The author leaves out so many other factors that contribute to this perspective of it being a negative thing to offer people a basic living wage. The absurd bias of such an argument is almost laughable.

What about huge corporate salaries? Huge corporate exec bonuses? Industries that receive government subsidies/massive tax breaks that are deliberately NOT integrated into the employment chain? Corporations that use their wealth to manipulate their own stock?

I could go on but my point is that if our bolloxed system of accounting included fair wages and quality of life, rather than making the sole priority quarterly profit to show the shareholders, it would work. It's the accounting and prioritization that is off, not the availability of funds so that people can stop being working poor or unemployed.

This is one of the biggest scams of current economic policy. That anyone could argue that people should work for a pittance while paying top dollar for basic needs shows how debased our collective critical thinking has become.