"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thomas Jefferson
While all men are created equal, "equal" does not mean that we are all equally intelligent or equally ambitious or equally situated.
Barring the less than honorable employers who just want to get as much as they can for as little as possible, employers usually grade the wages for a job by the level of knowledge, skill and experience required to do the job; the level of complexity of the position. Most jobs only pay minimum wage due to the fact that the level of knowledge, skill and experience required to do the job is minimal. That's just common sense and good business.
The minimum wage today is at $7.25 an hour, which is the same as it was in 1950, after adjusting for inflation. Much, if not most, of the minimum wage debate has centered around one side arguing that these minimum wage positions are meant to be entry level positions as well as part-time positions; that they are meant for teens living with their parents and trying to earn some extra money. As unrealistic as this argument may be, the other side has enough respect for them to counter with the fact that the average worker in a minimum wage position is over 20 years old (in fact the average age is 35) and is working full time (over 53% are working full time) and living independently, with 28% having children.
However, what has not been brought out in the ongoing debate on raising the minimum wage is that, quite frankly, not everyone has the capacity or capability to perform duties of a type or at a level other than the positions that pay minimum wage. There is a wonderful quote by Einstein that goes “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” We were all, as human beings, blessed with intelligence. But not all to the same degree and not all of the same kind. That intelligence has different areas or types of strengths; different skills and tasks that it is best suited to performing. Temperament plays a role as well in determining what kinds and what level of positions an individual has a propensity to perform well, or even adequately. We don't all fit into the same rut or excel at the making our way through the same type of maze.
Additionally, and for probably more reasons than any of us can know or count, some people are comfortable and even happy with the level of skill and responsibility that a minimum wage position requires. Some people don't want to advance into higher skilled jobs and take on more responsibility (and thus have less family or free time). And there are some that cannot due to demands in the home (such as illness or disability in the family).
Refusing to pay a livable minimum wage - one that is in sync with the cost of living, allows minimum wage workers an adequate living and the ability to provide for their themselves or their family above a poverty-level existence - only acts to punish and discriminate against people because they
cannot or
choose not to do "better." It punishes and discriminates based on intelligence (or rather, not being intelligent "enough") or their type of intelligence or their temperament. It punishes and discriminates based on the unspoken social "requirement" that each of us
must advance,
must do more,
must do better, and
must take on more responsibility at work. It punishes and discriminates based on a refusal, willful or otherwise, to acknowledge that the fact that all of us are not leading the same lives and/or facing the same demands outside of the workplace. For some people, and for various reasons, life is just harder and more limiting due to circumstances beyond their control.
"Equal" doesn't mean or require that we are all equal in every respect. It just means that we have an equal right, no matter who we are or what our circumstances are, to make a life, at least a minimum standard of a life, for ourselves and our family that is free of punishment and discrimination based on nothing more than we are different from someone else or do not meet the "minimum standard" for a human being that society deems "acceptable" or "worthy".
From Metaphysical Outlaws in America