>“Yes, we will help them, but there is no more something for nothing. They must give back to their community too.”<p>Well, unless you're a banker or a high net worth individual looking to avoid tax, of course. Then you are under no such obligation to give back to the community.<p>This is bad for you even if you <i>aren't</i> earning minimum wage or jobless. The minimum wage has a ripple effect on the labor market. Raise the minimum wage and it increases the wage of those earning just above it, and those earning just above just above it and so on.<p>The effect is of course, muted the further up the wage ladder you go, but the effects of raising the minimum wage propagate up a lot further than you'd imagine.<p>Of course, if you lower the minimum wage the ripple effect works in the opposite direction.