Chapters 23-27: Family Discussion Reflection

Research

Fast-Food Workers Strike, Protest for Higher Pay talked about protests in cities such as Washington D.C., New York City, and Detroit.  Most protesters are targeting fast-food restaurants like McDonald's for their implausibly low wages of around $7 an hour.  Several different advocacy groups are hoping to build public support for raising the federal minimum wages to $15 an hour with their common battle cry "Fight for 15”.  Fast-food unionizers have been supported by Obama, who has expressed support for a Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  This article relates to The Grapes of Wrath because just as fast-food workers are forming unions to defend their rights, the Joads and other migrant workers in California thought about doing the same.

Bacon, John. "Fast-Food Workers Strike, Protest for Higher Pay." Usatoday.com. USA Today, 5 Dec.

     2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/05/fast-food-            strike-wages/3877023/>.

Philosophical Questions

      1.       Is it society’s duty or the employer’s duty to provide for those who do not earn much?

      2.       What would the world be like if minimum wage were raised to $15?

      3.       Do you think some places in the U.S. or in the world are at more of an advantage to solve the low-wage problem?

Reflection

The most memorable part of my conversation with my dad was when he talked about how the U.S. puts the poor at a disadvantage because they accept a large income gap between rich and poor.  He mentioned how other countries such as France have more of an advantage to deal with the problem because there is not as big of a social gap.  Something that surprised me in our conversation was when he said that some income inequality can be good to incentivize people to be successful, but when it goes too far it leaves out the poorest and becomes a liability.  As an example he said that many of the poorest in the U.S. end up breaking the law and going to jail, which is probably more expensive for the government than giving higher wages.  He said that the U.S. has 10 times more prisoners than France, mostly due to this reason.  One way I could improve my questions would be to base them on facts instead of coming up with hypothetical possibilities.