In Response to the Death Penalty

     Pablo's Blog Article - https://unitedstatesgovernment19.blogspot.com

  Pablo, I was actually thinking about the death penalty a few days ago before I stumbled onto your post. I struggle with whether this is a suitable form of punishment or not. For the most part, I think capital punishment is too harsh for those convicted of crimes. On the other had, there are few cases where I would not lose sleep over somebody who committed a heinous act receive the death penalty. Because the majority outweighs the minority, I would lean towards getting rid of executions in the United States. The act alone makes us seem like we are stuck in old times. With so much emphasis on the eighth amendment in our class, I cannot see a better example of a cruel punishment. The big issue for me is that humans should have no business deciding whether someone keeps their life or not. Especially when 4% of inmates executed are found to be innocent. Any system that can have human error should not be allowed to decide if someone is killed. I also feel like most supporters of capital punishment are Christian conservatives. If this is the case, my mind is blown. Monumental aspects of Christianity are loving one another as well as the forgiving of sins, but in cases of convicted felons it does not apply? Yes I fully understand that it is terribly hard to forgive these people of their acts, but what good does putting them to death do. I do not believe justice is really served if that person dies as well for their crime. If you do not want to forgive these people, fine, but the court system still has no right to kill them. I mentioned in my participation #4 that we focus too much on punishment and not enough on rehabilitation and I believe that still applies. Again, I really had to think about how I felt on this issue and the more I write the more the death penalty becomes a no brainer for me. It is an outdated practice and has no business in today's society.

Raising The Minimum Wage May Not Be Helpful

       I see over the past few years the argument on whether to raise the minimum wage or not, specifically to the fifteen dollar range. Although I have not been outspoken on this issue in the past, I will make my opinion known in this post. I do not think a raise in the minimum wage is going to be helpful. I understand that we have many Americans working minimum wage jobs and much of them struggle to get by, day in and day out. As someone who cares about human welfare, I do not like to see someone who puts in forty plus hours a week still struggle to make a living. Collectively though, I do not think that this steep increase in minimum wage is going to help the economy.

       One of the most common things I hear in favor of not increasing to a fifteen dollar minimum wage is the rise in cost of consumer goods. If companies and smaller local shops are paying more money for employees, one of the easiest ways for them to recoup their money is through raising the prices of their items for purchase. If this happens it will negatively affect anyone above lower class. They do not benefit from wage increases at all, but at the same time they are paying exponentially more for everyday items. Another way for owners to cut costs is to cut staffing; the less employees they have, the less money they need to give out. Yes, large companies such as Wal-Mart should have no problem paying higher wages to its employees and in my opinion it should pay its workers more. I believe this because they make a crazy amount of capital, but they are greedy and keep it to themselves. Smaller places of employment, especially local shops, do not have the luxury of paying a higher wages while maintaining the same cost of operation. Prices will go up.

       Lastly, an increase in minimum wage does not really have an effect on decreasing poverty. I don’t think the wage is the issue. One study found that an increase from $5.15 to $7.25 only benefited fifteen percent of workers that stood to gain form this increase. We also have benefits that low income workers can qualify for. For example, food stamps and Medicaid. If they workers make more money, they will not quality for these aids anymore. The poverty line in the United States for an average household of four people is about $24,000 a year. If the minimum wage goes up, the poverty line goes up as well. Therefore, no drastic help was really done.

       I know for a fact we have a poverty issue in America and it needs to be fixed. I do not want to come across as heartless because I stated earlier, if you are working hard there is no way we as a country should allow that person to struggle. I want to see people succeed or at the very least be able to have a decent living, but raising the minimum wage is not the way to go about it. I see and understand arguments for the increase of a federal minimum wage and some of them are great, but I cannot overlook the issues it presents as well.