The minimum wage increased in 20 states on New Year’s Day. It is a step in the right direction, but I don’t think it is enough. Is a $0.12 boost in your hourly wage really going to make a difference? If you worked in a sweatshop, fuck ya! That doubles your salary on the year! The folks in Florida receiving that very same $0.12 boost in wage were not as jolly as you may think. Can you blame them? Other states did provide larger increases; Massachusetts went from $8 to $9 (to buy some extra Clam CHOWDAA) and New York went from $8 to $8.75.
Is it enough though? I got a bump in my pay from $8 to $9, but really haven’t noticed a difference. I’m not the most frugal with my Benjamins, but I still don’t think a $0.75 increase is going to be enough to save for three children’s college education. (Not my children, I don’t have any, I think?)
A wealthy entrepreneur, Nick Hanauer, made the argument that we should boost the minimum wage to $15. I encourage you to follow the link. In the article, he argues from a Capitalist point of view that an increase to $15/hr would cultivate consumers (more people would buy things), ease federal benefits (less people on welfare), and give businesses more spending ability (re-investing in the economy). It make sense. People may argue that jobs would be outsourced, but minimum wage jobs tend to be more hands-on services.
The only people who would complain about it are corporations (because they are people too!). They want to get away with paying people as little as possible as they continue to push the wealth divide further apart. Hey, if you are on the better half of the wealth divide, you don’t want peasants crashing your velvet red rope, VIP party. But who knows. Maybe more entrepreneurs like Hanauer can influence legislature to make the $15/hr wage possible. 
