Fast Food Worker Strikes!

[Coito ergo sum]

It's gonna work out great for you Lak, you and your wife can augment your Social Security working at McDonald's after they quit hiring kids because the dang'd minimum wage got so high.

Why whould I need to augment my SS or her salary? After all, it's been argued in this thread that rising tides lift all boats, and that other salaries must necessarily rise as the minimum wage rises.

Medicare and Obamacare will pay you a higher salary to compensate for your diminished Social Security salary. And don't forget your Bear Sterns 401k salary.

Damn, sounds like Lotto time to me. Ah well, I can spend my Golden Years bagging groceries at Publix, I think saying "Did you find everything you needed?" is easier than "Would you like fries with that?"

I think I'd choose Disney or Universal Studios. There are lots of jobs for senior citizens there, like ticket takers and such. Nice environment. Fun. Get out in the sun. Be around people. Not bad.

I'm a big believer in continuing to work. I'll be figuring income producing stuff to do even as a senior citizen. Retiring to sit at home and stare a the walls or to hit a ball around a golf course sounds like death to me.

[laklak]

Since you look at it as a salary, maybe you can go free agent and individually negotiate a higher Social Security check for yourself? You know - Supply and demand.

There's a thought, but I'd have to move. Supply outstrips demand around here, there are WAY too many old farts already. Matter of fact Sarasota county was honored with the title of Oldest County in the country not long ago. Maybe Alaska? Can't have that many old geezers up there, what with all those ice floes and polar bears. I've still got good teeth, or good caps and crowns, so chewing the blubber shouldn't be an issue. I'd have to get rid of the .223 and buy a heavier caliber, also ditch the flip flops and board shorts. Do I need a sponsor?

[Azathoth]

‘It is a national evil that any class of Her Majesty’s subjects should receive less than a living wage in return for their utmost exertions… where you have what we call sweated trades, you have no organisation, no parity of bargaining, the good employer is undercut by the bad and the bad by the worst; the worker, whose whole livelihood depends upon the industry, is undersold by the worker who only takes up the trade as a second string… where these conditions prevail you have not a condition of progress, but a condition of progressive degeneration.’

Winston Churchill MP in 1906, during debates on the Trade Boards Act 1909.

[piscator]

Since you look at it as a salary, maybe you can go free agent and individually negotiate a higher Social Security check for yourself? You know - Supply and demand.

There's a thought, but I'd have to move. Supply outstrips demand around here, there are WAY too many old farts already. Matter of fact Sarasota county was honored with the title of Oldest County in the country not long ago. Maybe Alaska? Can't have that many old geezers up there, what with all those ice floes and polar bears. I've still got good teeth, or good caps and crowns, so chewing the blubber shouldn't be an issue. I'd have to get rid of the .223 and buy a heavier caliber, also ditch the flip flops and board shorts. Do I need a sponsor?

You can go to Texas and starve in a ditch if you don't want to work.

[piscator]

‘It is a national evil that any class of Her Majesty’s subjects should receive less than a living wage in return for their utmost exertions… where you have what we call sweated trades, you have no organisation, no parity of bargaining, the good employer is undercut by the bad and the bad by the worst; the worker, whose whole livelihood depends upon the industry, is undersold by the worker who only takes up the trade as a second string… where these conditions prevail you have not a condition of progress, but a condition of progressive degeneration.’

Winston Churchill MP in 1906, during debates on the Trade Boards Act 1909.

He said that from an island without an ample supply of illegal Mexican immigrants and legal Somali refugees to work the chicken plants.

[Seth]

Since you look at it as a salary, maybe you can go free agent and individually negotiate a higher Social Security check for yourself? You know - Supply and demand.

There's a thought, but I'd have to move. Supply outstrips demand around here, there are WAY too many old farts already. Matter of fact Sarasota county was honored with the title of Oldest County in the country not long ago. Maybe Alaska? Can't have that many old geezers up there, what with all those ice floes and polar bears. I've still got good teeth, or good caps and crowns, so chewing the blubber shouldn't be an issue. I'd have to get rid of the .223 and buy a heavier caliber, also ditch the flip flops and board shorts. Do I need a sponsor?

Nope, just a bus ticket. And once you establish residency the state will give you free money from the oil fund.

[Seth]

‘It is a national evil that any class of Her Majesty’s subjects should receive less than a living wage in return for their utmost exertions…

Winston Churchill MP in 1906, during debates on the Trade Boards Act 1909.

Most if not all socialists demand a "living wage" whether they produce "according to their ability" or not...or at all.

And therein lies the problem.

Everything after that is trade unionist claptrap.

[piscator]

Since you look at it as a salary, maybe you can go free agent and individually negotiate a higher Social Security check for yourself? You know - Supply and demand.

There's a thought, but I'd have to move. Supply outstrips demand around here, there are WAY too many old farts already. Matter of fact Sarasota county was honored with the title of Oldest County in the country not long ago. Maybe Alaska? Can't have that many old geezers up there, what with all those ice floes and polar bears. I've still got good teeth, or good caps and crowns, so chewing the blubber shouldn't be an issue. I'd have to get rid of the .223 and buy a heavier caliber, also ditch the flip flops and board shorts. Do I need a sponsor?

Nope, just a bus ticket. And once you establish residency the state will give you free money from the oil fund.

1. What bus line?
2. How long does it take to establish residency and lawfully apply for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend?
3. How much was the PFD last year?

[Coito ergo sum]

Since you look at it as a salary, maybe you can go free agent and individually negotiate a higher Social Security check for yourself? You know - Supply and demand.

There's a thought, but I'd have to move. Supply outstrips demand around here, there are WAY too many old farts already. Matter of fact Sarasota county was honored with the title of Oldest County in the country not long ago. Maybe Alaska? Can't have that many old geezers up there, what with all those ice floes and polar bears. I've still got good teeth, or good caps and crowns, so chewing the blubber shouldn't be an issue. I'd have to get rid of the .223 and buy a heavier caliber, also ditch the flip flops and board shorts. Do I need a sponsor?

You can go to Texas and starve in a ditch if you don't want to work.

We can just adopt an "equal obligation of all to work" and then he'd be forced to work.

[Tyrannical]

You know, back in the olden days a man could get a raise from his boss because he married or had a child because he had a family to support. Yup, the man with six kids could get paid more than the bachelor. Employers could and often did scale towards a living wage, now it would be a discrimination lawsuit.

I thought it was funny because what used to be common place would now be considered abhorrent. Companies are barred by law from paying a living wage, they have to use the same pay scale regardless of life circumstances.

[Coito ergo sum]

You know, back in the olden days a man could get a raise from his boss because he married or had a child because he had a family to support. Yup, the man with six kids could get paid more than the bachelor. Employers could and often did scale towards a living wage, now it would be a discrimination lawsuit.

No, that wouldn't, because discrimination in pay based on how many kids a person has is not, in the US, unlawful. It sucks, of course, as a bachelor in those circumstances. I remember being a young pup and I was told that one's personal situation didn't matter when it came to wages - what you claimed to "need" was your business, not the employer's. But, when it came to wages, the employee with family always got more consideration, usually higher pay, usually more flexibility in the workplace, etc., and the single guy with no kids got screwed because if a person with a kid is out, who fills in? The bachelor. If the bachelor calls in sick or "needs" a day off, he's given less leeway. It's just culturally natural.

As with all things, I grew to accept it, and made the best of it. I learned my ways around it.

I thought it was funny because what used to be common place would now be considered abhorrent. Companies are barred by law from paying a living wage, they have to use the same pay scale regardless of life circumstances.

The living wage is not meant to be tailored to specific employee's circumstances. It's what is considered an appropriate living wage when the employee conforms to the orthodoxy. Have 5 kids -- fuck you, that's too many. A living wage is what a person needs to support a family of four, and go on vacations.

[laklak]

1. What bus line?
2. How long does it take to establish residency and lawfully apply for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend?
3. How much was the PFD last year?

1) Greyhound? Shank's Pony? Thumb-A-Ride.com?
2) That's a bit hard to determine. I've been digging about online and it looks like it's 1 year for students, but if I buy a home I can establish residency immediately, as long as I "sever ties" with Florida. Not sure exactly what that entails, but there were a list of examples. I think that gets you on the PFD list for the next year.
3) $900 in 2013, apparently. Jeez, that ain't much, can't you guys pay a living wage? That would hardly cover a box of PU-36 Explosive Space Modulators to keep the bears out of the seal farm.

Damn, looks like I'll have to take my chances here in Parrotheadland.

[piscator]

1. What bus line?
2. How long does it take to establish residency and lawfully apply for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend?
3. How much was the PFD last year?

1) Greyhound? Shank's Pony? Thumb-A-Ride.com?
2) That's a bit hard to determine. I've been digging about online and it looks like it's 1 year for students, but if I buy a home I can establish residency immediately, as long as I "sever ties" with Florida. Not sure exactly what that entails, but there were a list of examples. I think that gets you on the PFD list for the next year.
3) $900 in 2013, apparently. Jeez, that ain't much, can't you guys pay a living wage? That would hardly cover a box of PU-36 Explosive Space Modulators to keep the bears out of the seal farm.

Damn, looks like I'll have to take my chances here in Parrotheadland.

1. There's no bus line running from the Lower 48 or Canada to Ak. There may be some kind of van that pulls a trailer for luggage running between Hyder and Stewart, BC, but the whole "Bus" thing was just a Texan spouting off.

2. You have to have proof of 1 year unbroken residency in Alaska to file for the PFD. It doesn't matter how many houses you buy.
(I lived here 17 months before I could legally apply. If you move here in March, it'll be ~23 months before you can apply, and ~31 months before you get a Dividend check.) I showed a HIPPA statement to prove residency. There are other ways. Military postings do not count toward PFD, even if you buy a house, because you intend to go where the military posts you rather than to remain in Alaska indefinitely.

3. The PFD was $878 in 2012.
Whenever you sever a nonrenewable resource owned by the citizens of Alaska, you pay us a "Severance Tax". These payments go into a Permanent Fund, part of which is invested by fund managers. A portion of the earnings of the Permanent Fund are paid annually to qualifying Alaska residents as the Permanent Fund Dividend. Last year the PFD came to $73.17/mo, less than it costs here to get a decent internet connection, nevermind heating a house...
But you could move up, establish residency, get elected to office, and make a nice retirement for yourself taking bribes from BP.


BTW, $900/2080 = $0.43/hr, and you have to file Federal Income Tax on it. If that's not enough for you, you can go to Texas and starve in a ditch for free.

[laklak]

I'm not big on BP these days, bribes or otherwise. Not many of us Gulf types are. Granted, they've paid out a bunch of money, and I'm sure a lot of hucksters have scammed them, but a LOT of small businessmen were hit hard by the spill. There are still tar balls washing up on the Panhandle beaches and there's a few billion gallons of crude unaccounted for.

I actually might get elected to office up there, y'all did elect Ms. Palin so maybe a pot smoking old hippie Libertarian might stand a chance. Problem I've always had with public office is the old "lie down with dogs and you'll get fleas" argument. Or in the case of most politicians it would probably be "lie down with pigs". No, I think I'll stay in the subtropics. Mrs. Lak likes snow but after a few years in upstate New York I'm allergic to that fucking shit and it's my money, so she'll just have to wait for me to pop my clogs to move. I'm a bit concerned with how much ID channel she watches, she's getting pretty good with that forensics stuff.

[piscator]

It's gonna suck when you have to give up some hair follicles to get your Social Security check. You may not have to go to Texas to starve in a ditch if you don't want to work...