Thursday, February 14, 2013

Sally Army report and the Living Wage campaign

It's hardly surprising that the Salvation Army Report, She'll  Be Right, got little media coverage. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the statistics, only the spin that Major Campbell Roberts puts on them. Every year he says something in his introduction that demonstrates his socialist bent. Last year he said the Prime Minister had no moral authority for the welfare reforms (despite having been elected on an overt agenda to overhaul the benefit system). This year Roberts writes:

"...the solutions to our challenges around child poverty, youth employment and housing—The Salvation Amy considers it’s naïve to believe and dishonest to suggest that these solutions do not require more tax dollars. The source of these extra tax dollars is, of course, a problem particularly considering the global economic situation. In our view the need for a society that is just and gives every citizen the right to participate economically and socially is so important, that ways must be found to find this additional tax revenue."
As Michael Laws commented yesterday, when did the Sallies become communist?

And in the related matter of a living wage, at last Bill English is pointing out that many people have their minimum wage topped up with various forms of government assistance.

Here's the problem for the living wage campaigners. If a worker receives a higher wage, he will lose his means-tested government assistance. He'll quite probably be no better off.

I'm quite happy for the employer to pay more so the tax payer pays less. It's is the employer that benefits from the labour purchased. But the bottom line is, the worker is no better off. And isn't improving worker well-being and prosperity the whole aim of this campaign?

10 comments:

Mark Hubbard said...

Matt Nolan has a great post over at TVHE on how an enforced wage floor simply creates a class of people who can't be employed.

As for paying the living wage, of course the first implementers are those who pay wages out of other people's money: government and central government:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10865266

Brendan McNeill said...

Lindsay

It's appalling that a group of Christians like the Salvation Army, that have such a fine historical track record of caring for the poor through their own means, have been hijacked by hard core socialist leadership who now look to the state to provide.

I suspect General Booth would promptly resign his membership were he alive today.

Kiwiwit said...

What does it really mean to increase taxes? It means the state uses its exclusive legal mandate to commit violence to extract more money from middle income earners (and it is nothing but a left wing fantasy to think that there are enough 'rich' people to make a significant difference to state revenues).

Increased tax rates will almost certainly mean decreased compliance with tax law and therefore even more arrests and imprisonment for non-payment. For many families, that additional tax may mean the difference between properly heating their house or not, so ultimately it becomes a choice between letting the baby freeze or going to prison.

And he is advocating all of this in the name of Christ?

Anonymous said...

A lot of Christians have lost sight of the real gospel and now preach a social gospel of good works. Roberts may be one. Maybe he needs to re-learn the fact that Salvation, as it should be preached, is nothing to do with food banks and housing.

Church help is something that should spring from a Christian heart of compassion, not from raxes.

Anyway, who needs Christianity nowadays? We are told its so old fashioned darlings and the state knows what you need.

3:16

Anonymous said...

The bible is pretty damn clear: the poor will always be with you; the employer has the right to pay what he wants to whom he wants; riches are the sign of God's favour.

When Christianity really rule the west, the likes of this sally would have had a one way trip to the inquisition.

Richard said...

It's a damn shame about the Sallies.

Manolo said...

Just remember never to donate money to the Sallies. Never!

Anonymous said...

As I recall increasing the price of cigarettes was supposed to reduce the demand for cigarettes. As far as I know that has happened to at least some degree. Now if the same people want to increase the price of labour what do you suppose they are expecting to happen to the demand for labour. I guess that as unions don't act for either smokers or the unemployed they are not too fussed. However, maybe the Sallies act for both so they should be worried by the absurdity.
Sectare Fidem
Jeremy

Johnny said...

Brendan took the words out of my mouth. William Booth would be turning in his grave.

In many ways, this is exactly the opposite message that William Booth took to the streets of London, in inventing his Army of Christian self-helpers, available to everyone, not just people who did right by the Bible every day, and who had the right body odours to be able to participate in Christian prayer. Booth detested that Christian churches had become elitist, and self-righteous, with Churches turning away the very people who were in the same social strata as Jesus Christ himself had been.

Jesus Christ was a carpenter. But the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were turning away even carpenters because they were proles. William Booth opened the Church again to the workers. Historically, the Salvation Army has celebrated the workers.

(btw, I am not a Christian).

Shane Pleasance said...

I'm pretty sure someone somewhere said: "The government is not caring and compassionate. It cannot replace families and community. The welfare state is unsustainable economically, socially and morally."

Whoever it was, nailed it really.