Issue Position: The Poor

Issue Position

When it comes to the economy, we like to discuss the middle class. However, the real problem is with the lower class. The first step towards solving poverty is by providing the opportunity to earn a living wage. This goal can be easily achieved by increasing the minimum wage. Anybody who works hard for forty hours a week has earned the right for leisure time. With good paying manufacturing jobs being shipped to third world countries, uneducated or unskilled workers are left to work in the service industry where wages are barely livable. Some politicians and pundits like to blame this problem on Americans who they deem as lazy. However, the fact is that college is not for everyone. Many people have a very hard work ethic but for whatever reason they do not have the desire or ability to sit at a desk and study books. If we want to have a vibrant economy, we need to harness their work ethic by providing a living wage as an incentive. We need to take advantage of the various skill sets that each individual American possesses. Most importantly, we need to once again consider the hard work of manual labor as something that should not only be rewarded but should be more than just second class.

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