Do you think all working class salaries should automatically be tied to inflation?

[Lynx122]

Personally I would tie it to food inflation or overall inflation, whichever one is higher. So if you work at a job at the end of the year your salary is automatically raised by 15% if the food inflation that year was 15%. That would encourage the people in power to keep food inflation low so that would help ordinary people in general and it might combat food scarcity as well because all the employers in a country will want to make sure there's enough food for everyone at affordable prices so they don't have to raise their wages as much. But if they manage to drive food inflation down enough then it will just be raised by the general inflation amount. So it would also encourage employers and banks to not have the general inflation too high.

And that's automatic, if you think you deserve a raise then you have to negotiate that separately. But I think it's very shady that employers can just cut salaries over time just through inflation and employees have a difficult time fighting back against that.

I think this would be a significant step against income and wealth inequality. Employers would have to go about cutting salaries more openly and people could see it more easily and resist if they wanted to but they couldn't just keep gaining an advantage without doing anything.

Let me know what you think.

[NamerOfStars]

First, it wouldn't work; as we've already seen, the definition of "inflation" can be changed when it's politically convenient to do so. More to the point, this would only lead to MORE inflation, as prices would rise to combat the rising prices.

Beyond that, though, income inequality isn't an inherently bad thing. Some jobs SHOULD pay more than others; do you honestly think you'd have anywhere near the number of doctors you'd need to run a society when you can make the same money flipping burgers?

[Lynx122]

I'm talking about the inequality between the working class and the owner class. Yes there should be inequality between a doctor and a fast food worker but they'll both get a percentage raise on their salary from last year based on inflation. So the doctor who makes 60 k will get 7% more and the fast food worker who makes 10 dollars an hour will get 7% more on that. I don't see how that would make people not want to become a doctor. But it would improve the situation of the working people compared to the people who own companies. The point of this idea is just to make sure that workers are not making less money than the year before because inflation was 7% and they only got a raise of 3%. And when food inflation is up at 15% which is a decent part of what working people spend money on then it will be an even bigger cut in your wage if you only get a 3% raise. So your working and every year you're getting poorer. Of course some employees will be able to get an above inflation raise but it's not going to be the majority. This way people would be sure that they're at least getting the same wage that they signed up for when they started working at that company.

[Anonymous]

If you want an honest minimum wage it should be tied to the local cost of living. Probably the best way to calculate that is using the property tax system to asset the Average local starter home value within 30-40 miniatures of the place of work.

So for example if the average starter home value in the area is only 120k then minimum wage for adults should be whatever you would get working full time for 4 years.
Which seems to be around what a family needs to get by if we go by the standards of when we last could afford a stable family.

[TopShelfMan]

The worst part if if you train for a job that takes years of education, they raise entry level job salaries such as fast food, etc., but you get no raise so the bottom end jobs that are meant to be temporary entry level jobs, not to live on long term cause the rest of the population to have significantly less purchasing power.

Example, now people starting to work at McDonalds makes 2/3 of what a teacher makes. Then when you consider tax brackets, they end up making almost 3/4 of what a teacher makes.

[Chazmatazz269]

There is no scarcity in western society. 100% of pricing under capitalism is artificially inflated because we’ve been operating under supply side economics since the 1980s. We have plenty of everything, particularly in the US. But the people and organizations who own and control everything tell us otherwise so that they can continue gouging us to death, for profit.

[Anonymous]

The UK has a triple lock on state pension provision. The more inflation goes up, the more they have to pay their pensioners next year. And there are a lot of them.

It has not incentivised them to keep inflation low and has caused problems for them to keep their promise.

They are not that skilled. They don't control all of the markers. Which is why such simple mechanics are doomed to failure. But let's see how long they can keep this one going..

[SotiCoto]

There just shouldn't be inflation in the first place... Things people need in order to live shouldn't be subject to the whimsy of merchants.

[Lynx122]

You need a little inflation to encourage people buying things at all. If it's too stagnant then people will wait to see if prices sink and then the economy will just collapse. But it should be low inflation.

[SotiCoto]

People don't need to be encouraged to buy things. That is capitalist mind-rot. If they need things, they will buy them, produce them, or steal them.. If they want things and can afford them, they will buy them... or produce them / steal them. And if they're not buying things then that is totally fine too. "The Economy" is just a spook. It isn't worth propping up at the expense of peoples' wellbeing.

[normalice]

Obviously but you'd never get that through a legislature where republicans have even a foothold of control.

[NathanDavis]

I think greedy companies should be subjected to regulation...

[DrPepper12]

The best way to accomplish all of this is by forming a union. Contracts make ALL the difference.

[Billlewis]

Hell, no, because then you'd have even more inflation.

[Jennz6]

Don’t tax my tips 💃

[jahaims]

You have no idea how an economy works