Swordsmyth
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- Joined
- Apr 14, 2016
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At base, a "fair" wage is one that will attract people to do what you need them to do.
It isn't $20, $30, $40, or $1, $3, or $10 an hour. It is the wage at which people think they are better off taking than not. There is no non-artificial minimum wage, and no absolute limit to the size of the wage either. The way wages should be set is through market mechanisms.
Here in the United States, we even have an implicit minimum wage on top of the ones set by law: people have an alternative called the welfare state, along with various types of public and nonprofit support that enable individuals to live on what amounts to a basic income. Advocates of a so-called "Universal Basic Income" seem not to notice that we have something that amounts to that already, although it doesn't go out to everybody. In the US, you have to work hard at ruining your life to wind up homeless and hungry.
That's why the whole "immigrants do the jobs Americans won't do" argument is ridiculous, and Trump's mass deportations are proving that right before our eyes.
A meatpacker in Nebraska has developed a "novel pitch" to attract more American workers: competitive pay, predictable shift scheduling, and better workplace ergonomics. pic.twitter.com/GW4Y1Nbzt8
— Daniel Kishi (@DanielMKishi) June 23, 2025
The Journal looked into how industries that have (illegally) relied on illegal aliens to do the work are adjusting to the new reality, and they have discovered something that any economist could have told them: Americans will do these jobs if you pay them better.
People will do things if they believe that doing them will leave them better off than before. Illegal aliens are leaving poor, poorly run countries. As Trump would say, "Sh**hole countries," so working at even low wages in the United States will make them better off than remaining at home. They are willing to be cheap labor here because the alternative is worse.
The same isn't true for many Americans, so they pass over these jobs. For many, even being unemployed is a better alternative to doing backbreaking work in poor conditions for low pay, so they won't do the jobs.
But make it lucrative enough? That's a different story.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb.—Angela Jones feels fortunate to have landed a job at the new meatpacking plant in this stagnant prairie town she’s long called home. She earns $24.50 an hour—far more than she made as a convenience-store clerk, custodian or construction flagger—and has health insurance for the first time in over 20 years.
But she’s also felt stress learning her quality-control duties, such as scrutinizing meat cuts moving down the line and ensuring workers properly sanitize their tools. Days before the May opening, she confided her concerns to the human resources and safety manager, who tried to buck her up with a pep talk.
“I just don’t want to disappoint the company,” Jones, 58, said from under her yellow hard hat. “Or myself.”
A similar mix of optimism and nervousness grips North Platte as the roughly $400 million Sustainable Beef operation roars to life.
Meatpacking is one of the jobs we are told "Americans won't do," but it turns out that they will. You just have to pay them well and have decent working conditions.
More at:
hotair.com
It isn't $20, $30, $40, or $1, $3, or $10 an hour. It is the wage at which people think they are better off taking than not. There is no non-artificial minimum wage, and no absolute limit to the size of the wage either. The way wages should be set is through market mechanisms.
Here in the United States, we even have an implicit minimum wage on top of the ones set by law: people have an alternative called the welfare state, along with various types of public and nonprofit support that enable individuals to live on what amounts to a basic income. Advocates of a so-called "Universal Basic Income" seem not to notice that we have something that amounts to that already, although it doesn't go out to everybody. In the US, you have to work hard at ruining your life to wind up homeless and hungry.
That's why the whole "immigrants do the jobs Americans won't do" argument is ridiculous, and Trump's mass deportations are proving that right before our eyes.
A meatpacker in Nebraska has developed a "novel pitch" to attract more American workers: competitive pay, predictable shift scheduling, and better workplace ergonomics. pic.twitter.com/GW4Y1Nbzt8
— Daniel Kishi (@DanielMKishi) June 23, 2025
The Journal looked into how industries that have (illegally) relied on illegal aliens to do the work are adjusting to the new reality, and they have discovered something that any economist could have told them: Americans will do these jobs if you pay them better.
People will do things if they believe that doing them will leave them better off than before. Illegal aliens are leaving poor, poorly run countries. As Trump would say, "Sh**hole countries," so working at even low wages in the United States will make them better off than remaining at home. They are willing to be cheap labor here because the alternative is worse.
The same isn't true for many Americans, so they pass over these jobs. For many, even being unemployed is a better alternative to doing backbreaking work in poor conditions for low pay, so they won't do the jobs.
But make it lucrative enough? That's a different story.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb.—Angela Jones feels fortunate to have landed a job at the new meatpacking plant in this stagnant prairie town she’s long called home. She earns $24.50 an hour—far more than she made as a convenience-store clerk, custodian or construction flagger—and has health insurance for the first time in over 20 years.
But she’s also felt stress learning her quality-control duties, such as scrutinizing meat cuts moving down the line and ensuring workers properly sanitize their tools. Days before the May opening, she confided her concerns to the human resources and safety manager, who tried to buck her up with a pep talk.
“I just don’t want to disappoint the company,” Jones, 58, said from under her yellow hard hat. “Or myself.”
A similar mix of optimism and nervousness grips North Platte as the roughly $400 million Sustainable Beef operation roars to life.
Meatpacking is one of the jobs we are told "Americans won't do," but it turns out that they will. You just have to pay them well and have decent working conditions.
More at:
Code:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/06/24/shock-finding-americans-will-do-the-jobs-americans-wont-do-if-you-pay-them-a-fair-wage-n3804094Shock Finding: Americans Will 'Do the Jobs Americans Won't Do' If You Pay Them a Fair Wage
Explore how fair wages can shift American workforce dynamics in meatpacking.
hotair.com
