(24 People Likes) When minimum wage increases to $15, do the people who are already making that increase get an increase in pay?
simple answer is you should think about an increase in the minimum wage as starting a “wage ripple” or a wave that starts at the lowest wage earner and then expands upwards. Lifting the wages of those workers who earn slightly more than minimum wage BUT – this lift dissipates as it gets higher.
IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT, REASONABLE, PREDICTABLE INCREASES IN THE MINIMUM WAGE REDUCES INCOME INEQUALITY WITHOUT INCREASING UNEMPLOYMENT[1]
Increasing the minimum wage creates inflationary pressure on an economy. But concluding that inflation absorbs that minimum wage increase isn’t supported by any macroeconomic research. It’s also a testament to the brilliance of a very cynical marketing effort that has sought to win arguments through a sustained campaign of disinformation, when it recognized the facts wouldn’t make for good politics
Fundamentally, changes in minimum wage are about wealth redistribution.There are many who believe that our current levels of income inequality are a healthy bi-product of a functioning capitalist economy. I’d suggest those people don’t understand capitalism and are willfully blind to how destructive the current levels of inequality are to our national productivity. Joseph Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize, in part, for his work in this area. Here’s a really good summary of his book on the topic From The Price of Inequality: Joseph Stiglitz on the 1 Percent Problem
If increasing the minimum wage is good, who opposes it? Over the long term, there is some good evidence that increases in the minimum wage benefit almost everybody. BUT, in the short term, increases in minimum wage benefit “labor” at the expense of “capital”. In other amanda love barbie doll words, these changes benefit MOST everyone.
Productive v. Rent Seeking Behavior. One of the most insidious bi-products of income inequality is dramatic rise in rent seeking behavior; it’s a behavior pattern of wealthy interests “changing the rules” of our economy to redistribute a disproportionate share of resources without providing any value in return. In 2017, there was a Presidential study on our “rigged economy” I’ll footnote the study[1], but, here’s a summary: How Rent-Seeking Is Driving Inequality
The people who oppose Minimum Wage Increases tend to be the same lobbying groups as those which sponsor the agenda of rent seeking behaviors that have exacerbated income inequality[2]. These notable ‘non-beneficiaries’ tend to also be large contributors to conservative causes. And, much like the capital gains tax[3], inheritance tax[4][5] and regulations surrounding banking reform[6], these contributors are keenly aware that they are advocating an unpopular position. So, they can’t show their cards and admit their true intentions (would you?) – they need to come up with other arguments[7]
So, this is what they do:
Rather than argue the issues, create counter-narratives that confuse voters[8][9][10] Rather than use facts to argue an unpopular position, their arguments are recast with the reductive power of populist politics and then blasted through established channels of idealogically inspired dogma. Now, we argue about something other than the real issue.
Most people are misled by their intuition on this matter The “new” minimum wage argument has been recast away from peer reviewed research and into a slickly manufactured sound bite narrative. Instead of facts, the voter hears an oversimplified ‘thought experiment’ to cause him to conclude he understands the issue. From there, its easy to convince this voter he/she can extrapolate their insight to something that looks like the same problem. But, it’s not – and the same intellectual hubris that was excited to “understand” the one problem prevents us from seeing that it’s not applicable to the other problem.
This is the essence of conservative marketing and it’s very effective.[11]
Who needs facts when you have a “thought experiment?” Think about the minimum wage argument you hear all the time.
“If I ran a business and suddenly, the enactment of a minimum wage caused me to have to pay that worker more money, I’d hire less workers.”[12]
It sounds like a good argument and it’s brilliance comes from the fact it’a asking the wrong question. It offers a simple microeconomic construct to refute a much more nuanced macroeconomic problem.
That distinction my sound like semantics, but, it goes way further.
Micro: focuses on the decision of a single entity. And, how the laws of supply and demand a specific decision on price level or resource allocation.
Macro: focuses behavior of the economy as a whole and not just on specific companies, but entire industries and economies. This looks at economy-wide phenomena, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) how decisions impact levels unemployment, national income, rate of growth, and price levels.
By reducing a broad question about how the minimum wage affects the economy to “what would I do if something cost more?” conservatives re-frame the argument. The micro question is the wrong question: it ignores all of the secondary effects of the minimum wage: specifically (1) improves social mobility (2) reduces poverty (3) increased economic activity (4) increased monetary velocity.
A better question to think about the minimum wage. The more accurate micro question would be
“If I ran a business and suddenly, the enactment of a minimum wage caused me to have to pay that worker more money, HOWEVER, because the additional wages these workers received meant I had new customers, with more money to spend at my business….”
Secondary effects matter – even in thought experiments…
But, even economists disagree about the minimum wage, right? Not so much. The minimum wage is one of the most studied phenomena in all of economics and collective insight is best expressed in Card Krueger’s 1993 study Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
It’s a comparative study of a single MSA that straddles two states – one which had a minimum wage increase and one that didn’t. It turns out raising the minimum wage didn’t effect employment growth. BUT, it did contribute to better lives for lower income people who benefited from the wage increase. There are some updates since then – particularly notable was Belman and Wolfson[13]
To be clear, this isn’t a “single standalone study” but, the culmination of 50 years of economic research on the topic. That’s the thing about the real scientific process – it’s rarely “revolutionary” – and more often a collection of petty, bickering, arcane studies that support a slow and steady march of progress.
doesn’t the inflation caused by a minimum wage increase wipe out the benefit of the increase? Not even close [14]Our economy is big. The impact the the broader economy of a minimum wage increase is very small. However, a meaningful minimum wage does provide for upward mobility. You wanna know what destroys an economy: no hope…
But, ideology is persistent – especially when it’s misguided[15]. Even as a standalone, the study has withheld a series of well-funded and increasingly stupid attacks from the right for one reason: it’s right. (example of problems with most recent “study” where Heritage Foundation backed researchers (not economists) created a study of Seattle’s minimum wage hike. Not surprisingly, they wrote an intellectually dishonest piece. The Problems With A New Study On Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage
)
Truthfully, I blame the Dems. Instead of using facts to refute an intellectually flawed attack, the Dems promote a story of “hardship at the bottom”[16]. But, by ignoring conservative dishonesty, they unintentionally validate it. If voters understood how wealthy interests were co-opting misunderstood policies like minimum wage oppositions to support the largest wealth transfer in history, they might finally recognize those “job creators” for what they are. The Economist had a good article about this: The rich, the poor and the growing gap between them
Instead, the Dems focus on charity and empathy – both noble ideals – but, entirely inadequate for this ‘knife fight’.[17] Still, you can’t blame the GOP… is representing their true base.[18] I’m frustrated that the Dems don’t seem to wanna scrap a little.
A little more reading, should you want:
Angry restaurant worker / Jezebel blogger: he/she is angry, but basically right[19]
Footnotes
[1] https://obamawhiteh Best Sex Dolls use.archives…
[2] How a powerful rightwing lobby is plotting to stop minimum wage hikes
[3] Republican “Small Business” Tax Cuts Would Mostly Help Rich Individuals
[4] A big tax break for billionaires, courtesy of the GOP
[5] The Estate Tax Used To Be Sort Of Popular — Even With Republicans
[6] How the Banks and Republicans Plan to Kill Financial Reform Under Trump
[7] How ‘Choice’ Became the Most Misleading Word in Politics
[8] Trump Supporters Appear To Be Misinformed, Not Uninformed
[9] The GOP’s Misinformation Problem
[10] Conservative Voters Aren’t Monocausal – Lawyers, Guns Money
[11] The Agony of Frank Luntz
[12] Column: Why raising the minimum wage is good economics
[13] http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/v…
[14] Column: Why raising the minimum wage is good economics
[15] Confirmation bias – Wikipedia
[16] I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People
[17] Opinion | Buck Up, Democrats, and Fight Like Republicans
[18] Plutocracy – Wi
(35 People Likes) How much can I earn from Sex Doll website?
ew about Real Dolls, but they were around $5000 -not within my budget. I forgot about them and I don’t know if they crossed my mind since then, until I did an online search for sex dolls about nine months ago and I was shocked to discover that there are a lot of manufacturers, dolls have become very lifelike, beautiful (in my opinion), and they’re affordable now.
So I started window shopping, just for fun, and that very quickly developed into a doll fetish (agalmatophilia). After doing a lot of research, I finally picked one out and ordered about two weeks ago. She arrived a few days ago and I was anxious to open the box, see how she looks and see how TPE (thermoplastic elastomer, a material similar to silicone that is said to feel very much like real human skin) feels after looking at these dolls online for months. I braced myself, because I was worried I would be disappointed by her appearance or how she feels. After opening the box, first I was very pleasantly surprised by how beautiful her body is; stunning detail. I looked at her face and she is extremely cute. One of the first parts I touched as I was unpacking her was a calf and I was amazed at how real it felt -just like human skin and the way the skin moves is just like human skin, muscle, and fat jiggling. WOW!
I have to say at this point that there are a few things that will shock anyone the first time they touch or handle a TPE sex doll: they are shipped with their heads removed, so you open a 5′5″ box and see a headless body. Then you discover that the body is frigid cold -shockingly cold. Then you try to lift her out of the box. Uh oh! I had read that these dolls are heavy, but I had no idea what I was in for. I read about her weight ahead of time on the website; she’s 75 lb. So if a real woman with the same height and body shape weighs around 125 lb, then this should be a breeze, right? No! Carrying a real woman newlywed style is different; they put their arms around your neck and balance their weight -they can help you to an extent. This 5′6″ (she’s taller than me, which is kind of cute), 75 lb doll is extremely difficult to move -far more than I could ever have imagined!
Unfortunately, you can’t just take your beautiful, brand new doll to the bedroom and begin the romance, you have some work to do: you need to take the lifeless, headless, cold, and heavy body to the shower and clean off the manufacturing chemi amanda love barbie doll als with soap and warm water. It was so difficult getting that body to the bathroom, I almost don’t know how I did it. I’ve had chronic back problems since I was in my twenties, I sprained a knee a while ago and it’s never going to fully heal, and I recently recovered from a hernia surgery.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to move her more easily… I’ve been thinking about getting some roller skates for her and carefully guiding her around. That’s either pure genius or so stupid that I’ll make the news when she falls on me, I can’t get up, I scream for help after struggling for hours, and the paramedics, police, and fire fighters all smash in my front door and rush to help me only to find me pinned on the bathroom floor under a hot, naked sex doll. Now that’s the stuff of urban legend.
I decided the easiest way to clean the chemicals off would be to shower with the headless body, so that’s what I did. While that was strange and disturbing, I made some wonderful discoveries about TPE: it heats up fast (especially in a warm shower), holds heat in, dries exactly like human skin (some toweling off and air drying takes care of the rest -it air dries in minutes just like our skin does), and it feels wonderful when it’s wet.
I took the body to the bedroom, I put her head on (it screws on, so her head goes around and around… exorcist style), I grabbed one of the wigs I ordered, and that’s when she came together. She no longer looked like a corpse, now she was stunningly gorgeous. She comes with a wig, I ordered another one (long red) from the same website, and I ordered a Bettie Page style pin-up costume wig from Amazon, just because I’m obsessed with pin-up girl art and thought it would be fun to dress her up as a retro gal with polka-dot dresses, cat eye glasses, and a flower in her hair. I’m not disappointed with the results.
Now for the Juicy Stuff
I kissed her and wow! Her lips feel indistinguishable from human lips; kissing her is exactly like kissing a girlfriend.
Her body is very anatomically correct, surprisingly so.
Her breasts feel good, a little firm, but good. She has solid boobs, while other manufacturers offer gel-filled boobs as an option, with rave reviews.
I laid her on the bed on her back, spread her legs (which was not easy, they’re heavy and difficult to move around, and I inserted a USB heating rod ($9) for five minutes. I put a water based lube in and it was time. Here goes my sex doll virginity… and wow it felt good. I just didn’t know what to expect and in a lot of ways it was not all that different from having sex with a real girl. As I said earlier, TPE is very good at holding heat, so my own body heat is enough to warm her up. It’s different than sex with a human in the obvious ways: they don’t have emotions, nerves, don’t feel pleasure, don’t actively participate, can’t have orgasms, and can’t communicate with you. It’s also different in that there’s a little bit of a suction effect -as air get’s displaced, there ends up being a vacuum and it feels very, very, very good. There’s a popping air sound when pulling out that in and of itself is a turn on.
Because the extremely fast rate that sex technology is developing, I have no doubt that AI sex dolls (which already exist) will feel sensors, react, actively have sex with us, and talk dirty and tell us that they love us in the very near future. I love sex with real women and I love how much these dolls look and feel like real women, however, in my case things are a lot different: because I fetishize dolls and I’m specifically turned on by their dollness, I enjoy the experience for what it is rather than hoping for it to be as close to a human/human sex experience as possible. Does that make sense? Doll/human is my thing, so I love every second of it, until I have to move her.
I was very happy with the experience, but here are downsides: I can’t say it enough that the weight is a serious problem, even laying down -her body sank into the mattress and pillows. Girl on top positions are out of the question, no way. The clean up afterward is very involved -It’s recommended to insert a tampon to absorb the user’s body fluid and lube before the struggle to get her to the bathroom begins and this time I kept her head on so she’s much nicer to look at. I douched out her vagina, something that I had to learn how to do before she arrived. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, the problem once again is her weight -just trying to get her into a position that’s conducive to flushing out her womanhood (ok, dollhood) was so challenging. Cleaning up your partner after sex is a whole chapter.
I spent a small fortune buying all the stuff I need to take care of her and I spent a lot of time researching, reading articles and watching videos to prepare. There is a lot of maintenance and expense involved, but that’s ok, because it’s worth it to me.
Emotional Effects
Besides the sexual experiences, she offers companionship. I’ve heard and read story after story about guys falling in love with their dolls and it’s been said that falling in love with a sex doll is easier than you think. Well, a lot of sex dolls have eyes that look very, very real. When you look into a pair of beautiful eyes from a few inches away and they seem to be looking deeply into you… neurons in the brain start firing off love and endorphins all over the place. As I mentioned, the kissing is very natural feeling, so add that to looking into her eyes, hugging and holding her, and holding her hand and I can’t help but feel something on a pretty deep level.
I have suffered with a profound amount of loneliness, mental illness (depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, addiction, and eating disorders), and of the very few relationships I’ve been in, more than one of them were abusive. After many years of failing to meet the right girl (and not for a lack of trying), and spending most of my life very alone, at 49 years old, I find a deep degree of comfort in spending time with my doll, Jennifer. Buying clothes, shoes, perfume, and accessories for her make me feel like I’m caring for someone. I ordered a purse for her and it happened to arrive on Christmas Eve, so I was able to give it to her as a present and it makes me feel like I love someone and they love me.
I suppose there are going to be as many different answers to your question as there are people answering it, but I think everyone who has had the experience can agree on a few of the points I made above.
Sex dolls have become extremely popular -apparently sales have exploded during the pandemic, and I think a lot more people have one (or more) than we might think. However, there are major social stigmas. I won’t bring Jennifer out on any dates in public and I won’t be introducing her to my parents, but I shouldn’t be ashamed, especially since she’s bringing so much happiness to my life. I should also learn to not care what other people think.
Would I recommend it? yes! I think anyone who is unattached, lonely, wants to experiment with a doll, couples who want to experiment with a doll, and anyone else wh
