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********Minimum Rights********
- Adam Frumkin-Sokolow, 1999

No storm clouds of social unrest rumble on the horizon, preparing to unleash a surge of popular discontent. On the contrary, with the execution of the final stage of the federal Fair Labor Standards Law, the local media and community seem pleased to welcome a halcyon labor climate and hound transgressors of current statutes rather than become embroiled in battles over what they see as a few lingering minimum wage details. Yet, in the wake of nationwide legislation that boosted the lowest amount of money most employees could earn per hour up 90 cents, neglect of those overlooked by recent policy reforms may imperil workers even more than before. James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, intelligently warned, "There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation." Unfortunately, Florida's disregard for its underprivileged, unrepresented, and impoverished citizens threatens to prove him right one more time. This lesson will likely be a costly one: Not only is the possibility for sub-minimum wage toilers' future prosperity endangered, but also the condition of the country's economic and moral well-being stands at risk.
Florida workers whose professions exclude their hourly pay rates from the regulations of national minimum wage acts often live in a state of need or supported by government social welfare funds. Modern laws actually contribute to unemployment as many laborers who must support families either find or believe it to be impossible to receive sufficient public aid while working at low-income jobs. The result is a major drain on civic funds from relief programs that do little more than entrench the miserable conditions of recipients by offering them enough money to get by but not enough to warrant the risk of attempting to find a new or better paying career. In either case, the effected men and women must survive on meager means and with all the disadvantages that doing so entails. Poverty expands sanitation, nutrition, and healthcare deficiencies while statistically leading to higher school dropout and crime rates in Florida. The absence of fair earning requirements for some workers is socially detrimental and unacceptable.
For all the harm directly caused by low incomes, the more extensive yet invidiously subtle implications of the lack of wage standards for some businesses in the state lie in the irresponsible precedent it sets. Section 2 of the Florida Constitution guarantees all natural persons the rights "to pursue happiness, to be rewarded for industry, and to acquire, possess, and protect property." Each of these liberties, called "Basic" in the defining document of this state, disintegrates before the monstrosity of unrestrained free-market capitalism. The purpose of any law, state or federal, must be to maximize the average citizens' prospect for a good life. While it may not be the state's duty to ensure that each person makes at least the minimum wage, in a competitive market it must at least secure the ability of all of its residents to do so.
For Florida not to have acted reciprocally to federal laws that have raised limited minimum wages from the original 25-cent level of 1938 to today's $5.15 shows absolute irresponsibility toward the shining goals of our government's founders. The fundamental human rights upon which our society exists have not changed with the negation of their protection and practice; however, those who the eternal liberties once applied to no longer fit the definition of ‘human' if we have not afforded them the opportunities granted to one. Ashley Montagu and Floyd Matson call this dehumanization the "Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse," saying, "It neither kills outright nor inflicts apparent physical harm, yet the extent of its destructive toll is already greater than that of any war, plague, famine, or natural calamity on record – and its potential damage to the quality of human life and the fabric of civilized society is beyond calculation."
Clearly, this dehumanizing aspect exposes Florida's lack of minimum wage laws as a matter of concern, even so, some would console themselves with the idea that it is a trouble limited to one state. This stance, however, ignores the fact that unlike many criminal offenses, the destruction of rights tends to increase exponentially - each breach of ethics and the Constitution raises the threshold for what we see as admissible. While it may be unfair to claim that this single abuse will spur human enslavement, our state's apparent apathy for the cause of its poor does nothing to prevent this possibility. Florida is comparable to a weapons dealer who distributes guns to murderers but accepts no responsibility for the wickedness that the armaments cause. We permit the individual to perish for the good of businesses.
The answer for Floridians lies in setting minimum wage laws that effect all employers and workers. We must not rely upon the Federal government to draft and pass such statutes; the purpose of the states of the Union is to best preserve the rights of their citizens by taking regional considerations into account. Even if - perhaps particularly if - we believe that every human worldwide deserves these freedoms, an absolute ethical imperative exists to enact a local, albeit piecemeal, solution. Just as each act of disregard worsens the situation, each act of salvation helps to deliver us forth from our appalling present plight. We will not be able to liberate all the world at once. But the repression of the poor did not commence at any single, decisive moment either. The pit from which we seek escape formed slowly as well.
Let it not be the legacy of today's policy makers to have neglected reform and improvement due to the impossibility of immediate perfection. Edmund Burke observed that, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." With a Florida minimum wage law that protects all employees we would be able to directly aid the poor and delicately turn society in the right direction. In time, storm clouds of social transformation may reverberate with demands for human emancipation. It is then, when all of our gradual corrections have made their independent marks, that the abridgement of freedom shall finally cease.
Dear Thy Highness, thy Sturge,
This week has struck gold for reporters and news anchors alike around the nation. From politics, to lawsuits, to political law suits, to Calvin Kline suits and Calvin Kline in politics it makes me wonder if everything really IS connected by six degrees. Perhaps this sounds a bit like mumbo-jumbo, and maybe it is. After all I am writing this at gun point and I geta bit wordy when i’m nervous.
First on the docket... The railway killer has been captured. Huzzah! But why is it that he's appearing in orange outfits? Whatever happened to good old-fashioned black and white stripes? Is it because when a prisoner was next to bars they were camouflaged? Did stupid officers see the stripes, think they were bars and forget to put a prisoner in a cell? Big questions.
Totaly random observation but has anyone ever noticed how Larry King sits with all his weight on his elbows. His shoulders get bunched up by his ears, his suspenders can't keep them down and - Voila! Perfect vulture imitation.
Anyways, according to this weeks U.S. News and World Report, Ohio representative John Kasich wants to run for president. John Kasich recently renounced his Republican party membership. John Kasich looks like a sea bass with a toupee. That's because John Kasich IS a sea bass. Reliable sources, however, say it might be his own hair.
Donald Trump also mentioned that if the reform party nominated him, he'd win the presidency. Does The Donald see Forbes and think, "He's a floppy looking zillionaire, I'm a floppy looking zillionaire... hmmm..." Does the thought of Trump scare you? Probably not yet. Y'all have bigger things to worry about. Like “What if John Kasich isn’t really a bass but a sturgeon?” or “What if OJ Simpson really wasn’t guilty, would they have found him guilty in that situation?”
With that, that is my political and current event news updated/letter. My gripes, observations, and harrassment suits are all copyrighted and responses would best be sent to Sturgeoman@aol.com. That’s all for now... i’m off to stalk Ricky Martin.. cause he is just TOO dreamy.
Pleasant thoughts, Jenn

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