THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES 2

What decides the minimum wage, how is it calculated, what must its buying power be. I do not know. I am not an economist. If there is an economist out there please enlighten me.


The TT dollar was floated against the US dollar. The ratio of the population against the Gross National Product. George Bush says we can no longer qualify for favourable nation status because the country is too rich. All of which leads me - a lay person - to believe the minimum wage should be at least 40.00 an hour, and it is in some parts of the country. A mini apartheid.


So why you may ask am I the only person who thinks the minimum wage should be that amount? Well I am not, do you think that little boy was the only person who noticed that the emperor had no clothes on?


When I was a little girl, a worker was considered a very respectable person. It did not matter where the person worked, the fact that they worked was enough. That person could rent a house pay bills, buy groceries and get married. Now if a person is working you first have to ask where.

People are saying a lot that prices are so high, well they are not, when you compare the inflation of your parents generation, to other generations this period is the lowest it only seams high because salaries have not grown in step.

People are also saying that the crime situation is bad, this is also not true. With any other country that is as rich as ours and with so much poverty, there would have been a lot more crime. I believe there would have been riots in the streets. So where are the riots? well there are two reasons why there are none. Number one is that this is not a godless country, like say China and number two is that the people of this country are really well brought up with a strong sense of family. Also there are extended families to lean on for support.

So who are these other people who know that the minimum wage is too low? Well there are quite a few. First there is the emperor himself who for what ever reason thinks it best to remain quiet. Then there are the merchants and manufactures who are direct beneficiaries of the low minimum wage they for obvious reasons will remain silent. Then there are those who despite the minimum wage receive a high salary. These people also choose to remain silent -shades of the house nigger - They have a sense of entitlement, a feeling that, "I have sent my children to school you should have too" or "I worked hard in school you should have too." They may even be thinking that some how if the uneducated earn more - they will end up with less.

There is obvious danger for the haves from the havenots. you know the people for whom working for 10.00 an hour in not an option. There is the danger of being kidnapped, robbed, hit by a stray bullet. And generally this risk is accepted, with the firm belief that this will happen to someone else, not them.

This evening the Minister of Finance was basking in the glory of the idea of this country being rich. She boasted of the smart card and the other poverty relief measures that they have implemented. She should be so ashamed of herself.

My advice? Take advantage of the wonderful opportunities in the country right now.
EDUCATE YOURSELF.