Reply #9: The Whole System Needs to Be More Equitable, for the Good of Society

[Hidden Stillness]

I would triple the minimum wage immediately, as that would be barely enough to live on, and go back to the system not really followed since the 1950s, of heavier taxes on rich people and the majority of taxes paid by corporations, not individuals (read the "America: What Went Wrong?" books and general reporting of Barlett and Steele, etc.). I would also enact a law, if possible, forcing corporations with more than 20 (just to give an example) employees--that is, able to do it--to set aside a pension paid for by the employer, not the employee, and untouchable, even by corporate "bankruptcy" declarations. Even if the pension were a very small amount, it could still supplement Social Security, as the workers who get minimum wage over a lifetime, the most underpaid people of all, with no benefits generally, need it most. (No minimum wage job has a pension that I know of.) Tax the rich, help the middle class and poor--the way they used to do it, a couple of generations ago.