A Trumped Up Economy

I found an interesting take on the impending republican tax cuts and how they would likely benefit blue states while punishing the red states that supported Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/04/democrats-can-look-forward-to-the-coming-republican-era-being-a-disaster-for-republican-voters/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.5b951a3dc06c

Trumpublicans have also made a lot of noise about eliminating the Federal minimum wage and (probably) leaving it up to the states as a 10th amendment thing. Stupid people might find a wage cut *honorable* if it freed them from the yoke of gubmint oppression and everyone else was in the same boat of individual wonderfulness. But, smart people in smart states might instead see the opportunity to expand their business by paying more. Even strict (dominatrix-like) constitutionalists might not be able to figure a constitutional remedy to stopping states from paying citizens more money.

Now, if you are one of the denizens of Trumpland, you would scoff at this notion because surely all business would head to Texas for it's cheap labor source of poor-but-proud 'Mericans. Why would a business pay $15 or more for any employee when Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, etc. and etc. offer employees at far lower wages? Well, because that's business.

There's Walmart and there is Costco. Both are very successful. There were plantation owners in the south who had slaves and there were businesses in the north that had paid employees and both business strategies were successful. There is always at least two ways of doing something- anything- right? Which one is "right" depends on how well you do it. You can make money paying damn-near slave wages (do the math) but- amazingly- you can make money paying employees a fair living wage! If you've paid attention over the years you'd see this. It's what made America great in the post WWII years, a greatness title we had undisputed until 1980. There are different approaches to capitalism it seems.

Progressive states such as those on the west coast and in the northeast, would likely keep their higher wages and attract the best employees with those wages and the lifestyle they bring. That would be an interesting juxtaposition to the *right to work* states offering more flexible wages, perhaps in the $2 an hour range. You might see a renewal of the trek out to California by Okies from as far away as Florida.

It's good business to pay people good wages. Happy, contented workers not only perform better, they put those wages back into the economy in the form of purchases and taxes that lead to good roads and gooder schools. It's amazing that even successful, otherwise intelligent people can't seem to grasp that.

But, they do. They just choose to disavow this. The easy way out is government sanctioned oppression as we saw in the south with slavery (and now with right to work) and, yes, Russia with communism. That's right- communism. An oligarchy controlling wages and production is just a bastard relation to communism. What is the different between state-controlled economies if it's 6 or 7 corporations or 6 or 7 members of a politburo?

The problem with capitalism as it is practiced in this country, is that eventually you run out of other people's money. You may have heard a slightly different version of that before. With Trump they seem to be poised to get it all. Then what? I really don't think they know. I don't think they've thought that far ahead.