Hal Sundin recently wrote another column advocating a “Living wage,” claiming if only employers were forced to pay a higher minimum wage, the poor would be lifted up out of poverty and they could join the middle class. He claims the middle class would benefit as well.

He has stated in the past that anything under $11 an hour is unconscionable.

So Hal, if you and other liberals were to have their way, how long until $22 is not enough, or $50?

Hal has obviously failed Economics 101. Increasing the minimum wage simply has not and never will work. Within a short period of time, manufacturers, suppliers and retailers simply raise the price of everything to compensate for the forced increase in minimum wage. So while the minimum wage employee sees an increase in their paycheck, in a very short period of time they will discover everything has become more expensive and their dollar is buying less than ever before. This is called inflation. This also hurts the middle class as they will not see a comparable increase in their wages, yet they also have to pay more for products and food. In the end raising the minimum wage only hurts the middle class and in the long run does nothing for the poor.

Minimum wage jobs were never intended to be a career. Flipping burgers or stocking Aisle 5 has always been a dead end, unless the employee moves into management.

I suggest that if a person wants something other than a minimum wage job, they should further their education or learn a trade that then would allow them upward mobility.

I have worked my share of burger flipping jobs and I worked at Walmart also. I never thought that those employers should be forced to increase what they paid me. When those jobs and what they paid me no longer worked out for me, I moved on.

No one should be forced to pay the way of others and their poor decisions in life.

Who is John Galt?

Lee Perkins

Glenwood Springs