What does economics have to do with Free Hugs you ask? Well the answer is really inherent in the mission of Free Hugs. One of the main reasons of giving away free hugs is the dent that it puts into the capitalist idea that we need money for everything. It is a daily reminder that some things are free. Some things we can't buy with money. Some things are priceless. This being said, money is an important part of any human's life. We do need money to survive. We need money to live in this capitalist world that we have created. Recently I have learned some off-the-wall facts about the distribution of wealth here in the United States have alarmed me.
Lets go over some crazy facts:
- The top 1% of people in the United States have 40% of the total wealth of America
- The bottom 80% of people in the United States have 7% of the total wealth of America
I am just going to give you some time to contemplate those numbers. Just take a moment to read those facts over again. You may also want to take this time and watch this short video about the topic.
I have recently been seeing a lot of press and comments about Starbucks attempting to pay its employee's in a specific location, less than the law in that city allows. There has also been a lot of talk about the 'living wage' and minimum wage and what the best thing to do there is. As an entrepreneurship major, business owner/future business owner, I am fascinated by these questions as I am embarking on a couple of my entrepreneurial endeavors and my entrepreneurial studies.
The numbers are something that is hard to look past. The crazy disparity between the rich and the poor seems almost untouchable. It might seem like there is no hope. I want to say that there is hope. I don't know if you have ever heard of Moo Cluck Moo but this fast food startup company is an example of progress. With a starting salary of $12 an hour, assuming an $8 minimum wage, that is $4 above the minimum wage. And lets remember, Moo Cluck Moo is a startup company which means substantially less profit margin. Moo Cluck Moo is setting a precedent for our countries fast food chains. If a startup company can afford to pay their workers more than they are currently paying them. The process of creating change is happening right now. It is all of us as persons who have the power to help or hinder the cause in our daily life. The protests, boycotts, and actions of the people against the big corporations in-spite of the overwhelming odds in sense gives me hope.
As an entrepreneur, I think that through the increased interest in entrepreneurship and starting their own companies and implementing their own ideas, the distribution of wealth will come soon to follow. The more people who create their own business's the more economic stability more Americans will have. The increase in education opportunities and awareness of entrepreneurship as a career choice gives me hope for a more evenly spread distribution of wealth which will happen sooner than we realize. The increase in entrepreneurship is crucial to the redistribution of wealth in this country.
This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expresses all that I have been trying to convey throughout this whole post.
Therefore, I guess I didn't need to write it because this pretty much sums it up. I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway.
Hugs 'til Next Time,
David Melia (Professional Free Hugger)
P.S. Thanks to The Harry Potter Alliance for sharing this picture on their Facebook page. You should go check them out. They have some pretty cool stuff going on.
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