We have plenty of minimum wage threads; and MW is tangential to the point.
Capitalism is a system whereby those with resources can distribute them efficiently to those who need them, in exchange for money.
It cannot work well in the absence of an equally robust system to distribute money from those who have it to those who need it, usually and ideally in exchange for work (which is one of the few resources poor people have available).
If either of these processes is allowed to dominate the other, then we run into problems.
And for several decades, the major western economies have been suppressing the latter in favour of the former - and as things get less and less pleasant, they have doubled-down on their insistence that only the former is necessary, and that any problems we see are due to not enough effort to cut tax, boost profits, and reduce wages.
First I agree we have too many MW threads.
I had to read the rest of the posts from mine to get the sense of where this capitalism thread is going.
As I get it capitalism some say is probably the most efficient means for exploiting producing and distributing products of use to us.
Then the issue of how to distribute excess money to those who need product seems to be a consensus view.
Well here is where such as tipping, artisan, charity, and other value added products come into play.
We've automated production and product distribution removing the need for human input without replacing that supply of primary human skills for participating in product exploitation and we are beginning to remove another major category of human use in resource exploitation that of using human reasoning ability to effectively produce and distribute.
With those two aptitudes removed from the trade for resources to buy products either the process needs change to one where humans are once again useful to the process or humans need to organize differently to take advantage of what they've wrought as a powerful engine for resource exchange.
If abilities are no longer the center of exchange and capitalist exchange is to remain then charity, excess payment, and increased consumption of nonessential, but, value added products like art, music, performance, need be raised to very high levels giving all who attempt to contribute a portion of whatever pie comes from the excess money generating owner and financial class.
Generally, this process is being exploited but it isn't generating enough from the money holding classes, nor do I see it likely to do so.
Probably a better approach is to refocus desire (greed) from money to product usage. IOW getting people to use product becomes the source of incentive. Once the contract is status for number of consumers the incentive system willt ransform from acquiring monetary wealth to one of acquiring product consumers. Now users gain in value and are paid commiserate with their consumption of products distributed through automation. Inventing new ways to get persons to use produce becomes the new source of wealth which, as it turns out, goes back as money to those who are needed to do the consumption.
