And what happens when the number of fellow humans who A) came here illegally for all the benefits (free public education, Medicaid, WIC, food stamps, housing, etc) or B) who are American citizens but chose NOT to prioritize their free educational opportunities and instead slacked off & received poor grades or dropped out, becomes untenable for the rest of Americans who DID value education, good grades, college or a trade school and who pay their taxes without fail?
I would venture to posit that the majority of Americans who work at minimum wage or low wage jobs are there due to no oneās fault but their own. I grew up in a large American city but in a very āghettoā area where low incomes were the norm. My family was not rich but probably low middle class financially, so no āprivilegeā financially.
In my high school, almost everyone who actually studied and tried to get good grades went away to college at least a trade school, whereas those students and friends of mine who screwed around, skipped class or didnāt study did not go anywhere. At my 10 year reunion I went mainly out of curiosity to see where people ended up and guess what? Those students who were ātoo cool for school/studying/getting good gradesā were stuck in low wage or minimum wage jobs in the same area I grew up. Now, I went to the exact same schools they did and thus received the same public education, the difference is I applied myself and got good grades as I knew it was necessary in order to attend college and eventually get a well-paying job for my future self. The same kids I grew up with were also told of how that all works, just like me. None of them were just āunawareā that college led to a better job and thus higher income, better healthcare, etc. They simply did not VALUE that and did not want to put in the hard work required to achieve those goals.
So, why should those same slackers be entitled to make $20/hr for serving french fries, changing my tires, etc? Because, as @Njord said, their bills are high? That is not how the system, or life in general, is designed to work. It should be those that work the hardest and sacrifice the most, who set high goals for themselves and then work hard to achieve them, be the people who are able to obtain well paying jobs & the associated benefits. Why should my tax burden be higher to take care of grown adults who, as kids and teenagers, showed absolutely zero drive or initiative and now as adults are struggling due to their POOR LIFE CHOICES?
āCaring about our fellow humans to grow and progress as a societyā, as you said @cyclonengineer , does not mean that those of us who worked hard to achieve these things should have to carry and lift up [via higher taxes and higher prices due to paying people more for menial jobs/tasks] those who did not put any effort into making their futures any better? Why should I be essentially āpenalizedā for being successful while they receive artificially inflated wages because āman, my bills are expensive and this job should pay me more?ā