This framing can make it come off as though the wages were fair to begin with. The consensus seems to be that they were never fair. And people in the US are largely tired of the government giving handouts to businesses over people. It's time for those who reaped disproportional benefits over the past 40 years to eat some costs instead.
> This framing can make it come off as though the wages were fair to begin with.
This framing passes the buck for inflation from the government onto businesses that have no control over it whatsoever.
When the money you have buys less and less, the wages suddenly become less and less "fair" without the employer doing anything differently. Who's to say that their business has increased enough to support the higher wage?
This is, IMO, why basic income is critical because it puts the cost of dealing with inflation directly back on the government itself, rather than the small businesses that are constantly framed as paying "unfair" wages.
If the taxes to support it come from the people at the top who've reaped disproportionate benefits...GREAT. But the small businesses at the bottom struggling to keep their doors open are not the enemy here but they will absolutely be the ones that suffer the most from wage-based legislation that they can't afford.
And let's not forget that the moment such legislation passes, it just encourages more automation or exporting of jobs to other countries where a fraction of the original wage is somehow "fair".
With high unemployment pay, you lose that money the moment you go get a job so it creates a disincentive to work.