Focusing on the minimum wage is focusing on a small piece in a large puzzle, much like the focus on income disparity as a means of increasing income for the lowest paid of our wage earners.
For example how much is $1,000.00? Is it a lot? Is it a little? $1,000.00 (or any amount) is really not important at all. It's what you can buy for that $1,000.00 that really matters!
Take the minimum wage as an example. Since the beginning of the minimum wage corporate America has gotten very good at "adjusting" for minimum wage hikes.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html
Please refer to the link, throughout the history of the minimum wage, the actual buying power of those stuck at the minimum wage level has never really increased. Dollar amount isn't as important as dollar value. Move it up to $10/hour, corporate America will adjust. Raise it to $22/hour, corporate America will adjust it again to ensure that those on the minimum wage never really gain any real, lasting increase in buying power.
The income gap is the same. The gap itself isn't what matters as much as what can the people on the low end of the gap afford to buy with what they make. Personally, I don't really care that the top 1% own's 95% (or whatever number it is) of the money in the world. What I do care about is that the lowest 10% (and by default everyone else in income ranges above them) have the ability to buy groceries, have a home, have a reasonably reliable (preferably energy efficient) automobile. Has access to basic luxuries that make's life worth living.
What we really need is a workers tax. A tax where the proceeds go directly to the workers. A tax that ties corporate profits to employee income. Starting at 15% Corporations need to compensate all employees, equally, 15% of their net. For example, Walmart netted $469 billion last year. Take 15% of that amount, or $70.35 Billion, and equally distribute it to all estimated $1.4 million employees. That's an additional, lump sum profit bonus to all employees of $50,250/ year. Then, if Walmart (and the rest of corporations) attempt to "adjust" they will have to do so by adjusting their own profit margins... something they won't do.
The benefit of this method, vs the minimum wage has an additional advantage. Because profit margins are the basis of the pay out, it will actually benefit corporations to increase their employee base rather than cutting them to protect their precious profit margins.
Heck, we might even be able to sell this to the cons, since this also vests the employee's interest in working harder to ensure the companies are successful (after all, they all have a real, and vested interest in the success of the company!)... THEN, for the gap to widen any further between the haves and the have nots, it would mean the have nots would also be getting a real, and proportional increase as well! One of those few cases where it could really be a win/win for all of us.
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