Charity needs to be motivated by empathy.
There is very short supply of that magic ingredient in a multicultural society.
The primary motivation in such a society. is resentment and tribalism.

Dan

YES !
Particularly if the salary is multiple times greater than that minimum wage. I think that ALL above $100,000 Public Servants should have a salary reduction of 1%, above $150,000 a 1.2% reduction, & so on.
Those insanely overpaid bureaucrats' salaries above $300,000 should reduce by 5% & those above $500,000 should be reduced to $500,000 !
Add to that a Flat tax & Australia will be in great shape in a very short time !

Thanks to China and its virus, there are too many people out of work for pay rises to be discussed. The only people getting pay rises are politicians and public servants, safe in their non-productive jobs. Asking them if they would give up their pay rises would really be stupid. The very idea of suggesting that people in today's society would make sacrifices for others, or that lower paid workers would get more money, just because other people didn't, is also stupid.

Asking them if they would give up their pay rises
ttbn,
ASKING THEM ??
Put it up as an election issue & then we'll see who'll be doing the asking !

Why not? If someone taking home $100,000.00+ a year could manage on $80,000.00+ a year and that $20,000.00 went to a low-income individual?

It may increase their take-home by double. And without question that same money would return immediately to the local economy! And boost it significantly. And or allow huge, low-income, debt reduction!

Better than turning the same money into unneeded Executive bonuses and increased shareholder's dividends. Which does not seem to do much for the domestic economy!

But plenty for price gouging, tax avoiding, profit repatriating, debt-laden foregners?

We currently have folks trying to manage on around 20 grand a year or less, some of who may have been forced into early retirement by massive crippling injury?

Yet are still expected to pay the mortgage, the ever increasing, price-gouged utilities, health care and medication, some of which is not subsidised or covered by medicare; and for a reliable vehicle/house and yard care/maintenance/repairs.

Ask any one of them if they'd like to change places? While the higher paid tried to walk in their deminished shoes for at least six months, while headline seeking HIGHLY PAID pollies, waffle on about, the user must pay!

Question is, who is using who? And who expects those with the least to pay the lion's share while those doing all polly waffle, expect to live like kings! Or that the minds and bent backs of others earn all their income for them?

And I know you know who I mean,i.e., the (pigs on animal farm) guy/gal born in the log cabin, gouged from the wilderness, with his/her own bare hands!
Alan B.

Would you forgo all or part of a wage increase to top up the wages of the lowest paid workers?

No, and the idea is ridiculous.

I demand you stop trying to impose socialism;
And you instead teach people the proper rules of capitalism.

I support a hand-up not a hand-out.

We live under CAPITALISM.
Teach people how to succeed under CAPITALISM.
Teach them how to get ahead and create a foolproof system that ensures everyone does.

First you create a 'Socialist Base-level jobs system' just like we have a socialist base-level health and education systems that ensure everyone gets a basic education and adequate healthcare.

You offer double dole for full-time work doing things to help the government save money.
You also earn training credits that go towards the cost of new skills.

This job system removes the 'I can't get a job excuse', and ends half of society's social problems.

You can choose to do nothing with your life and get the bare minimum;
Or make the effort to do something with your life and get all the benefits.
But you make that choice, and you have to live with that choice.

Then you deal with the housing problem.
You use some of those workers to assemble transportable homes in big factories in every state that can be delivered and moved easily when necessarily.

You fix the energy and transport problems with the help of low cost workers. Build High Speed Rail, bring the country to the city, solar, nuclear, wind water dams - whatever it takes, lower the cost of transport and energy and the nation will be more productive and competitive.

You give people every bit of knowledge they need to start their own businesses and take advantage of all the things rich people take advantage of. Every sneaky loophole they are privvy to, you make everyone privvy to.

You remove the things that make people fail, and boost them with the tools to succeed.

Then you stop all this 'race to the bottom' talk.

Why is the lowest paid worker the lowest paid worker?