corporate shareholders and CEOs, but that is largely what you are doing when you patronize purely commercial companies. Shop local. Support local agriculture. Heck, grow your own vegetable garden.

Feeding the Machine

We are constantly bombarded with advertising that reminds us we are unfulfilled, and essentially worthless without [insert product or service here]. Furthermore, we should strive to be more like this celebrity, this athlete, this successful businessman or businesswoman. We should at least dress the part with the latest fashions, beauty treatments, suggested occupations, and other lifestyle upgrades. It is more important to be seen as having substance rather than actually having intangible qualities like empathy, a work ethic, and compassion.

Government regulations at every level discourage self-sufficiency, like replacing your lawn with a vegetable garden, while encouraging dependence on corporate solutions, like lawn care products and services. We claim that "charity begins at home," but the tax code will not give you a deduction for helping a relative unless they live with you. Try going off the grid and see how long it is before you get harassed by local utility interests. We are thwarted at every turn when we seek to take control of our lives in healthy ways, so that the wheels of multinational corporations can keep running us over. No conspiracy theory necessary, just turn on the television and see for yourself.

What We are "Allowed"

While the media defines for us what it means to be successful, we are constantly deprived of avenues for achieving that success. Again, I am speaking of financial success, which is of questionable value in itself, but hear me out. We are not guaranteed a living wage, having to settle for a minimum wage instead, which frequently does not keep up with the cost of living. The Federal Reserve has not made saving money possible for several decades because it refuses to raise interest rates, playing on our fears of inflation. Meanwhile, a lower interest rate encourages borrowing, which plunges us further into personal debt.

What we are allowed to do to make up personal financial deficits is paltry, risky, and unhealthy for ourselves and society. We can take a second or third job, further depriving us of lives outside of work. We can play the lottery, patronize the casino, borrow money, get yet another credit card (see borrowing money), or file lawsuits. Seriously, the proliferation of lawsuits would largely cease if people did not feel that they were already owed something. The lack of a living wage incites feelings of inadequacy that people believe can be quenched through lawsuits. "I am entitled to more, to better!" Indeed they are, but through fair pay for their work, which continues to be undervalued. We are enslaved in an economic sense, insidiously, such that we are cleverly duped. It should be no less intolerable than physical slavery, or the continuing exploitation of Native Americans through "legal" theft every time their casinos make a killing or oil or gas is discovered on their lands. We are owned by corporations, make no mistake about it, but we allow ourselves to be.

Drop Out, Engage, Promote Alternatives

Personally, I all but abstain from the economy. I freelance, which is a punishing way to try and earn a living, but less so than working at a job I disdain, with people I abhor, just to make money. Consequently, I have little to spend. What I earn goes to my monthly share of the groceries, meals out, my cell phone bill (a pay-as-you-go plan), my share of automobile fuel costs, clothing from thrift stores, shoes about every two or three years, and occasional travel. That is about it. I have essentially dropped out of the material world. What has increased is my level of civic and social engagement, both online and in person. It is through social interactions that I learn what about alternative consumer choices other people are making to overcome the obstacles and injustices they face, or that our society faces. This month, one friend is attempting a Plastic-Free January, going out of her way to avoid using plastics, especially disposable versions like cups, drinking straws, and packaging. Our household is on board and looking to be even more critical of how our buying and lifestyle habits affect others and the environment.

We have to demand better, not more. We are entitled to basic standards of living and decency for all before we can look to add luxuries. The very things that do make America great are under assault right now. They include our spirit of helping others, respect for each other, and unity in achieving common goals. We no longer have the luxury, as if we ever have, to discriminate, spew hate speech, and attempt to destroy the lives of others we may disagree with. We lose our sense of community, and we lose everything. Privileged Whites are banking on that.

Scale

Few people agree with me (or want to admit) that capitalism in its present form is the source of most of our economic, environmental, and institutional ills. We want desperately to cling to our belief that the "American Way" is the *right* way, the *best* way, the only way; but we might be wrong. At the very least, we have an escalating problem with the sheer scale of capitalism. It no longer benefits everyone, and that puts at risk something far more sacred than capitalism: democracy.

Let us look at what corporate capitalism has done for us (or to us) lately:

• Reduced consumer choices

The bigger the corporation, the fewer the choices for the consumer. What results from mergers and acquisitions is the illusion of choice. Take television for example. Mergers of various networks insure that we will see the same content distributed over several channels instead of new content on those other channels. Sports are increasingly televised on stations for which the consumer must pay extra as part of a cable or satellite package. This amounts to consumer coercion, whereby formerly free broadcasts are now held in virtual ransom. More disturbingly, news media are being concentrated into fewer and fewer outlets controlled by corporations that filter the news to further their own corporate, political, and economic agendas; or distract us with fear-mongering and celebrity status reports.

• Suppressed technologies

When you have an existing industry firmly entrenched in the status quo of the marketplace, it will exercise all its power to maintain its dominance. Hemp is an example of a raw material that would compete very favorably with cotton, paper, even plastics and some metals. Those existing industries act to suppress the hemp industry through lobbying our government representatives and agencies, and spreading false information to consumers. Hemp is a relative of the marijuana plant, but contains only a fraction of the chemical compound that gives marijuana its pharmaceutical and recreational properties.

Only recently have alternative, sustainable, and clean energy technologies been allowed to blossom. Even these have come under attack because of the scale of those enterprises. Giant windmills kill birds and bats, but all resources for wind energy are directed to those large-scale models. Bird-friendly, small-scale alternatives are ignored.

• Fewer consumer, labor, and environmental protections

Most major corporations on the Wall Street scale honor only their monetary bottom line and increased revenue for shareholders. The consumer, employee, and environment all take a distant back seat to those goals. To that end, lobbyists argue for erosion or outright repeal of existing laws aimed at affording labor, consumer, and ecological protections. "Studies" are rigged or altered or biased to reflect business interests. Conflicting research is suppressed. Recalls of dangerously defective products are postponed. The Clean Air Act is constantly under fire, as well as the Endangered Species Act and other landmark legislation that is arguably among the best ever enacted by *any* government on a national scale.

• Corporate Welfare

The welfare distributed to individuals and households in poverty is nothing compared to the dollars delivered to corporations and industries annually. We pay lip service to, and worship, the "free market" as the God of the economy which, left unfettered by regulation, will allow businesses to flourish; yet we prop up failing industries with subsidies, tax breaks, and bailouts that seem to always be lavished on CEOs and shareholders without even a trickle down to workers and consumers. We protect ailing industries with import restrictions and tariffs. Left to the "free market," those American industries would wither and die. They do anyway, of course, as manufacturing is transferred overseas to cheaper (read "substandard") labor forces.

• Perpetual definition of the "American Dream" as the attainment of material wealth

It can be argued that the accumulation of wealth is in itself a goal not worth pursuing, and at worst a lifestyle that threatens the well-being of others, and even the planet itself. Consumption and economic growth as we are accustomed to in this century are definitely not sustainable, and take resources away from more vulnerable human populations. One would be hard-pressed to refute the idea that the Earth could benefit from fewer numbers of Homo sapiens, and certainly from less "development" of natural resources.

• Increased stress and decreased physical health

Our physical and mental health are at risk from social, cultural, and economic pressure that are inflicted upon us or that are self-generated. We are valued in the marketplace only for what we can consume, not what we can produce, unless it is more consumers in the form of children. Our labor is consistently undervalued to the point of corporations balking at a raise in the minimum wage; and suppression of collective bargaining to insure workplace safety and fairness. The end goal of industry is production without labor, but the unemployed cannot afford to purchase products.

How we value ourselves is just as important as cultural expectation. I, myself, constantly struggle with the idea that my wife is the major breadwinner in our household. This flies in the face of the "standard" I was brought up with. It takes a major effort to remind myself that my ego is not the point of our marriage; and money is not what strong relationships are built on in the first place.

There is reason for hope. All is not lost. In fact, there are surprising trends that indicate a potentially bright future ahead. Community gardens and farmer's markets are springing up almost daily, taking our food production back from corporate agri-business and returning it to local roots (literally). The "tiny house" movement is spreading, and demonstrating that a lifestyle with fewer material possessions means stronger personal relationships and an enhanced sense of community (while going off the grid in many cases). There is increasing demand for better public transit, more walkable neighborhoods where one can work, live, and play without dreadfully long commutes in a vehicle powered with fossil fuels. We still have power, folks, beyond the voting booth, and the internet age allows us to quickly find friends and support for what we believe is important. Thanks to crowdfunding, we can even find money for making those inventions and community projects happen, without dependence on institutions firmly entrenched in the status quo. Go for it!