"Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break..."

The Scythian Philosopher, Anacharsis (6^th century BC), is claimed to have penned: "Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break through them."

Government claims to "help the poor" often do quite the opposite. Consider the minimum wage. The minimum wage is supposed to make sure that those earning it will be able to live off of their incomes. But what does it really do? The minimum wage is not, as it is often erroniously thought, a floor that raises workers' pay. Instead, it is a hurdle that must be cleared in order to earn any wage whatsoever. If I may employ a man profitably only at $3 an hour, and the minimum wage is $6, then I will not employ that man at all. This means that the most disadvantaged group, unskilled labor, is now being put at more of a disadvantage. The government's web has caught the poor, and they will not easily break free.

Large firms, such as Wal-Mart, have lobbied for higher minimum wages. Why would they do this? To put their smaller competitors at a disadvantage. With Wal-Mart being so large, and making high profits, they are able to pay a higher wage. Smaller competitors cannot compete at the same wages, due to the economies of scale. Thus, the smaller competitors are wiped out, destroying those jobs for those who most need them, the poor, unskilled workers.

Thanks, government!