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

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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.

Gro-ing debate about National Wildlife Federation's new partnership

Full disclosure: I have written articles for Ranger Rick nature magazine for children, a product of the National Wildlife Federation. I have been lucky to work with editors there who are nothing short of saints. I am not anxious to sever that partnership without good cause. Neither am I going to defend a client if I feel their practices do not reflect my own philosophy.

Upon hearing the news that the NWF announced a new partnership with Scotts Miracle Gro, I decided to go straight to the source. I had not communicated with my editor there in some time, so this news gave me a great excuse to do so. Not surprisingly, she was almost as in the dark as those of us outside the organization, but she did track down the following in response to the overwhelming criticism (from NWF CEO Larry Schweiger):

”I appreciate the concern you and others have expressed about NWF’s partnership with Scotts. I’d like to share my perspective with you on how we came to this decision.

National Wildlife Federation has long believed that America works best when we work together. We fail when we divide. We have a 75-year history of collaborating with people and organizations from across the spectrum on the most important issues facing wildlife.

Much of our conservation work focuses on making changes on Capitol Hill, but more and more I believe we must all do what we can to change corporate and individual behavior when it’s incongruent with a healthy, sustainable world. We have carefully considered the pluses and minuses of working with ScottsMiracle Gro in an objective way, knowing that our friends in the organic gardening world have legitimate concerns about the company. I am sure the staff at Scotts had their own set of concerns about National Wildlife Federation.

I looked very carefully at not just where Scotts is at the moment, but more importantly where the company is going. While National Wildlife Federation is not endorsing any of the products that organic gardeners and others find objectionable, we will be encouraging Scotts to develop products that will lead to a more sustainable world.

I believe we can do more for wildlife by working to move corporations with a large environmental footprint in the right direction. Here are three important indicators of where Scotts is taking a new approach to lawn and garden products.

REDUCING PHOSPHORUS:

Lawns are a significant feature in the American landscape and what happens in our lawns doesn’t stay in our lawns. NASA has a great website that depicts the significance of lawns in and around aquatic ecosystems like the Chesapeake Bay.

Chemical runoff from lawns, particularly phosphorus which is a limiting nutrient, has a major impact on a number of lakes and fresh water portions of estuaries. Excess phosphorus stimulates "dead zones” by stimulating algae blooms that cause oxygen depletion in lakes, reservoirs and tidal fresh estuaries.

National Wildlife Federation has been promoting efforts to regulate non-point pollution under the Clean Water Act for decades with little real progress. It is clear that to make progress in this cause we need to work with companies that can make better product formulation decisions that will have a positive impact on millions of lawns and gardens across America. By working with Scotts, we can give voice to the need to curtail the use of phosphorus in lawn and garden fertilizer. As a result of a recent court decision, Scotts will phase out phosphorus in all of its fertilizers at the end of 2012 (with the exception of its plant starter products). This will create a market shift, as Scotts is a dominate player in the residential lawn care world. National Wildlife Federation supported this decision and we will work with Scotts to continue to encourage further improvements in the company’s fertilizers to protect fish, wildlife and their habitats.

MOVING AWAY FROM PEAT MOSS:

Millions of American gardeners buy Peat Moss to add organic matter to their gardens, not knowing that it has an enormous ecological consequence to sphagnum wetland ecosystems all across the boreal region of Canada where peat is mined. Peat mining also disrupts critically important carbon storage systems and destroys the biological and archeological records which are preserved in acidic bogs and other sphagnum wetlands.

With NWF’s full support, Scotts has undertaken a comprehensive effort to move away from the use of peat in its products and is replacing peat with recycled organic matter from much better sources. We will continue to encourage Scotts’ efforts in this important transition to save fragile ecosystems and to protect the earth’s best carbon sinks.

TURNING LAWNS INTO CARBON SINKS:

Scotts’ scientists recognize that carbon storage in our lawns can be an important component for recapturing carbon pollution. They are studying various lawn management strategies and seed mixes to optimize carbon storage in our lawns. As we know and understand more about how to optimize carbon storage and how to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from our lawns, NWF will attempt to communicate meaningful solutions that gardeners and other homeowners can adopt. More information on this work can be found here.”

I do not expect that you all have read every word above, let alone read anything here without a high degree of skepticism. I would not expect less from my blog readers. So, you ask, what is my impression?

Let me say that I think this partnership is at best premature. First, it is abundantly clear that NWF did not solicit any input from their membership before reaching their decision, and that is truly insulting to the supporters it had before now. Second, why not let Scotts actively demonstrate their professed commitment to a changing “philosophy” before entering into any monetary agreement with them?

Nevertheless, I am hard-pressed to simply dismiss the National Wildlife Federation as having “sold out” to corporate interests. One cannot overlook all the good this non-profit has done throughout its history. How many of you grew up on Ranger Rick or Your Big Backyard? Do we not look to NWF for unbiased news on environmental issues? Do we really think that is going to change with this partnership?

I am cautiously optimistic about this, and would not recommend that any of my readers hastily yank their membership in, and support of, the National Wildlife Federation. I will, however, be keeping an eye on the organization’s response to its critics, both internal and external. What happens in the next few weeks will go a long way to determining NWF’s continued leadership and legitimacy in environmental stewardship.

More on this issue: ”National Wildlife Federation & Scotts Miracle-Gro: WWRRD?”
”David Mijewski Defends National Wildlife Federation Partnership with Scotts Miracle Gro”