Bill Clinton: Minimum Wage Worker

Bill Clinton Money Quote saying when a congressman stops a vote to raise the minimum wage, he makes more money during that month than the worker makes yearly. Bill Clinton said:
 

 

“You need to know that a member of Congress who refuses to allow the minimum wage to come up for a vote made more money during last year’s one-month government shutdown than a minimum wage worker makes in an entire year” — Bill Clinton

In this quote, Bill Clinton seems to be criticizing the disconnect between some members of Congress and everyday Americans struggling financially. By noting that a congressman who blocked a minimum wage vote “made more money during last year’s one-month government shutdown” than a minimum wage worker earns in a year, Clinton implies that lawmaker was better compensated even when the government was partially closed than a low-income worker is for a full year of labor.

The quote conveys Clinton’s perspective that politicians preventing a minimum wage increase are out of touch with hardships faced by those living on or close to the poverty line. Overall, Clinton appears to be arguing this pay disparity underscores the need for lawmakers to consider economic realities of average citizens when making decisions around compensation and assistance policies like the minimum wage.

William Morris: Industrious Worker

William Morris Money Quote saying the well-off are happy to praise the happy little worker bees who toil away without time off and support others with their toil. William Morris said:
 

 

“Most of those who are well-to-do cheer on the happy worker with congratulations and praises, if he is only “industrious” enough and deprives himself of all pleasure and holidays in the sacred cause of labour. In short, it has become an article of the creed of modern morality that all labour is good in itself – a convenient belief to those who live on the labour of others” — William Morris

In this quote, William Morris seems to be criticizing the view held by some wealthy people that overworking and depriving oneself is morally virtuous. Some key points:

• He notes that those who are “well-to-do” (financially comfortable) often praise hardworking individuals who forgo all pleasure and leisure time for the sake of labor.
• However, Morris implies this is done more to assuage their own guilt over living off others’ work rather than out of real concern for workers’ well-being.
• He argues it has become a modern “article of creed” that any and all labor is inherently good, a notion that conveniently benefits those who profit from others’ toil but do not work as hard themselves.
• Morris seems to believe an excessive, joyless work ethic enforced on workers primarily serves the interests of the rich rather than being for the good of laborers.

Overall, the quote suggests Morris viewed the mentality that more work is always better as a construct that allowed the wealthy classes to feel righteous while exploiting the labor of those below them for their own gain and leisure at workers’ expense.

Birthday: March 24, 1834 – Death: October 3, 1896

Eli Siegel: Labor as Wealth

Eli Siegel Money Quotation saying if nobody does the work to create wealth, then no wealth is created. Therefore workers have the highest value in cash creation. Eli Siegel said:
 

 

“The most important thing in industry is the person who does the industry, which is the worker … Labor is the only source of wealth” — Eli Siegel

In this quote, Eli Siegel is emphasizing the crucial role and importance of workers/labor in generating wealth through industry. By stating that “the most important thing in industry is the person who does the industry, which is the worker”, Siegel is arguing that the individual laborers are the key factor in industrial production, more so than machinery, capital or management.

He then drives this point home by declaring unequivocally that “Labor is the only source of wealth”, meaning that wealth originates from and depends on the work of human beings.

The best interpretation of this quote is that Siegel sees workers as the true drivers and creators of economic value, wealth and prosperity in industry, not other inputs like technology or financial assets. He is attributing primacy and agency to labor over other industrial components.

Birthday: August 16, 1902 – Death: November 8, 1978