Over at the Ron Paul Liberty Reports, Chris Rossini brilliantly explains what so many liberals seem to have such a hard time understanding. Namely, that government is forcing employers to automate their businesses instead of hiring low-skilled workers.
What’s that, you say? ‘But I thought government was trying to help poor people by raising the minimum wage?’ This is precisely the problem. When liberals use the government to step in and force employers to raise the minimum wage, the costs of doing business rise prohibitively for employers, forcing them to think outside the box for solutions to staying in business. If minimum wage goes up, perhaps the business will be forced to fire employees in order to pay the bills. The problem is that this solution means that service will suffer. If the business decides to keep everyone on the payroll, then the likely solution is that prices will necessarily rise, meaning that the business may lose customers who can no longer afford the prices. In either scenario, the business suffers, the employees suffer, and the customers suffer. Raising the minimum wage is a lose-lose-lose proposition… unless the employer can ‘think outside the box.’
Which is where Rossini jumps in to explain how employers are solving the problem of BIG Government messing with their costs by forcing higher wages for unskilled work.
One way that employers adjust is with automation. A machine becomes so much more attractive when government comes around with its minimum wage mandates. A machine will always be on time, will always do the job right, and will not demand “healthcare” or “access” to contraceptives! A machine won’t steal, or get sick, or demand three months vacation.
How attractive do you think a robot becomes when government says that businesses must pay someone $20/hr when they’re not worth it? It becomes very attractive.
And so we watch as one low-skilled job after another gets turned into a computer screen. Kiosks, robotics, and various types of automation are the pushback against the bully government.
There is nothing inherently wrong with robots or automation. After all, they free up people to perform other tasks. However, people who are laid off need a free society so that they can quickly find other work. Options exist in a free society. You don’t have to jump through hoops, and neither do employers.
The next time you hear a liberal whining about how unfair the pay is at fast food restaurants and other such low-skilled employers… remind them that if the wage were any higher the jobs would likely not exist. As Rossini says,
So the next time you order fast food on a computer screen, or airline tickets, or any other job that people used to perform, thank the minimum wage.
It’s the law that forces the employment of robots over people.