@Earthbound_Misfit, I would be interested in where wages are higher than in the U.S. and what the hourly rate is. I agree that a government would find it difficult to pass a minimum annual wage law that could be enforced. However as I said before, “there is no advantage to having more jobs that require government support… because the number of hours and wage rate does not provide sufficient income.”
A few scores of years ago, the need for part-time employment was filled by adolescents who lived at home and were not dependent upon the income such jobs provided. Today, youth employment is all but nonexistent. When these jobs are limited to adults with a family where both parents must work, often at multiple jobs, little time is left to provide proper supervision of their children and few opportunities exist for children to learn the work ethic.
Modern day slavery is economic slavery. Companies and corporations in the U.S. are moving to States where wages are less. The loss of income taxes is motivating States to try to reduce salaries, decrease unemployment and retirement benefits and shift a larger portion of the health care burden onto the worker to lure businesses back. The result is a growing disparity between the poor and the wealthy that is increasing social unrest.
I do not know how this worldwide downward spiral can be reduced, much less reversed. Population growth and automation will continue to decrease employment opportunities and the value of labor until economies collapse and social anarchy replaces governments. If anyone has a suggestion of how we can prevent a return to barbarism, I would like to hear it.