The document argues that the minimum wage in the United States should be increased to alleviate the exploitation and oppression of the working class. It provides historical context about the minimum wage, and argues that if it had kept pace with productivity increases, it would be over $22 per hour today. The document also notes that public officials, small businesses, and studies support increasing the minimum wage to reduce income inequality and help full-time minimum wage workers earn enough to rise above the poverty line.

1. Minimalism:
Why The Minimum Wage Should
Be Increased.
By Lorenzo Cannon-Umstead
Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37646391@N00/2264155856/">Harrison Brooks</a> via <a href="http://
compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/general/#147">cc</a>
Friday, October 11, 2013

2. •Minimum Wage Introduced To
The United States in 1938:
$4.10 (In Todays Dollars)
•Minimum Wage Today: 7.25/
hour. Equals to about a
$15,000 Salary Annually.
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3. •If the Working Class does
not fight to raise the
Minimum Wage, the working
class will always be exploited
and oppressed by the
Capitalist system.
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4. Exploited?
• The working class is exploited
because they produce the most labor
out of any class in this country. But
somehow they manage to receive the
lowest of wages from the Million
dollar companies they work for.
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5. Oppressed?
• The working class is oppressed because
systems like capitalism and minimum wage
works to oppress the working class.The
Bourgeoisie class or the higher income
classes depends on the hard work and labor
of the working class so that they can keep
their high income.This is called oppression. I
have personal experience with this based on
the company’s I have worked for.
Friday, October 11, 2013

6. Take Action
• In order to fight this oppression, individually or
collectively, the working class needs to
demonstrate at their places of employment and
write letters to those who serve in high office
within their companies and those in public office
in their respective municipalities and/or states.
Friday, October 11, 2013

7. Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20561948@N00/4811539545/">spike55151</a> via <a
href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</
a>
Friday, October 11, 2013

8. Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/
54139265@N00/9402829566/">Annette Bernhardt</a> via <a href="http://
compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
2.0/">cc</a>Friday, October 11, 2013

9. Just Think....Ask...
• $7.25/an hour equals out to almost
$15,000 a year. Is that suitable to live
off of?
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10. • Some of these corporations are
worth Billions of dollars, the people
who are employed, that lay most of
the groundwork for these company
receives the lowest of wages. Is this
equitable?
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11. •Is This Not Exploitation Of
Labor? Is This Not
Oppression?
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12. Is It Enough?
• $15,000/ annually is not enough to
live off of. Especially if this household
has children. In fact living of of
$15,000 per year is living well below
the poverty line.
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13. Is This Fair Equity?
•No. Fair Equity acts in
propriety and rightness. It is
not impartial or bias.
Minimum wage acts in being
impartial and unfair.
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14. Is This Not
Exploitation?
• This is exploitation.The labor of the
proletariat class is exploited through their
work.This is what capitalism does.The
work of the lower class is depended on by
the rich, and/or the One Percent.
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15. Capitalism
•Capitalism in theory is
perfect. Its just when it is
put in to action, these types
of evils take place and shape.
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16. Public Officials are for the increase of
Minimum Wage.
• According to Wing (2013), Sen. Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.) made a case for increasing the minimum
wage last week during a Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, in
which she cited a study that suggested the federal
minimum wage would have stood at nearly $22 an
hour today if it had kept up with increased rates in
worker productivity.
• She also stated,“with a minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour, what happened to the other $14.75? It sure
didn't go to the worker." (Wing, 2013).
• Wing, Nick . "Elizabeth Warren: Minimum Wage Would Be $22 An Hour If It Had Kept Up With Productivity." Breaking News and
Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/elizabeth-warren-
minimum-wage_n_2900984.html>.
Friday, October 11, 2013

17. Small Business are in favor of
the increase.
• Klein (2013) Says, President Barack Obama’s recent proposal
to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour
by the end of 2015 has an unlikely ally: a sizable swath of
America’s 6 million small employers. Historically, lobbyists
representing small business almost unanimously condemned
any increases in the federal minimum wage, arguing employers
would be forced to fire workers. Now, with public anger over
income inequality deepening and economic research
challenging the notion that higher wages suppress
employment, a growing number of small business advocates
support a hike. (Klein, 2013).
• Klein, Karen E.. "Higher Minimum Wage? Small Business Doesn't Mind - Businessweek." Businessweek - Business
News, Stock market & Financial Advice. Businessweek, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://
www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-21/higher-minimum-wage-small-business-doesnt-mind>.
Friday, October 11, 2013

18. An end to Income Inequality.
• Cooper (2013) found the following: A minimum wage of $7.25 is not
enough to live on. Full-time minimum-wage workers today earn about
$15,000 a year. In 1968, they earned about $20,000 per year in today's
dollars.While certainly not enough for a life of luxury, it is enough for
a family of three to stay above the poverty line – which can't be said
for today's minimum-wage workers.Many of these workers have to
rely on public assistance such as food stamps or the earned income
tax credit, because their wages are simply too low. Programs like the
EITC are important protections against poverty, but we shouldn't let
them act as subsidies to low-wage employers, who currently pay lower
wages because the American taxpayer will make up the difference.We
need to re-establish the basic labor standard that if you work full
time, you'll earn at least enough to get by. If we raised the federal
minimum wage to $10 per hour, nearly 30 million American workers
would get a raise, nine million of whom are parents.And contrary to
popular misconception, most of these workers are not teenagers
working part time: 88 percent are at least 20 years old, and 55 percent
work full time. (Cooper, 2013).
• Cooper, David. "Raising the Minimum Wage Will Reduce Income Inequality - US News and World
Report." US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and more. N.p., 10
May 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/10/raising-the-minimum-
wage-will-reduce-income-inequality>.
•Friday, October 11, 2013

19. •Based on my research, I
am not the only one who
feels this way.The system
we live in is not equitable
and I believe it is set up
this way for certain
individuals to fail and
some to succeed.
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20. • Until the working class fights to get what
they truly deserve, they will always be
oppressed in this system until the day they
die.
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