So I have a brother in law who's a zero gen Mexican who immigrated to California in the 90s, he came to visit and now he's talking politics: he's insistent on saying that people can 'make' it on minimum wage (he's telling my mother in law, "con el mínimo la haces, amá"). I understand that he's saying this because he found a better life in the US, but from what I've seen and experienced myself, it can't be true. Can someone write up a counterargument that won't hurt his fifis?
Kind of depends what he means by "make it". California minimum wage is $15.50 USD, which is pretty high when compared to other places in the world, assuming you can have consistent employment and have the freedom to live outside of the Bay Area you can survive on that for sure - maybe even support a child.
I don't really think that should be the bar though, I want everyone to have the freedom to live rich, dignified and complicated lives.
This.
There is a world of difference between bare survival and a dignified existence.
I mean sure. We can all strip down to a mattress on the floor, blankets and a propane stove. But why should we have to do that while billionaires take private helicopters to meetings? It's not as if he is generating any more productive value from that transaction than I am. It's not as if there isn't enough to go around where I don't actually have to do that. That's the whole point of generating these industrial practices, to make it easier to make goods and services available to the masses. If they can't even purchase what they make, why are we even making it?
If I was going to try and change his mind, I would focus on the point that it doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better, and therefore we must.
If he is Catholic to any degree (assuming because Mexico) there is a wealth of sources you can pull from that focus on the Christian obligations to the poor and there are encyclicals that speak against exploiting labor (they don’t use any leftist language, but the message is there).
Just because a person can survive, does not mean their inherent dignity as a human being is being respected.
I don’t know how to put the finishing touches on this angle of rhetoric, but I can attest to it getting people, even chuds, to agree with the premise you establish by taking it. The hard part is bridging that and getting to them realize that the solution is socialism.
Honestly, depending on how exactly he immigrated he might have made it in less than minimum. Undocumented immigrants get exploited to a demonic degree.
