Does Anyone Want The Last Donut?

Wednesday mornings and payday Friday afternoons were always the best, along with any day the receptionist woke up to discover she didn't have any clean work appropriate attire (the year was 1989, her appropriate attire was suitable for Hooters.  In her inappropriate attire she could have sold condoms to the Pope).  At the time, I was working as a Tech Writer for a company that specialized in Department of Defense contracting.  Our office consisted of a Vice President, a Department Manager, five Tech Writers, three Word Processors, a Computer Support Tech and the aforementioned Receptionist.

On payday Fridays, we would take up a collection, send someone to the store for beer and snacks, then lock the doors early and have a mini office party.  Usually the VP would skip these, unless it was also an inappropriate attire day.   Every Wednesday morning we had a staff meeting with the Manager, Tech Writers and Word Processors all in attendance.  The Tech Writers took turns providing the donuts for the meeting. With donuts being about $3 per dozen, it wasn't a significant expense.

When it was my turn to buy donuts, I would visit a local bakery and buy three dozen assorted, fresh donuts (if you're doing the math, that's 4 donuts per person).  One of the Tech Writers could be counted on to eat at least 6 donuts, so I wanted to be sure there was enough for everyone.  That same person, when it was his turn to buy would go to the local supermarket and pick up one dozen, glazed, day old donuts for a dollar. On payday Fridays, the same person would pitch in two dollars (the average being five), then drink 6 beers and grab any unopened chips to take home.

Every group, no matter the size has givers and takers.  Left in the middle are those people who want to pay exactly their share and not a penny more.  As a lifelong (to the point of financial ruin) giver, I sometimes find myself annoyed with the takers.  My belief is, if we all give a little more than we take, all our problems can be solved.  Unfortunately, the givers are a a rather quiet minority.

The phenomenon isn't limited to small office or social groups, but exists within any group, and the groups themselves tend to be either givers or takers (mostly takers).  Eventually, what is being taken exceeds what can be given and the whole thing collapses.  Most of the problems and issues that we are dealing with today can be broken down to givers and takers.  Quite often it is a battle between takers to decide who will reap the profits.  The major corporations want to avoid any mandatory increase in minimum wage or worker benefits, the energy companies want to avoid any ecologic restrictions, the bankers want to avoid any limitations on their use of other people's money.

It doesn't matter if a 40% increase in the minimum wage would only increase costs by 4 to 8%.  It doesn't matter that we require fresh water, clean air and a biosphere capable of supporting human life.  What matters is the profit that might be lost if we try to benefit everyone, rather than just a very small group.

Any attempt to discuss whether or not that small group should benefit to the detriment of the majority of people is met with, often ridiculously inaccurate, hyperbole.  An excellent example occurred recently when someone asked Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) about raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 per hour.  Rep. Mullin's response was that this would raise the cost of a McDonald's hamburger to $20.  Nobody wants to pay $20 for something with no nutritional value, so forget about the minimum wage increase!

Let's look at the numbers.  The best I can come up with (somewhere between an educated guess and no idea at all), it would appear minimum wage labor is somewhere between 15 and 20% of McDonald's operating expenses.  Taking the high number and assuming no decrease in company profits, I come up with a worst case of 7.6% increase in food prices for a 38% increase in minimum wage.  For a Big Mac, that comes out to just over 30 cents.  For the most expensive burger on the menu, the double quarter pounder with cheese, the $4.69 price  jumps to a whopping $5.05.  Admittedly, mathematics was never my best subject, but I can't find any method that would reach that $20 per burger number.  Even if 100% of McDonald's costs is minimum wage labor, the most expensive item would top out at less than $6.50 (higher in Alaska and Hawaii).

But how does raising minimum wage help anyone?  Many minimum wage workers (especially in the fast food industry) are working 24 hours or less per week (to avoid providing any benefits).  The higher wages would mean $66 more (before taxes) each week.  For a young family, with both people working, one working 2 jobs, and one working one job, after taxes, that comes to about $130 more per week.  For tax revenues, that's an increase of $77 billion (once again, an approximation).  For the country, it reduces the number of people requiring public assistance, and takes 74 million people who are trying to just survive and gives them hope for a future.

Isn't giving hope to almost 25% of the population worth a few pennies?