To the Editor:
Sometimes, it’s better to clarify a policy by turning it into a story, so people can see the consequences of their actions. Since we have many caring people who favor raising the minimum wage, it’s time for us to delve into its mythical goodness and see it for what it really is.
Once upon a time, there was a small farm. It had cows, chickens, goats and pigs. Every morning, farmer Jones would feed his cows, chickens, goats and pigs.
The animals seemed to be a satisfied lot; in the winter, they enjoyed the warmth of their coops, barns and pigpens, and in the summer, appreciated free ranging over the entire farm.
All in all, they were content with their life at the Jones farm. If they weren’t, they knew they could run away and join some other farm, but the chickens rejected flying over the fence, the goats rejected jumping over the fence and the cows and pigs decided not to escape when the farmer left the gate open.
They were satisfied with their life on farmer Jones’ farm, but all was not well. The farmer’s neighbor, Mr. Brown, had been watching the farmer feed his animals.
Mr. Brown was not a farmer, but he had it in his mind that farmer Brown was not feeding his animals enough food. No, they didn’t run away, and no, they weren’t getting sick or dying from starvation, but Mr. Brown felt that the animals would be much better off if farmer Jones fed them more food.
One day, he told this to farmer Jones, but farmer Jones told him that each animal gets the amount of food that is needed. He also told Mr. Brown that if the animals were not getting enough food, they would be sick, weakly, or would run away. Never had his animals run away.
This was not good enough for Mr. Brown, so farmer Jones finally replied to Mr. Brown, “It is none of your business.” However, Mr. Brown thought, I must find a way to feed the animals more.
It took him several weeks, but he came up with an idea. Every night, Mr. Brown would sneak into farmer Jones’ barn and steal a portion of the stored food. Then, he would feed the animals with the food he stole. It was the perfect solution.
However, farmer Jones noticed that he had to buy a lot more food. This was a great expense for his small farm. In a few months, farmer Jones realized he couldn’t afford to feed all his animals, so he took action to save the farm.
One morning, he killed eight chickens, three pigs, two goats and butchered Esmeralda, his cow. Now, he thought, I can finally afford to feed my animals.
This is probably not a good bedtime story for a 5-year-old, but it might be a good one for a 25-year-old. Economic actions have consequences and ignoring them can only result in unintended consequences.
You probably get the message, but to be clear, Mr. Brown represents those who back raising the minimum wage. They steal legally from farmer Jones rather than creating a bonafide charity.
Of course, the animals that represent employees could fly or jump the fence and find better jobs. If there are no other jobs, then, charity is the answer. That is why it exists.
Relying on farmer Jones to do our charity for us and risk his livelihood is not virtuous, or moral and especially none of our business.
