Hateful minimum wage laws keep my disabled son unemployed
By Jon Caldara
Minimum wage laws are tools of systematic hate.
Recently the voters of Colorado removed a constitutional ban on gay marriage by 64% to 36%. Overwhelmingly, the people believe government shouldn’t prohibit consensual relationships.
Years ago, states around the country removed laws prohibiting homosexual activity for the same reason.
Consensual relationships are the cornerstone of a free society. Example, if two women are neighbors, one an accountant and the other a stay-at home mother whose kids are now school-going age, they might wish to have a relationship.
The accountant needs help but can’t afford much. The mother wants to learn accounting and prefers the convenience of not commuting away from her children. Both benefit from working together.
If these two women wish to have sex, get married, buy a home — the government protects their rights.
But if they want to have an employer/ employee relationship that pays less than the minimum wage — the government steps in and proudly prevents such a sick, perverse consensual relationship.
So, in other words, we only really care about protecting people’s consensual relationships when they’re naked.
Colorado’s hateful minimum wage laws are now preventing my son, who has Down syndrome, from having a meaningful and fulfilling life.
By law he cannot have a job unless he’s paid minimum wage. I live in Boulder where there is talk of raising the minimum wage to an unaffordable $25 an hour.
My son, Chance, needs work not to put food on his table. He needs work to continue developing as a human. To build relationships, interact with typical people, work on his struggling communication abilities.
And, as if it matters to anyone in government, he needs to work to bring him purpose and joy.
Preventing him from working is hate. I understand why people hate me. I just don’t understand how anyone could hate this precious soul or people like him.
Chance will be kicked out of the K-12 education system soon and thrown into the abyss of Medicaid, where he could spend his remaining days warehoused or stuck in front of a television.
The law used to be that employers could pay the disabled up to 15% less than minimum wage in Colorado. Recently, lawmakers who wish to halt consensual relationships have made it illegal to pay people with disabilities any less than minimum wage.
I’m sure their intentions were in the right place. But in their constant quest for equity, do they ever think about human happiness and that we are all different and want different things for different reasons? Why do they only give lip service to diversity?
The evil is the minimum wage law to begin with. You cannot make evil equitable.
My son is in an employment training program to “teach” him how to work. He loves it. But — and how can I put this kindly? — like his old man, Chance is not the most productive worker. I joked that if he works for an hour someone must work for two hours to clean up the mess. (Again, a chip off the old block.)
This doesn’t mean he doesn’t add value. He brings joy, magic and happiness wherever he works. It does mean that a cash-strapped business might prefer someone who is more productive if they’re going to be forced to pay $25 an hour.
But for $5 an hour (or, hell, 25 cents an hour), Chance and the happiness he brings fellow workers and customers is a bargain, and the greatest value-add that business has ever seen.
Oh, and if it matters, it’s the best for Chance.
Chance innately understands the dignity that comes with work. His first job training was at McGuckin’s Hardware in Boulder. When he came home, I asked him how work was. I could see him grow two inches taller while he answered.
I asked what his favorite part was about working at “Guckins.” He pointed to his chest and said “vest.” He got to wear the green vest uniform and be part of the team. I asked what he liked most about the vest and he said, “name tag.” I asked what the name tag said, and with pride I’ve never seen he said “Chance!”
I’m indebted to all the businesses that work with Boulder Valley School District’s “Transitions” program to help train kids like Chance. Too bad they’re economically barred from hiring these remarkable people.
