Living on about $17 dollars per day, some Florida lawmakers are taking “The Minimum Wage Challenge.” It is an attempt to bring attention to the economically beleaguered; a group of about 1.5 million in Florida who make $8.05 per hour, the state’s set minimum wage.
All politicians who participated are Democrats, and more may be added as SEIU (Service Employees International Union) states that lawmakers will have another two weeks to take part in the challenge.
Ostensibly, it’s a good thing. Fighting for those that struggle to live on less than $20 a day in a struggling economy is what elected officials are supposed to do. Senator Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) has filed legislation to raise the wage for three straight years and all three have failed due to Republicans voting it down.
Hold protests, besiege the state capitol, and use the media to your advantage. Maybe this will all aid in attempting to finally bring help to some of those who need it the most.
Or will it?
“The Minimum Wage Challenge” seems good but has some pitfalls. Politicians are showing empathy but there is also a hint of voyeurism attached. In a sense, some are temporarily walking in the pain of others, or maybe showing harmful empathy.
How can empathy be harmful?
An ancient philosopher noted that expressing sympathy gives birth to virtue and how our society guides our behavior. For the greater good, and how we conceptualize what’s good and bad is led by our ability to first sympathize.
Empathy, obviously, works separate from sympathy. In an attempt to feel the pain of others, we make an attempt to walk in the person’s shoes for whom we feel empathy.
What’s it like to live on $17 per day? Taking a challenge to see how hard it may be is a form of empathy.
But it may be slightly harmful because it’s temporary empathy and cognitive.
Once the challenge has been completed, lawmakers will return to their daily lives. A life where all make far more than $17 per day.
Doesn’t mean that each participant won’t fight hard to change what’s viewed as a societal wrong. It just leaves those on the other side with nothing but a hollowed promise of hope for change in the future.
Which, I guess, is one theory of politics. Each elected official promises to fight for something. Whether it’s fair wages, to stop abortions, or to fix a pothole, there is something there that was good enough to elicit a vote.
It’s why Senator Jeff Clemens is viewed as one of the better lawmakers in Tallahassee. He’s empathic, sure, but he shows compassion and doesn’t try to overreach.
Senator Jeff Clemens taking part in The Minimum Wage Challenge/Photo courtesy of Clemens’ Facebook page
I asked him about the dangers of connecting empathy with an act as loud as “The Minimum Wage Challenge.”
“Clearly, we’re all smart enough to know we aren’t really truly experiencing the same difficulties faced by low-wage workers. But the value is in the vast amount of attention that’s been focused on the issue.”
Is there value in the attention?
As mentioned earlier, Senator Bullard has filed this legislation for three straight years and Republicans haven’t budged. The issue remains and the wall hasn’t tumbled. But Senator Clemens may be on to something.
“We can’t continue to see the gap widen as it has the last three decades. It shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
A partisan issue this has become where the lines in the concrete are evident. Democrats are pushing for wages that at least closely mirror living wages. Republicans claim that raising the minimum wage would destroy small business.
That’s not necessarily true.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, raising the minimum wage “would cost 500,000 jobs” if raised to $10.10 per hour. Another study found that raising the minimum wage would not cost jobs.
So which one is true?
Both. It’s tough to predict how the economy would respond to such an increase, but the CBO’s study does have more good than bad news.
The office’s study found that real income would rise by $2 billion and would move “about 900,000 people above the poverty threshold.”
That’s a tangible result that we may hang on to if the minimum wage challenge works.
Still—the value is in the results. Because Republicans run Tallahassee and have no political reason to budge on the matter, Democrats just might be looking for attention from a light pole.
Verging between empathy and exploitation
What’s supposed to be great about capitalism is that everyone has the ability to prosper. It is, on its face, a system designed for individual rights.
The premise of this theory is that if one works hard enough and makes decent decisions, then some form of prosperity will follow.
When those who work jobs that pay the minimum wage ask for more, their hard work is diminished and dwindled down to a concept that each one should want more. Happiness and the pursuit of it is a right given to Americans, so being grinded by the gears of poverty should be beneath any American.
But our society isn’t hard wired that way and neither is capitalism.
Earlier this week mogul Russell Simmons found himself stuck between empathy and exploitation. Some years ago, he created the RushCard; a prepaid Visa card “that lets you shop, get cash at ATMs, pay bills, buy online and get Direct Deposit.”
Russell Simmons/Photo courtesy of L.A. Times
There’s no credit check, no overdraft fees, and a promise of receiving “your money up to 2 days sooner with Direct Deposit.”
It is a card geared towards those who aren’t in a position to attain a traditional bank account due to credit issues. So Russell Simmons, or Uncle Rush as he’s affectionately called, showed empathy by creating a card for those who may have a troubled financial past.
The RushCard ran into an issue last week when a technical glitch caused many cards not to work. No deposits were made and some customers cards showed a balance of zero.
That meant that many people who utilize the card and live paycheck-to-paycheck were left without access to their money.
Russell Simmons took to Twitter to apologize and affirm that he’s doing everything in his power to right what went wrong.
But the problem with the RushCard isn’t necessarily just the recent glitch in the system, it’s the fees that customers are charged just to use it.
Those who purchase a RushCard are charged a one time fee of up to nearly $10 for use and have to pay a fee of $1.00 per transaction. That’s in addition to ATM fees since the Rush Card isn’t connected to a bank.
While Mr. Simmons might have some empathy for the poor and financially disenfranchised, it doesn’t overtake the need to purse the ideals of being a businessman who lives by the principles of capitalism.
Many of the RushCard users are still without their paychecks from the week prior and have no access to money.
How’s that for empathy.
For those who are or have participated in “The Minimum Wage Challenge,” there is value in the act. Many Americans who make minimum wage need others to be a voice to their plight. Who better to do so than a politician?
But there are dangers and pitfalls to just about anything. Some will want to take a peek at the lives of others just to see how bad some may have it. On the other side, many will feel the need to act on the behalf of those who need help the most.
It’s those in the middle who may get caught because of empathy and a faux need to help.
Hopefully this challenge, and those in the middle of it, will not be seen as an empty act of compassion as the dangers of empathy are certainly involved.
The grand expectation is that it forces not just an act of reverence, but an evident action that puts more money in the pockets of those who really need it.
-JH
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