Today I tweeted, "the minimum wage is a trap for fools set by predatory politicians."

The linked video isn't all that good, but it does make half the argument against raising the minimum wage.

Let's say there was no minimum wage imposed. Jobs such as McDonald's might pay $1/hour. A job like mine might pay $1.28.

But, a half-gallon of milk might cost 35 cents rather than $2.50.
My rent would cost maybe $58 rather than $425.
The price of a 2014 Ford minivan might be $3,045.00 rather than $22,000.00.

There's really no difference in these numbers, despite the extra zeros or comma here and there.

It's really a basic formula of business; price = material + labor + profit. If profit is too small, like, zero, the business will close. Why shouldn't it? A business exists to make money. To *make* money, not to loot it or mooch it.

There is a delicate balance between wages and prices. Prices must be low enough that consumers can buy products, but wages must also be high enough so that consumers can buy them. The cost of materials is also affected by the cost of wages, because people must be hired to produce the materials.

Thus, $3.25 or $7.25 or $10.10 are arbitrary numbers, pulled out of nowhere, with no basis in the actual dynamics of capitalism.
However, they sound good to the willfully (or at least willingly) ignorant worker making less than $3.25, $7.25, or $10.10.
As described in the story of the Twentieth Century Motor Company, those making less see their income elevated... in a vacuum; they don't see that, due to the formula above, with increased wages there must be increased prices. The thought follows, and I've heard it from co-workers, that it can be taken out of the "greedy" company's profits. And exact what fuels his/her desire for a higher wage? One begrudges the company's profits while demanding an increase in one's own, personal profit. If that's not greedy... what is?

So, as there's no connection between real-world wages/prices and these arbitrary dollar amounts, where do they come from?
The imagination of unscrupulous politicians and their enablers, who themselves know that prices will, perforce, adjust to wages until, while the dollar amounts are much larger, the buying power remains roughly the same. They rely on the ignorance *and greed* of low-income wage recipients, who desire the unearned, and are unschooled in math beyond counting to 10.

“Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men’s vices or men’s stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn?"
- from Francisco D'Anconia's 'Money' speech in Atlas Shrugged.