system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Minimum wage should NOT be a living wage

I don't believe that minimum wage should be a living wage. I hold this view because it is my belief that money trades hands when the service/goods someone is providing exceeds the value of x dollars the buyer is offering. It is absurd to me that the government has passed legislation that dictates how much I value service/goods. Because of those beliefs, it seems wrong to me that someone should be given a living wage for sup-par work, or work that someone does not value at a specific living standard.

For example, let's say I own a large grocery store. At the front of my store, I have a greeter. The person I've hired as a greeter is unskilled, has no degree, bare minimal education, and I don't have the resources to train him. However, he has a friendly attitude and I think it might be nice for people to be greeted when they come in to my store. 

Saying "Hi, welcome to HeyCallMe-Megamart!" does not take special skills, does not require a degree, requires minimal communication skills and does not require training. My new employee is doing work that nearly anyone could do. Therefore, I do not value his work at anything above ~$8 (if even that.)

Why should I have to pay this employee what is considered to be a living wage?
gpt
Because he/she is doing work? If you value him/her enough to keep them there for eight hours a day, you should value them enough to pay them enough so they can eat decent food and sleep under a roof during the other 16 hours a day. If you don't value the work enough to make the work worth living on, you don't value it enough for it to be done. Someone has to pay to keep that person alive, to feed and clothe and house them; if it isn't their employer, either they're independently wealthy (unlikely for a greeter), or they're living off food stamps and public housing, and all the taxpayers pick up your slack. Why should we all pay so that you can get the benefits of 8 hours per day of work?