If I'm looking for ordinary gainful employment, or plan on raising a family, there are minimum standards which are imposed, whether through social expectation, law, regulatory requirements (e.g., immunizations for children attending schools, water, power, and/or septic connections for residences, etc.). Not meeting those requirements will put handicaps on your ability to find and/or keep gainful employment independent of your qualifications otherwise.
Arguably a similar state exists within India, but prejudices are far more baked in to the system and are generally acceptable (I turned up numerous articles discussing discrimination by caste, religious affiliation, sex, etc., while doing some associated research for this thread, they make for ... interesting reading).
I'm not addressing the morality of the differences in living standards between the US and India, or even between Park Circus vs. Malabar Hill (both of which are within India, and, arguably, represent a larger divide than that between the median incomes of the US and India (roughly: $42,693 and $1,219/$3,608 nominal/PPP). That's a separate issue and independent of this discussion.
The question at hand is: what is the minimum wage necessary to provide for a sustainable supply of labor, meeting present standards, within the US. And the answer to that question is, of necessity, relative to prevailing conditions, including expectations, within the US.
Comments
I didn't say "acceptable", I said "prejudicial".
If I'm looking for ordinary gainful employment, or plan on raising a family, there are minimum standards which are imposed, whether through social expectation, law, regulatory requirements (e.g., immunizations for children attending schools, water, power, and/or septic connections for residences, etc.). Not meeting those requirements will put handicaps on your ability to find and/or keep gainful employment independent of your qualifications otherwise.
Arguably a similar state exists within India, but prejudices are far more baked in to the system and are generally acceptable (I turned up numerous articles discussing discrimination by caste, religious affiliation, sex, etc., while doing some associated research for this thread, they make for ... interesting reading).
I'm not addressing the morality of the differences in living standards between the US and India, or even between Park Circus vs. Malabar Hill (both of which are within India, and, arguably, represent a larger divide than that between the median incomes of the US and India (roughly: $42,693 and $1,219/$3,608 nominal/PPP). That's a separate issue and independent of this discussion.
The question at hand is: what is the minimum wage necessary to provide for a sustainable supply of labor, meeting present standards, within the US. And the answer to that question is, of necessity, relative to prevailing conditions, including expectations, within the US.