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Letter to QuintZine from Alan G.:
I read your article on low-wage jobs and the
treatment of such workers. [Editor's note:
Dr. Hansen's
article appears here.]
I am still unemployed after 18 months and find
that the job market is reinventing what is employable.
The point I am making [is that] I may be forced
to take a 50 percent pay cut in order to pay
the basics that life has to offer.
Raising the minimum wage is not the sole answer.
I am not so sure about creating the new worker
as the article implies. I have worked in the military
for 20 years, which required all to get ahead.
I have come to the realization that getting ahead
is what everyone wants. When you reach what they
call mid-life, it is not getting ahead that matters,
but keeping up. As I see the world, we as employee
and employer must change the view of what value
is placed on work and compensation. Too much emphasis
is placed on money, because we as consumers want so much.
I am amazed what I do without, being unemployed.
I am equally amazed, what I am forced to pay monthly
that I did not 20 years ago (Internet, higher
insurance, higher rent, etc.).
I grant you that your article is not about making
more money, but most workers do not see it any other
way. Employers are not willing to pay more for the
status of a job. So the struggle goes and I with it.
Alan G.
