Minimum wage is a band-aide on gaping wound.  The problem is that employers control employees lives, while employees at worst can take a company down - leaving the owner in a position where he just has to go get a job.  The power obviously weighs heavily in the favor of the employer.<p>If everyone (and I do mean everyone including the 1%) was given a wage that could keep you alive and healthy, then there would be balance of power between employer and employee and you would see people taking advantage of each other much less.