morality

the new york times magazine had an interesting story about the minimum wage being a moral issue. i love the nyt magazine but sometimes the articles are too highbrow or political and don't interest me. but this one...about a movement in santa fe to raise the minimum wage to a living wage caught my eye. is raising the minimum wage a moral issue, like propronents argue? is making sure that people who work full time can make a living salary a moral issue or a legal issue? i don't know the answer. the liberal do-gooder in me says of course it is. these are people and they deserve to make a living just like anyone else. the wife of a small business owner side of me, though, thinks about the impact on business that raising the minimum wage would have. higher wages mean less profit which means....what for me? my husband's business doesn't employ hourly workers, just a few salary employees. but i can see the argument that high wages means less money in the pocket of the owners which means less for *their* families. in a capitalist, democratic society, isn't it every person for themselves? is it our job to provide for all members of society (the haves helping the have nots) or is it everyone's responsibility to make their own way? should my husband, who worked hard in college and got good grades and worked for years before starting his own business have to help other people who made other choices in their lives? does raising the minimum wage address larger social issues or does it only solve a piece of the puzzle? and is that all it's supposed to do?

i don't know the answer. but i don't think it's a moral issue. because whose morals are we talking about?