Recent orders
How can raising minimum wage help increase economic mobility (3)
Taylor Cunningham
EH102-01
Rough Draft
15 October 2019
How can raising minimum wage help increase economic mobility?
The annual amount for minimum wage that workers are being paid in the United States is $7.25 an hour. About 20.6 million people or more like 30% of all hourly, non-self-employed workers that are18 and older are minimum-wage workers. Some states have increased their minimum wage but not many have changed it due to inflation. While living as a U.S citizen, there are several things that workers are wanting to be changed but there would be problems that arise if those things are changed. The government has the control over whether they want to go ahead and make that decision, but the issue is that there has been an ongoing debate for a while. Although increasing minimum wage sounds great, there would be changes needed to be done and pros and cons following.
When it comes to the working community, you have your workers who receive minimum wage, ones who receive a little over minimum wage and others who receive way above minimum wage. Several of these companies cannot afford to increase their pay wages because of the amount of employees they have and the amount of money they have to pay out within a period of time. As Boehner said, “when you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it” (19). Basically, he is saying that if the employees are getting paid more, than eventually the amount of employees will eventually start to decrease. He also said, “The last time Congress increased the minimum wage, in 2007, the national unemployment rate stood at 4.4 percent and had averaged under 5 percent for the preceding three years” (19). This shows that the unemployment rate has started to increase from the decision that was made in 2007. So, it is a hard decision to be made by certain companies because they have other issues that would come about if they proceed with the increase.
Americas poverty levels has always been an issue, especially when it comes to working citizens who are still in poverty. When Obama was in office, he decided that he wanted the minimum wage rate to be increased. This was said in a state of the union address to congress and the United States. It is said in Harkness article, “since 1967, the inflation adjusted earnings of middle-class Americans have risen a paltry 19 percent, while those in the top 5 percent have enjoyed a 67 percent gain, according to the U.S. Census Bureau” (1). The middle-class people could eventually fall below as well if things are adjusted. This is because their mortgages would increase, and their cost of living would also. Harkness also puts in his article that, “In all, 46.5 million Americans are living below the poverty level” (1). That number alone is very disturbing to read when it comes to Americans being poor.
As stated before, there has already been a rising of minimum wage in different countries. The fact that minimum wage has been risen already in some states is an improvement for some. In the article that Meer had wrote, Meer says, “Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have raised their minimums since 2014” (Meer1). By those states doing that, there could be several reasons of why their decision was to raise the minimum wage. One reason may be that the cost of living for them may be low and it would not affect them in a negative way. Another reason may be that all of those states may have come together in an agreement of some sort that helps if either one come into a problem with inflation or anything else. He also puts in his article that, “Congress is considering the Raise the Wage Act, which would phase in a nationwide increase to $15 an hour over the next few years” (Meer1). With that being risen that high, it raises concerns on what else may be effected by this.
Native America
Native America
Tales have been told on the Native Americans and the kind of life they lived in. Common stories are from the hard life that the Americans faced in the early occupancy in the great nation. This is from the time that the great explorers visited the continent from Europe in search of a good place to stay. This was after Europe was considered a small continent for people living there. Moreover, the rising population in the continent lied to the people to go in search for better prospects. Besides that, there was the problem of industrialization. Europe faced tremendous growth in industrialization. On most lands that were available were engrossed from these activities. In addition, industrialization made it difficult for the people of Europe to practice agriculture as most land was in use. This said and done a strategy was set in place that would see it fit people to explore on land yonder. This led to explorers to find land in North America. However, the land was occupied by the red Indians. Finding settlement was a hustle as there was the struggle between the natives and the Europeans who would later be referred to as the Americans. However, a later struggle that has made America what it is now being the American Revolution, which led to the establishment of the state in 1776. The revolution was such a success such that the French tried the same in the late 1790s only for it to be somewhat a failure. By and by, the American continent has served as home to many. This includes the whites, African American, Red Indians and people from all over the globe. These people find the country a native. A place that they were born, breed and grew in. America prides to be the country with the highest diversity in the globe. Despite the huge population and the diversity, all seem comfortable living within the country. Some of the books that try to depict the living amongst the Americans after the American Revolution is ‘growing up native America. This is a book by Patricia Rileys. The book contains many short stories in it. The short stories are accounts of many authors whom each tell their tale of how their childhood was while living in America. The stories give a general picture of how early childhood was like for American in the early 1990s. This is because of the spread of the origins of the stories as they are from people living in various states in the country. The book itself is a combination of 22 American stories with tales of oppression, survival, heritage and culture. However, some of the stories are short form of long stories that have been published elsewhere. Despite this, they all give a general feel of life early lifeblood of an American child depicting culture and practices then. An example is a story by Eric Galsworthy called, ‘the Ballad of Plastic Fred’. The ballad of plastic Fred is a story of small children living in California and their livelihoods then. The children had a toy that they dearly loved. The toy was an idol shaped as a warrior with arrows. The toy actually looked like the native red Indians. This was from the clothing that it had and the arrows that it beheld. Besides the toy that they loved, others were all Indian like toys. However, this one toy was special to them. This is because of the speculation behind the toy. The toy that was also Indian like was presumed to be looking like Gary Lou’s older brother. The brother was a native to the town before he set off to Hollywood and started an acting career. “There was some speculation from my older cousins, those in the fourth or fifth grade, that one of those figures might be of Gary Lou’s older brother, who had gone to Hollywood to be a star”, (Patricia Riley, 1993). With his career picking up while, still young. The young children in the neighborhood praised his every move. Many adored him as they could watch home act in a couple of movies on the television set. In so doing, they had one toy amongst them that they likened him to it. The toy would bear the name Fred. The toy was always in a running position, mouth wide open and always carried a hatchet or tomahawk. The kids who included Innis and Ace took him for a warrior. However, the star who was once a neighbor got them thinking a lot. This is because of the change of names, which they realized they did not see his real name anywhere in the movies. They later found out that the new marriage between his biological mother and new dad led to him changing names to Frederick Eagle Cry. On finding out, a sigh of relief could be seen. They would now be certain that their role model did not die in the movies. One day, the kids set off to a small journey to the store with the narrator’s older sister, Kay to buy another Fred toy as the one they had been torn off. During the drive to the store, Kay hit a mailbox as she was busy adjusting the radio. Despite the car having a dent, the mailbox could be easily returned to its position. On their way back, they fabricated a story that would get them off the blame with their mother. Therefore, the kids killed a cat on the road and took it home. The story involved them saying that as they tried to avoid hitting the cat, they swayed and hit a mailbox. However, on reaching home, sad news of the demise of Fred hit them. “Kay was more interested in the volume control than the steering wheel. We promptly crashed into Ardra’s mailbox just down the road. We hadn’t been going very fast, but we did enough damage that we had to stop.”, (Patricia Riley, 1993). The story surely reveals the ways of the people in native America. It shows how people lived on tales and hope. They anticipated of living like their role models. With that hope in their heart, they would have idols of the role models in their houses. This kept people going. In addition, bullying was a common thing in the Native American days. This is evident from the author’s revelation of the fear that he had on Innis older brother Ace. He explains that Ace had random bursts of violence. Therefore, he had to hang out with Ace in the company of and older person. All the kids were victim to the same. They all frightened to the sight of Ely. With this fear, Ely was advantaged in that he has to snatch the Fred toy away from anyone who adds it. It was after his long use of the toy that the other has to play with it.” Ely, who either used them for target practice, or tied them to fire crackers, or put lighter fluid to them, or in some other way creatively mutilated them.” , (Patricia Riley, 1993). Ely put firecrackers to the toys or put lighter fluid to them. The children would have to buy another toy. Same could be told by Earle Thompson’s poem called spirit. The poem is about the deep culture of the Indians living in native America. They are deeply rooted to their culture, believe, and still have red Indians toys in their houses. The toys are just but a reminder of their past lives. Besides this, their interaction with the diverse cultures that present themselves from neighbors from various cultures still do not deter them from practicing what they strongly believe in. “We have forgotten who we are.“ We have sought only our own security.We have exploited simply for our own ends.We have distorted our knowledge.”, (Gibran, 2010).
The poem is a form of prayer to the gods. The red Indians used the prayer to find inwards strength within them and grow. This could be found from not only prayer but also object that likened the existence of the gods to them. These objects could be used as idols.
Work Cited
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Gansworth, Eric. “The Ballad of Plastic Fred.” The Ballad of Plastic Fred. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/ericg/writing/Plastic.Fred.html>.
http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/ericg/writing/Plastic.Fred.html
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” “Great Spirit.” Great Spirit. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
HYPERLINK “http://www.firstpeople.us/html/Great_Spirit.html”http://www.firstpeople.us/html/Great_Spirit.html
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Ramsey, Jarold. “University of Nebraska.” JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. HYPERLINK “http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20736544?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21103021396101″http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20736544?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21103021396101
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Riley, Patricia. “American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL): Patricia Riley’s GROWING UP NATIVE AMERICAN.” American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL): Patricia Riley’s GROWING UP NATIVE AMERICAN. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/11/patricia-rileys-growing-up-native.html>.
Assessment of Winston and Franklin
Strategic Leadership
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Assessment of Winston and Franklin
Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were two important leaders, especially during the occurrence of World War 2. They managed to see the significance in joining forces to have their own nations’ needs met as their friendship blossomed. Winston Churchill was effective when it came to his leadership and statesmanship of Britain. He had strategic foresight as an attribute, especially in consideration of the Munich Agreement following its aftermath and lack of success in preservation of Europe’s peace (The International Churchill Society, n.d.). This peace could not be assured in the presence of the looming threat of Nazi Germany. Winston Churchill’s friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt would grow further owing to the alliance that they fostered for the sake of ridding Britain and the United States of the Nazi control. The man also had vision clarity especially in the Western Alliance’s (Britain and the United States) defeat of Germany and Japan. Franklin Roosevelt is considered a strategic leader since he took the United States through a great portion of the World War II and the Great Depression in the 1930s (Bustin, 2019). He was a visionary leader through his impressionable discussion of political issues and the level of optimism with which he led the United States. The Americans were calmer when Franklin Roosevelt was handling national issues, so much so that the fear of facing certain situations was eliminated and replaced by boldness in handling difficult matters.
Comparison and contrast of the strategic leadership skills
These two leaders were similar and different in various ways. They were both good communicators. FDR was “one of the best orators of the 20th century”, especially with the use of the advanced technology of the time, the radio, through his “fireside chats” (Informa Insights, 2013). He was well known for his presentation skills, both as an orator and through his imposing stature. To further this truth, the previous administration only boasted of a single mailroom staff, but after FDR taking office as president, the same mailroom now boasted of 70 people as staff within the first week in office. Churchill was a good communicator, owing to his ability to bring the Britons together through his conversations, visibility, and the amount of value he left with those whom he interacted with (Lim, 2020). He left a mark through every interaction he had with them. He managed to build himself up into an effective orator, especially in the presence of his allied forces. His effectiveness as an orator did not come seamlessly like it did for FDR. His best option was practicing it to the point of achieving effectiveness. Not only were Churchill and Roosevelt good communicators, they were also good problem solvers. When Churchill was faced with difficulty during World War II, he engaged FDR, with whom they brainstormed on effective ways of dealing with their impending rivals in the field (National Park Service, 2015). The fact that they were already friends helped better the interactive situation. They managed to champion efforts towards the end of the war as well as to keep the enemies away from the American coast while managing to end the global war, especially against Britain.
With regard to negotiation skills, Churchill put them into good effect when he convinced FDR to provide help to Britain even through the provision of tools of war to aid Britain bring the war to an end, and true to this, FDR helped out the Britons. Churchill was gifted with his convincing ability. This case especially worked since both countries were going to benefit from the additional American efforts to bring the war to an end. FDR was a good negotiator too, since he convinced the American people about their disengagement from the war and their neutrality in the World War II, thus distancing America from the war, but promising to lend a much needed hand to Britain. They both succeeded as great negotiators. Both leaders were effective in building consensus, especially when looking at FDR and Churchill agreeing to help each other out to the point of keeping America safe and Britain out of the war (Kimball, 2016 & National Park service, 2015). They agreed on these terms, which then became their source of motivation in the engagement of the war. It is also important to throw in their relationship building capabilities seeing that they cultivated their personal and professional relationship. This relationship helped fuel their ability to build a consensus to a point of both leaders benefitting from the arrangement.
On differences, Churchill was actively involved with the military during his tenure as Prime Minister while FDR distanced himself from his commander in chief position to the point of leaving the heavy-lifting to his military leaders. As much as FDR has been part of the military before jumping into politics, he got to a point where he thought best to delegate the military issues to the military heads, so much so that he distanced himself from his position as commander in chief. Another difference is that FDR, during the blossoming of his relationship with Churchill, was functioning at a time when he was focused on his political future as president while Churchill was focused on efforts to calm and rid Britain of the war (Roosevelt, 2017). FDR was also focused on the national political issues while Churchill was focused on global, war issues. The leaders had different agendas, thus having different goals to achieve.
Churchill’s strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures
Churchill was a man of various strengths. He was an effective leader and statesman, a popular and influential man, he was convincing as he did Roosevelt, inspirational, he was a good orator, and he was able to make difficult decisions. However, he had various weaknesses. He had a weakness in gambling through which he lost a lot of money, he failed in a World War I attack when his attempt to land troops went sideways, and his leadership in Norway’s invasion bore no fruits (Churchill & De Gaulle, n.d.). These were also his failures. His successes were he succeeded as statesman prime minister; he brought the first minimum wage system to Britain, and naval reform implementation (Anirudh, 2016). He also succeeded in getting Britain out of the war and uniting Britons, he won the literature Nobel Peace Prize, and he was active in the passing of the people’s budget.
Franklin’s successes, weaknesses, successes, and failures
FDR was a compassionate man, a pragmatic leader, he had a good combination of political skills, he was self-confident, he was able to overcome adversity, and was a keen leader (Weldon, 2018; Informa Insights, 2013; & Business Management Daily editors; 2012). He was, however, considered insincere, vain, and a liar but compensated these with good leadership skills. The successes of FDR include credit and banking system stabilization, employment through public works was made possible, union membership and labor rights were improved, and farmers were able to finance their loans. Others were America’s infrastructure improved due to public works, rural electrification benefitted from improvement, and success during the great Depression and World War II (Winkler, 2009). The failures include farmers experienced worse situations due to ineffective federal policies, and as much as depression was dealt with people did not experience economic recovery which declined leading to increase in unemployment. On top of this, farmers went on with their suffering due to little impact by the Resettlement Administration, and African American farmers suffered even more as a result of Roosevelt wanting to please southern businessmen and politicians, with farmers’ production levels reducing.
References
Anirudh. (2016, Dec 7). 10 major accomplishments of Winston Churchill. Turiya Infotainment Private Limited. https://learnodo-newtonic.com/winston-churchill-accomplishmentsBustin, G. (2019, Apr 16). 5 leadership lessons from FDR that inspire reinvention during times of change. Vistage. https://www.vistage.com/research-center/business-leadership/20190416-5-leadership-lessons-from-fdr/Churchill and De Gaulle. (N.D.). Strengths and Weaknesses. Churchill and De Gaulle. https://churchillanddegaulle.weebly.com/strengthsweaknesses.htmlInforma Insights. (2013, Aug 29). What made Franklin D Roosevelt a great leader? Informa Connect. https://www.informa.com.au/insight/what-made-franklin-d-roosevelt-a-great-leader/Kimball, W.F. (2016, Oct 24). Churchill and the Presidents: Franklin Roosevelt. The Churchill Project Hillsdale College. https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/churchill-presidents-franklin-roosevelt/Lim, E. (2020, Apr 23). Six Supply Chain Related Leadership Lessons From Sir Winston Churchill We Need Today! SupplyChain247. https://www.supplychain247.com/article/six_leadership_traits_of_sir_winston_churchillNational Park Service. (2015, Nov 17). Roosevelt and Churchill. National Parke Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/fdrww2.htmRoosevelt, C. (2017). Upstairs at the Roosevelts’: Growing Up with Franklin and Eleanor. U of Nebraska Press.The International Churchill Society. (N.D.). Churchill: Leader and Statesman. International Churchill Society. https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/life/churchill-leader-and-statesman/#:~:text=Winston%20Churchill%20was%20also%20an,the%20attribute%20of%20strategic%20foresight.&text=Despite%20his%20misgivings%2C%20Churchill%2C%20%E2%80%9C,his%20vision%20was%20again%20clear.Weldon, B. (2018, Jul 18). What were the strengths of Franklin D. Roosevelt? Quora. https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-strengths-of-Franklin-D-RooseveltWinkler, A.M. (2009, Mar 31). The New Deal: Accomplishments and Failures. Banking Senate. https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/WinklerTestimony33109TheNewDealSenateTestimony.pdf