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What if someone started a business called Living Wage?

Bear with me, this is complex. Start, for example, a coffee shop or a restaurant, almost anything service-related. And employees were paid, say a minimum of $20/hr plus an even share of 20% receipts including tips while working. Plus catastrophic health insurance for employees+families, plus an even share of monthly profits above 25%. Meaning if after taxes and ALL expenses, etc, the business clears X dollars, then the employees divide 75% of $X evenly. The owner gets the same pay as the employees per hour plus 25%of $X. Now, after figuring out a business budget that supports all that, the prices are set to target $30/hr per employee including wages+tips+profit share. (I'm not expanding on skilled/hard-to-find positions to keep it simple) Would you patronize such a business even if a sandwich for lunch was $40 and a cup of coffee was $8.25? Yes, I mean those of you who are…


Bear with me, this is complex. Start, for example, a coffee shop or a restaurant, almost anything service-related. And employees were paid, say a minimum of $20/hr plus an even share of 20% receipts including tips while working. Plus catastrophic health insurance for employees+families, plus an even share of monthly profits above 25%. Meaning if after taxes and ALL expenses, etc, the business clears X dollars, then the employees divide 75% of $X evenly. The owner gets the same pay as the employees per hour plus 25%of $X.

Now, after figuring out a business budget that supports all that, the prices are set to target $30/hr per employee including wages+tips+profit share. (I'm not expanding on skilled/hard-to-find positions to keep it simple)

Would you patronize such a business even if a sandwich for lunch was $40 and a cup of coffee was $8.25? Yes, I mean those of you who are upper-middle class or better who could afford that easily once or twice a week.

Are enough people ready for transparent prices and wages? Or will we have to wait to learn more lessons from 18th-century capitalism?

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