In my book, Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics (c) 2017 Archway Publishing, I discuss what it means to ensure a "good life" for all Americans. I tackle establishing a minimum wage, though I think I can do it better now. Here are some thoughts for my readers to consider, and I would enjoy your challenges and feedback.
I am addressing the following topics:
National Economic Purpose: A nation has three primary responsibilities: social, economic, and environmental, working in a balanced concert.
Federal, State, and Local Governments Purposes: All governments are corporate enterprises with a shared purpose to create an optimal environment where constituents are sustainable and can succeed.
Individual Responsibility: Every citizen of the adult age of 18 has personal responsibility for self-sustainment.
Parents' Responsibility: When two adults decide to have children, they must assume economic responsibility for the life of the children.
The Cost of Living: The cost of living is variable from adulthood and extends until the end of life.
Minimum Wage: The minimum wage is constituted by what it takes for individuals to sustain themselves in adulthood based on the cost of living. It must be greater than impoverishment.
Incentive: Incentive is a concept defining what motivates people to become self-sustainable to optimize their abilities in society.
Readers may have many ideas about these topics, some affirming and others challenging. Diversity is a good thing so long as ideas contribute to solutions.
National Economic Purpose:
In my book, I postulate that America has considerable natural resources and a population-to-resources advantage. That may be true, except economics is far more complex than simple declarations. If you want to dig into economics, I suggest this reference:
Natural Resources Neither Curse nor Destiny Edited by Daniel Lederman William F. Maloney A COPUBLICATION OF STANFORD ECONOMICS AND FINANCE, AN IMPRINT OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AND THE WORLD BANK:
Instead, please read my book because it is written as a layman for laypeople and reviewed by Dr. John Ikerd, a leading sustainable economist.
My point is that there is no economic justification for any American citizen living below the poverty line. There is no justification for any American not being able to optimize the application of their abilities through self-improvement.
Indeed, a percentage of the general population has disabilities and constraints. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. Twenty-six percent (one in 4) of adults in the United States have some disability. The percentage of people living with disabilities is highest in the South."
"Percentage of adults with functional disability types:
- 13.7 percent of people with a disability have a mobility disability with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
- 10.8 percent of people with a disability have a cognition disability with serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.
- 6.8 percent of people with a disability have an independent living disability with difficulty doing errands alone.
- 5.9 percent of people with a disability are deaf or have severe difficulty hearing
- 4.6 percent of people with a disability have a vision disability with blindness or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses.
- 3.6 percent of people with a disability have a self-care disability with difficulty dressing or bathing.
Disability and communities.
Disability is prevalent in these groups, older adults, women, and minorities.
- 2 in 5 adults age 65 years and older have a disability
- 1 in 4 women has a disability.
- 2 in 5 non-Hispanic American Indians/ Alaska Natives have a disability."
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
The point is that we know precisely the number of people and distribution by disabilities whose economic performance is constrained and who may need financial assistance.
We also know accurately how many struggling families there are with working mothers needing assistance. The work before the nation is to deliver the necessary help to advance the welfare of everyone.
The American Economic Purpose is to ensure a good life for all citizens through optimizing individuals' abilities and capacities while pursuing economic sustainability for themselves and families for which they are responsible.
In my book, I define the baseline for what constitutes "a good life." I implore you to evaluate it and to make suggestions for improving our mutual understanding.
Federal, State, and Local Governments Purposes
In my book, I describe the relationship of America's hierarchy of governments in enabling our national purpose.
Many citizens don't recognize the significance of every government and at every level acting as corporations. Villages, cities, counties, and states have contractual relationships between them and their citizens, and they operate under statutes governed by the rule of law.
"Governments are responsible for providing services that individuals cannot effectively provide for themselves, such as military defense, fire and police departments, roads, education, social services, and environmental protection."
To be responsible citizens, people must engage their governments, beginning with the election of representatives and officials, and that is only a start. Citizens must be knowledgeable about the performance and issues affecting them at every level, which requires dedicated time for engagement.
Individual Responsibility:
Every adult in the world has responsibility for self-sustainment. Learning that cannot come too soon, well before adulthood. Individualism is steeped in the American culture.
Individualism: "the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant.
'a culture that celebrates individualism and wealth.'
"a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.
'encouragement has been given to individualism, free enterprise, and the pursuit of profit'"
Oxford Languages: https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
Herein lies a point of contention and the necessity for balance. I propose that the capitalism model that is operative today needs to change to address the balance of economic, social, and environmental responsibilities through triple-bottom-line accounting. Capitalism under the present model is unsustainable and a hazard to humanity.
Also, promoting self-development and maximizing national genius is imperative to the invention and advancement of economic growth. In my former book, I advocate the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) to replace Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
What are the elements of self-sustainment:
- Earn working wages at 40 hours per week sufficient to cover necessities (for one person if single):
- Lodging
- Food
- Utilities
- Transportation
- Clothing
- Health care
- Continuing education
- Credit debt
- If married with children, earn working wages at 40 hours per week sufficient to cover necessities for every dependent family member.
- The number of dependents may necessitate more than one wage worker.
- Working parents may incur additional costs such as child care.
- If parents and adults with children cannot satisfy the requirements for sustaining the household, then other regulations will apply.
- The consequence of failing to meet obligations will be a loss of personal freedom.
- Imposed are governing requirements to assist the household in becoming sustainable.
- If adults perpetuate and exacerbate their economic plight by undermining economic sustainability, they may further erode their freedom.
- Individual choices and behavior determine the extent to which people maintain control over their lives.
Parental Responsibility:
I advocate the UK approach to parental responsibility as follows:
"What is parental responsibility?
All mothers and fathers have legal rights and responsibilities as a parent - known as 'parental responsibility.
If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to:
- provide a home for the child
- protect and maintain the child
You are also responsible for:
- disciplining the child
- choosing and providing for the child's education
- agreeing to the child's medical treatment
- naming the child and agreeing to any change of name
- looking after the child's property
Parents have to ensure that their child is supported financially, whether they have parental responsibility or not.
By contrast, the State of Ohio, for instance, defines "parental responsibility in a set of laws as follows:
"What are Ohio's Parental Responsibility Laws?
Ohio's Parental Responsibility Laws focus on four (4) areas:
- Property damage and theft, covered by Ohio Revised Code section 3109.09
- Personal injury, covered by Ohio Revised Code section 3109.10
- Vandalism, covered by Ohio Revised Code section 2307.70, and
- Driving, covered by Ohio Revised Code section 4507.07.
A minor, by definition, is anyone who has not reached the age of majority.
Ohio, like most states, sets the age of majority at 18, so the laws discussed below apply only when a child is under the age of 18."
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ohio-parental-responsibility-laws.html
The two examples above demonstrate vastly different approaches. One emphasizes "preparedness and prevention" while the other is "punishment after the fact." While it is necessary to hold parents responsible for their children's violations of the law and public safety, investing in parental education and focusing on their responsibility is the best place to begin.
The Cost of Living
The Cost of Living, in my view, establishes the minimum requirement for determining self-sustainment and family sustainment.
Children have no choice in determining where they live, and adults may have variable discretion about where they start adulthood and independence.
Young adults whose parents have the wealth to support their growth and development have an advantage over poorer people. Ensuring a level playing field free from inherited economic hardship is one aim of National Economic Purpose, and fairness is the requirement.
That does not mean that more intelligent and developed people should be constrained or that less able people should be punished. The economic system and rules should encourage everyone to achieve as much as they desire within the scope of their abilities.
Enter the "Self-Sufficiency Standard."
"What is the Self-Sufficiency Standard?
The Self-Sufficiency Standard defines the amount of income necessary to meet basic needs (including taxes) without public subsidies (e.g., public housing, food stamps, Medicaid, or child care) and without private/informal assistance (e.g., free babysitting by a relative or friend, food provided by churches or local food banks, or shared housing). The family types for which a Standard is calculated to range from one adult with no children to one adult with one infant, one adult with one preschooler, and so forth, up to two adult families with three teenagers.
Why was the Self-Sufficiency Standard developed?
The Self-Sufficiency Standard was created in the mid-1990s by Dr. Diana Pearce, who was Director of the Women and Poverty Project at Wider Opportunities for Women. The Standard was intended initially as a performance measure for the goal of "self-sufficiency" in federal job training programs (now known as WIA, the Workforce Investment Act program). It was a measure that provided realistic and detailed data on what clients individually needed to be self-sufficient. First calculated for Iowa in 1996, it experienced a significant expansion with funding by the Ford Foundation in the early 2000s. Today, the Standard can be found in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
How does the Self-Sufficiency Standard differ from the Federal Poverty Measure?
First conceived nearly five decades ago by Molly Orshansky, the official federal poverty level has become out-of-date.
The federal poverty level (FPL) is based on USDA food budgets that meet minimal nutritional standards. Because families in the 1950s spent an average of one-third of their income on food, it assumed that multiplying the food budget by three would result in an amount that would be adequate to meet other basic needs as well. Since its creation, the FPL has only been updated for inflation. FPL thresholds reflect the number of adults and children, but they do not vary by the age of children nor by place."
Center for Women's Welfare, https://depts.washington.edu/selfsuff/standard.html
"Cost Of Living Index By State 2021
The cost of living is the amount of money needed to sustain a certain standard of living by affording basic needs such as housing, food, healthcare, and more.
The cost of living is used to compare how expensive it is to live in one location compared to another and is also used as a significant factor for people to determine where they want to be located. Other factors include cultural attractions, the job market, and more."
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/cost-of-living-index-by-state
Minimum Wage
An average of a minimum wage is determined by producing an index from all the state's living costs. Known at once is that costs vary among the states.
"The purpose of the minimum wage was to stabilize the post-depression economy and protect the workers in the labor force. The minimum wage was designed to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees.
Others have argued that the primary purpose was to aid the lowest paid of the nation's working population, those who lacked sufficient bargaining power to secure for themselves a minimum subsistence wage. FLSA specifically provided for a minimum wage for full-time and part-time, public and private sector workers. Specifically, workers who are "engaged in" or "in the production of goods for" interstate (commerce between the states) and foreign commerce."
Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/minimum_wage#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20minimum,and%20well%2Dbeing%20of%20employees.
The US Department of Labor says this.
"What is minimum wage according to federal law?
The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages."
"It is illegal for your employer to pay you less than the National Minimum Wage rates. So check your pay and talk to your manager to make sure you're getting the wages you are legally entitled to. Feel uncomfortable talking to your manager and think you have been underpaid?"
Department of Labor
Senator Joe Manchin isn't a fan of the $15.00 minimum wage proposal.
Insert West Virginia Cost of Living Table
https://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/state/west_virginia
Incentives
One aspect of the debate in America about entitlements is that they undermine individual incentives.
Having the right to subsistence living as a beginning doesn't seem like much to ask, especially for children in a household below sustainment.
Having an economic model that balances incentives for economic, social, and environmental responsibility is the aim. I proposed the Optimized Sustainment Model in my book, Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics (c) 2017 Archway Publishing.
