minimum wage – Green Social Thought https://www.greensocialthought.org Produce less. Distribute it fairly. Create a greener world for all. Thu, 22 Feb 2024 04:47:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.greensocialthought.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/cropped-ggef_logo_small-1-32x32.png minimum wage – Green Social Thought https://www.greensocialthought.org 32 32 Progressives and Markets https://www.greensocialthought.org/biodiversity-biodevastation/progressives-and-markets/ Mon, 03 Dec 2018 15:27:22 +0000 https://gst.riz-om.network/reprint/progressives-and-markets/ by Dean Baker

The right would like us to believe that the inequality we see in the United States, and increasingly in other countries, is a natural outcome of market processes. Unfortunately, many on the left seem to largely share this view, with the proviso that they would like the government to alter market outcomes, either with tax and transfer policy, or with interventions like a higher minimum wage. While redistributive tax and transfer policies are desirable, as is a decent minimum wage, it is an incredible mistake to not recognize that the upward redistribution of the last four decades was brought about […]]]> by Dean Baker

The right would like us to believe that the inequality we see in the United States, and increasingly in other countries, is a natural outcome of market processes. Unfortunately, many on the left seem to largely share this view, with the proviso that they would like the government to alter market outcomes, either with tax and transfer policy, or with interventions like a higher minimum wage.

While redistributive tax and transfer policies are desirable, as is a decent minimum wage, it is an incredible mistake to not recognize that the upward redistribution of the last four decades was brought about by conscious policy, not any sort of natural process of globalization and technology. Not recognizing this fact is an enormous mistake from both the standpoint of policy and politics.

]]> Right-Wing Billionaires Have a Project Going to Rewrite Our Constitution, and They Are Shockingly Close to Pulling It Off https://www.greensocialthought.org/biodiversity-biodevastation/right-wing-billionaires-have-project-going-rewrite-our-constitution-and-they-are-shockingly/ Thu, 20 Apr 2017 14:21:56 +0000 https://gst.riz-om.network/reprint/right-wing-billionaires-have-project-going-rewrite-our-constitution-and-they-are-shockingly/ by Thom Hartmann

Imagine if the U.S. Constitution barred the EPA and Department of Education from existing. All union protections are dead, there are no more federal workplace safety standards, and even child-labor laws are struck down, along with a national minimum wage. Imagine that the Constitution makes it illegal for the federal government to protect you from big polluters, big banks and even big food and pharma—all are free to rip you off or poison you all they want, and your only remedy is in state courts and legislatures, because the Constitution prevents Congress from doing anything about any of it. The […]]]> by Thom Hartmann

Imagine if the U.S. Constitution barred the EPA and Department of Education from existing. All union protections are dead, there are no more federal workplace safety standards, and even child-labor laws are struck down, along with a national minimum wage.

Imagine that the Constitution makes it illegal for the federal government to protect you from big polluters, big banks and even big food and pharma—all are free to rip you off or poison you all they want, and your only remedy is in state courts and legislatures, because the Constitution prevents Congress from doing anything about any of it. The federal government can't even enforce voting or civil rights laws.

]]> Utopia: Work less play more https://www.greensocialthought.org/biodiversity-biodevastation/utopia-work-less-play-more/ Fri, 17 Mar 2017 14:15:39 +0000 https://gst.riz-om.network/reprint/utopia-work-less-play-more/ by Madeleine Ellis-Petersen

According to the latest YouGov poll, more than one in four of us work longer hours than we want to. The UK tops the European long hours league, and research published by the TUC in 2015 revealed that the number of people working over 48 hours a week had increased by 15 per cent since 2010. In a culture of overwork (and, in an increasing number of cases, underpay) most of us feel that we have no choice but to work longer and longer hours. But across the world a growing number of people, organisations and even countries are bucking […]]]> by Madeleine Ellis-Petersen

According to the latest YouGov poll, more than one in four of us work longer hours than we want to. The UK tops the European long hours league, and research published by the TUC in 2015 revealed that the number of people working over 48 hours a week had increased by 15 per cent since 2010. In a culture of overwork (and, in an increasing number of cases, underpay) most of us feel that we have no choice but to work longer and longer hours.

But across the world a growing number of people, organisations and even countries are bucking this trend and recognising the value of a shorter working week.

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