Minimum Wage Misinformation: I Can't Take It Anymore

This interminable election season is about to drive me up a wall.

"Vote for [name redacted to protect the guilty]. She believes that by raising the minimum wage, it will lift all Alaskans out of poverty."

Once more, with feeling: No. It. Won't.

Minimum wage is entry-level, by definition. It was never designed to do anything other than get a worker's foot in the door, in a local job market. You lift yourself out of poverty by working your way up the ladder, getting raises as you go. It's not the employer's job to make you rich.

Let me repeat that: it's not your employer's job to make you rich. That's YOUR job, bub. Your boss pays you more only when your labors contribute to his or her profits.

Taking money away from your employer makes it more difficult for him to provide jobs in the first place. And if he/she is smart enough to run a business, then said employer will find a way to lower costs.

THAT'S how you make money: lowering and limiting costs while generating a profit. If labor is too expensive, you lay off workers.

You want to get out of poverty? Get a job. Or two, if you need to.

But looking to the government for help while their hand's in your pocket, taking taxes out of your wages, is a loser's bet.

Alaska Unemployment Drops to Four-Year Low

At the end of 2012, our unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent, the lowest since 2008.

That's practically unheard-of in mid-winter. Typically, the most jobs are available in the summer months, due to fishing and tourism.

Still think you can't afford to move here?  :^)