Re reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

It's not even that. Our currency's value isn't based on a constant value like precious metals or jewelry. It's based on the perceived strength of the US economy. Something even as negligible as an increase in the minimum wage devalues the currency.

The best analogy I can make is that the corporate world is a ladder. Minimum wage is of course the first step on that ladder. The idea to get more financially secure is to climb the ladder until you feel that you make a comfortable living. Raising the minimum wage is like calling the first step Step 5, Step 7, Step 15, etc... It doesn't change the fact that it's still the first step on the ladder. What's worse, every time they change the name of the step they knock the next step of the ladder out, making it more difficult for you to make it to the next step.

In a way you can effectively argue that the minimum wage is a tool of the rich to keep the majority of the people poor.

Police officers have the highest suicide rate after Doctors and Dentists. Not sure if it's because of poor stress management or being constantly in contact with some of the shittiest people to live.

That's not true. I've heard accounts of early servers who only made money off of tips and were expected to pay the restaurant a portion of their tips for the privilege of serving there. In fact the only way to get service was to tip them beforehand and how much you tipped determined the level of service you received. This tip for good service is just a myth that is an excuse to avoid tipping.

As someone who used to live on tips that's short sighted. The customer will always get the short end of the stick in this type of fight. If everyone refuses to give the employee 20% of the ticket then the business will charge the customer 40% of the ticket and give the employee 15%.