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there's an article in the New York Times about
a number of homeless individuals including one homeless woman in
particular 37-year-old mother
named alpha menswear to who works two jobs
and is still living at a homeless shelter and we've talked so many times
at this point Louis about the minimum wage
and evaluating whether working a full time job forty hours a week or even
forty five hours a week
in many parts and love this country does not allow you at the minimum wage does
not allow you to afford
an apartment does not allow you to have to to afford basic housing
and that is is by definition roof
that the minimum wage is nowhere near a living wage
and there's concurrent said to the the minimum wage
issues in the living wage issues there is this stereotype that if your home was
your
lazy and not working and not capable you don't even have
the most basic skills to do any kind of job and that's just flat out false as
this New York Times article
explores we have here the example a 37-year-old mother
who ends one job at 7am
heads to the matter to the homeless shelter where she is with her
with with her her kid I for five hours and then starts her next job
at 12 noon and with what it cost to live
here in New York City she still is not able to afford to get
out of that homeless shelter this to me
is something that by virtue of not being much of a discussion not being much
above up presence in people's minds
is distorting the views of most Americans on poverty
on the minimum wage and on homelessness because if you understand Louis
that you can be working two jobs and still not even be able to afford the
most basic apartment this is a fundamental problem that's not going to
be resolved by trickle-down
it's not going to be resolved by giving the rich tax cuts to supposedly hire
people which they won't do by the way with a tax cut
this needs to be part of the dialogue it does definitely
whites you know what I can it can be part of the dialogue at the state level
2
in this case we don't necessarily have to rely on a federal mandate
right to provide a a livable wage to all people I mean
we can just hope that cities and states realize that that the
stimulative effect of paying people like this poor world benefit that yet you can
but all you'll be doing is hoping Louis because unfortunately while
many states are going above and beyond the federal minimum wage
many states that are particularly right-wing states are never going to do
that they will always keep the minimum wage as low as possible they will always
keep spending on social programs as low as possible
and on education so you're right we can hope that that will happen at the state
level and on in some states it is happening
but that's not going to be the solution probably not but David
let's be hopeful