Karl Marx Minimum Wage Analysis

I must have been about 10 or 11, playing a pickup game of basketball with my dad in our driveway in the midst of the scorching July heat. Recently I had seen or heard an ad discussing minimum wage. Out of boredom and curiosity I asked my dad at a break in play about the core concepts behind this new idea I had stumbled upon. With patience my dad explained to me the concept. After a few more questions and prods I picked up the ball and asked “So if there’s a minimum wage, what’s maximum wage?” my dad responded with an answer that has shaped my views on life and politics for many years to come, he told me “There is no maximum wage, and that’s what makes America so great. If you work hard you can always make more money, no one can ever limit

In this system there is no competition, everyone works, everyone gets the same amount of money, you can make no more or no less than your neighbor. A slogan often cited as the keystone for this idea is “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” This sounds great, doesn’t it? Everyone has the same amount of money, no one is better or worse than each other, this may seem wonderful, but it is a scary thought to think of a world like this. Let’s take our two babies born in the same hospital scenario again. In this world the baby brought to North Philly could work his entire life harder than anyone in the world. Study every night and pass his classes with flying colors, qualifying for every scholarship in America. He could go to an Ivy league school. Skip out on all the partying, spend countless hours in his dorm absorbing the text from his textbooks which he paid for with hard earned money mowing lawns last summer in the squeltering sun. He could graduate first in his class, go on to medical school and become the top neurosurgeon in the nation, saving people’s lives every day. And let's say the young child brought back to Society HIll never does a page of homework, barely graduated high school, and decides he is not going to get a job and just plays football with his friends all day. With Equality of Outcome, these two would make the same amount of