My city raised the minimum wage and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me and my family. I seriously wouldn't have been able to afford college without it. Raising the federal minimum wage would help so many people. It's a common right-wing lie to say minimum wage increases hurt businesses; in the long run, it actually helps the economy. Here's the proof.
My dad owned a car wash that had barely been making any money for the past few years. Almost all the car washes around here were operating just above break-even levels since it's a very saturated market. He is hard working and has always tried to provide the best for his kids, but there's just no way he could afford to put us through college. He's also pretty smart with money, and when I was still in high school he advised us that taking on so much debt would trouble us later in life, and said we should try to save up to afford college instead. He planned to help us as much as he could, which wasn't a lot.
Fast forward a few years, and there's a campaign to raise the minimum wage in my city to $15 an hour. It succeeds. A lot of greedy business owners were complaining about it, but my dad was quite excited and knew that it was for the good of society. Most of the car washes around here raised their prices, but not my dad. He owned the only automatic car wash in town.
Pretty soon, business was booming, as my dad had the best prices by far. He was able to buy out more and more of the other car washes and convert them to be fully automated. The old business owners sold them for cheap, probably because they were too greedy to pay their employees the new minimum wage, and would rather get rid of their business than do the right thing.
Now my dad owns every car wash in town except one. It has been a blessing for our family. Now we can charge more since people don't want to drive 20 minutes to a competitor just to get their cars washed. Our customers make $15 an hour now so they can afford to pay more. And we believe the only other car wash in town is operating illegally. All of the workers are foreign and likely undocumented (a common target for the rich to take advantage of since they are afraid to complain to the government) and the owner is abusing them by paying them below minimum wage. My dad drove through and asked them what they made and they said $10 an hour, so he is planning to go to the city to get the car wash shut down. Then the workers will be able to find a fair job that actually pays them well.
My dad was able to fully pay for my brother and I to go to very prestigious universities, and I am now studying to major in music – a career which I never could have dreamt of achieving back in high school. My brother is becoming a pilot, and for Christmas this year, my dad is going to surprise him with a small Cessna 150.
All in all, society moves forward when we raise the minimum wage. We must prevent money-hungry old white guys from abusing our most vulnerable members of society. I could never imagine being where I am today if my city didn't raise the minimum wage.