About three years ago, I received a Facebook “rant” comparing
the hourly wages of McDonald’s employees and military personnel. The gist of
the argument was that “burger flippers’ were making far too much money for what
they did compared to military personnel, who often were called on to risk their
lives.
I did a bit of research, and found that comparing the two occupations is
like comparing apples and oranges.
Although the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, most
states have higher minimum wages than that – even red state Arizona, which has
a minimum wage of $12 an hour.
The folks in this country who think that burger flippers
should not be making $15 an hour would be shocked to learn that burger flippers
in Denmark make $22 an hour. On top of that, McDonald’s workers in Denmark get six weeks of paid vacation
a year, life insurance, a year’s paid maternity leave and a pension plan. And
like all Danes, they enjoy universal medical insurance and paid sick leave.
On top of all that, the Danish
National Symphony Orchestra is amazing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enuOArEfqGo
(the good, bad, and the ugly)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1NJwEi6nw
(for a few dollars more)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4niv522mbtM
(a fistful of dollars)
A Big Mac flipped by
$22-an-hour workers isn’t even that much more expensive than an American one.
Big Mac prices vary by outlet, but spot pricing suggested that one might cost
about 27 cents more on average in Denmark than in the United States. That 27
cents is the price of dignity. The article below goes into a
lot more detail, and is worth reading.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote a book titled “That
Used to be Us”, which I read a few years back. In many ways, Denmark today is
what the United States looked like in the Eisenhower years.
The golden age of American capitalism,
from 1945 to 1980, was a period of high tax rates (up to 91 percent for the
very wealthy), strong labor unions and huge initiatives, such as the G.I. Bill
of Rights to help disadvantaged (albeit mostly white) Americans. This was a
period of rapid growth in which income inequality declined — and in some ways
it looked like today’s Denmark.
The United States may still
have the world’s largest economy (for now) but we are definitely not the
happiest country in the world.
Finland has the best schools in
the world, and they are #1 in terms of happiness. However, Denmark is ranked as
the 2nd happiest in the world, and not just because the minimum wage
is $22 an hour.
We are currently ranked at #18, and that’s a decrease from 4
years ago, when he had a more stable political climate.
Despite the fact that there are lots of people wearing MAGA
hats, we are a long way from being the most respected country in the world. In
fact, we are ranked at #22. The Nordic countries also come out well on this
list, but the most respected country in the world is one we share a border with
– and it’s not Mexico.
For a lot of reasons, most of us have felt an increased sense
of anxiety since January of 2017, but we don’t have to travel to Denmark to get
a break from it.
All we have to do is vote.
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