Read it, really. He makes a few good points. Well, he makes one good point. Raising wages will (get ready for some Pulitzer-worthy economic analysis here) cost businesses more money!
Well, it wouldn't be Sunday unless ol' man Winders was all het up 'bout something. But, you can't fault him for writing this one. Jason Winders knows which side his (and the Banana Herald's) economic bread is buttered on.
After all, waitresses, dishwashers, and cashiers don't buy ad space in the ABH.
Our favorite nugget of Winders' nonsense is this:
Now I know supporters will trot out a study backing living wages, pitting it against other studies debunking it. I also know a guy who did a study in attempts to convince me the Earth is only 2,500 years old.
So I don't put full faith in studies.
In other words, "Don't argue with me. I won't listen to evidence because I know I'm right."
Now, to be perfectly fair to Winders, he also makes the point (inaccurate in our opinion) that the problem isn't low wages, it's the sky-high poverty rate in Athens-Clarke. Hmmm...now we aren't economists, and we didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but we're still pretty sure that poverty is a direct result of...surprise...people not being paid enough!
Still, it gives him the opportunity to lose some of his Scrooge cred by pretending to be concerned about poverty. Perhaps he really is. In any event, we'll thank him for at least using his column to (however briefly) pay lip service to what we honestly believe is the biggest problem facing this city.
But unfortunately, it doesn't change the fact that he has a d-bag position on the living wage.
Man, we miss Joanna Soto Carabello. A wise old man once told us, "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel," but its still worth it to let the ABH know how you feel, here.
By the way, according to Salary.com, the average salary for a Senior Editor in Athens, GA is $73,347.00.
So, he could probably afford to pay a little more for his burrito.
4 comments:
And it wasn't like this was the most in-depth analysis of a living wage, either. Pretty much just said 'I'd have to pay more, and that sucks' ... when there are tons of ways to encourage a living wage without directly impacting small businesses.
It's easier to snark at the people trying to change the world than to try to join them.
We should know. That's why we blog.
But note that he's got a history of being flippant in his column, which I kind of like, a lot of times.
That ain't exactly the best way to go about getting an endorsement Andy, but fair enough. :)
Post a Comment