Let's talk politics.

[namsokiek]

We have too many spoiled Americans that don't want to work their way up. I started at below minimum wage as a student standing in cow shit on a dairy farm.

If we had fields to pick close enough to home I would have no problem having my teenage son work them. Hard work builds character and the desire to excel. It provides the groundwork for future success.

More Americans need to learn to bust their lazy asses, stop bitching about others taking jobs and put on some jeans and boots, roll up some sleeves and get dirty.

I started at $1.65 an hour and have never regretted it.

Jobs_bafcc0_5506725.jpg

[namsokiek]

This is what I said ,read it again .
There have always been aussie agricultural workers shearing sheep ,mustering cattle or cutting cane etc etc .
In recent times employers have used every dodgy trick in the book to import cheap labour from everywhere from Bangala Desh to Brasil . Their mantra is aussies don't want this work phah.

I would suggest that aussies may not want to pay the cost for food that would allow other aussies to do the work. I know it is that way in the US. Even if we could find Americans willing to work as hard as it takes to work in the field, the farmer couldn't find buyers willing to compensate for his costs. Every conversation that I've read that complains about cheap labor is totally void of numeracy.

Everyone should consider this question the next time they walk into the store, "Am I willing to pay 3x for this head of lettuce? Am I willing to pay 5x more for these clothes?" We all know the answer; "No!" You have to do this to everything you see in the store.

And if you're not willing to pay the price, who is? ---- very few; not enough to keep the company viable.

[closed224]

Considering the labor costs of producing the clothes or food prices have zero impact on the final product. The family farmer is not getting the lions share of money. The clothes are made in sweat shops over seas for pennies. Address the greed of the companies adding money to the cost of the products with absolutely nothing of value added, and then you will ifind the source of expense. Bah, it has nothing to do with those of us with our sleeves rolled up and pig shit dripping from our glove. White, brown, yellow, legal or illegal. Continuing to fight over which servant gets to do the work just lends itself to the furtherance of those who have taking more. All the rest is just those who have keeping us from looking at the truth and banding together to make real changes. Then if we do get some momentum banding together, there is the military.

[Pirate]

In a market economy, it all starts with the consumer. A company cannot force you to buy their product, nor a can a contractor force you to use them. (Only a government can do that.)
I don't know how many times I have seen it: a customer, public or private, wants something done the right way, but do not want to pay more than the lowest price available.
If we truly value higher wages to workers, than we need to support those companies that pay higher wages. There are companies like that and there are people who support them, but most people would rather blame others or pass stupid laws intended to make people do what they want, than spend an extra penny.

[Cavalier]

I would suggest that aussies may not want to pay the cost for food that would allow other aussies to do the work. I know it is that way in the US. Even if we could find Americans willing to work as hard as it takes to work in the field, the farmer couldn't find buyers willing to compensate for his costs. Every conversation that I've read that complains about cheap labor is totally void of numeracy.

Everyone should consider this question the next time they walk into the store, "Am I willing to pay 3x for this head of lettuce? Am I willing to pay 5x more for these clothes?" We all know the answer; "No!" You have to do this to everything you see in the store.

And if you're not willing to pay the price, who is? ---- very few; not enough to keep the company viable.

This is absolutely true, we don't want to pay more. It would lower our standard of living and nobody wants that. If we had to pay more we would soon be demanding higher wages, which in turn would drive up production costs and increase what we have to pay again. I could see inflation running out of control with this.

As much as we don't like it, we send our manufacturing overseas to countries where the labor force lives in poverty and can't afford to buy anything other than what they need to survive. We don't see it or have to think about it. Our demands for lower prices and higher standard of living drives this. We let these workers in those countries live in poverty so we don't have to.

[CUSP82]

If I had to pay more because people doing work got higher wages than so be it. How compassionate are we to allow illegals to come into the country only to give them poor wages. Maybe if we had borders and some employers could not find cheap labor well then they would have to raise the pay scale and maybe put Americans back to work. Would I pick grapes if I had too? Sure but the pay has to be commensurate with the work I do.

[namsokiek]

In a market economy, it all starts with the consumer. A company cannot force you to buy their product, nor a can a contractor force you to use them. (Only a government can do that.)
I don't know how many times I have seen it: a customer, public or private, wants something done the right way, but do not want to pay more than the lowest price available.
If we truly value higher wages to workers, than we need to support those companies that pay higher wages. There are companies like that and there are people who support them, but most people would rather blame others or pass stupid laws intended to make people do what they want, than spend an extra penny.

THIS, THIS, THIS. Here is why any company is killing itself to save another penny. It is the consumer. The hypocritical consumer who wants to be "wage generous" but "cost stingy".

[CUSP82]

THIS, THIS, THIS. Here is why any company is killing itself to save another penny. It is the consumer. The hypocritical consumer who wants to be "wage generous" but "cost stingy".

Great point

[namsokiek]

If I had to pay more because people doing work got higher wages than so be it. How compassionate are we to allow illegals to come into the country only to give them poor wages. Maybe if we had borders and some employers could not find cheap labor well then they would have to raise the pay scale and maybe put Americans back to work. Would I pick grapes if I had too? Sure but the pay has to be commensurate with the work I do.

Wages are not commesurate to the effort (too subjective), they are commesurate to value the consumer is willing to pay for the product at the grocery store (also subjective but it establishes the actual value).

Consider this, what if you expended a lot of effort to pick few grapes (i.e. you were inefficient) while the next guy expended a lot of effort to pick many grapes. Paying for effort means the two are equally paid, a lot like getting a participation trophy. We're paid for the results, our contribution to the vale of the end product, not our effort, or there is no incentive to improve.

[closed224]

Is the point made that it is stupid to cut costs?