Posted on by Californiacontrarian

The Experiment

I want to start out today a bit more philosophical than usual. Let’s say that in an “experiment” you take 100 subjects and you do something that will affect all of them – some in a good way and some in a bad way. Is there a point at which you say, “this experiment is not working”, because too many people are being adversely effected. Or do you just plow ahead, saying as long as good is being done for some, maybe even for a lot, then, “oh well, it’s too bad about those who are getting shafted . . . as that is just ‘an unfortunate part of life’!”

When I presented this abstract philosophical problem to my poker group, most of them responded that, in general, it depended on the gravity of the harm versus the quantification of the good. I felt that this was a reasonable response recognizing that judging the amount of harm versus the amount of good is often not that easy.

Now let’s look at an experiment that is affecting people today in their everyday lives. This “experiment” is the mandated rapidly increasing minimum wage. Yes, I do think that it is an “experiment” as no one really knows what the outcome will be.

Today I read about a young man, Devin Juran, who works at Z Pizza in Seattle. As reported by a local TV station, (K13-Fox) he was initially happy because his (minimum) wage had been recently raised to $11.00 per hour, and it was scheduled to go to $15.00 per hour over the next several years. He said, “I definitely recognize that having more money is important, especially in a city as expensive as this one.” However his euphoria was short lived, because Z Pizza is closing its doors in a few months, resulting in Devin and an additional 10 of his coworkers losing their jobs at Z Pizza. “People like me are finding themselves in a tougher situation than ever.”  The owner, Ritu Shah Burnham, said that she had tried everything that she could to try to keep Z Pizza opened, but with the new increased minimum wage she could not make it. She is very concerned about her employees. “I am absolutely terrified for them as I have no idea where they are going to find jobs, because if I’m cutting hours, I imagine that everyone is across the board.”

On the other side of the issue, let’s look at the everyday life of Shardeja Woolridge in early 2016 before the minimum wage was increased in California. She lived in a two bedroom apartment in Hayward, Ca. with her mother who was on disability. She had a part time job at McDonalds and struggled to pay the rent (they had received eviction notices already), and also struggled  to keep the electricity turned on, as it had been turned off in the past. When asked about a raise in her minimum wage to $15.00 per hour . . . “Whoa”, she exclaimed. At $15.00 per hour she could help pay the rent. She could stock the fridge with food. She could afford Wi-fi.

Now back to the original philosophical question. Is the “experiment” in question (the mandatory raising of the minimum wage) a good thing or not?  How many people like Devin Juran have to lose their jobs, before raising the minimum wage for people like Shardeja Woolridge starts to lose its appeal? Are people losing their jobs like Devin and his co-workers just ‘an unfortunate part of life’, while many more like Shardeja are benefiting from the increased minimum wage?  As my poker group wanted to do, can we compare the gravity of the harm to the Devins to the benefits of the Shardejas? Is the gravity of Devin’s losing his job as bad as, comparable, or worse than the benefit in the day to day lives of Shardeja and her mother because of her increased minimum wage?

Who is right? At this time, I surmise that no one really knows.

Those on the right will side with the Devins – against the increasing minimum wage.

Those on the left will side with the Shardejas – for the increasing minimum wage.

However, I believe that as the situation becomes clearer in the next few years that either the right or the left will admit the error of their thinking, and say “this experiment is or is not working!”

“Oh yeah, BTW I still believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.”

 

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