It recently occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the folks on the left that bleat and bray about the need for a “living wage” have done those of us on “the right” a favor.

Now, if you’re like me, you think the whole living wage argument is just another example of folks on the left not realizing that money doesn’t appear out of nowhere. The living wage folks ignore that raising salaries for people raises costs of doing business. That raises prices. And when the employees getting the raises are government (or school) employees, it raises taxes. All of which raises the cost of living. Which means the folks who got the raise aren’t any more ahead than they were in the first place.

Still, the living wage theory may, just may, have its uses for a conservative.

This thought occurred to me after I was forced (uh, I mean, requested) by my wife (who, as always, will be referred to as “Peggy” for the sake of anonymity) to come into Ithaca, the City of Evil and attend a dinner event being thrown at the home of one of her fellow Cornell employees. Other than myself, I think everyone there was a Cornell employee. In fact, most of them were professors.

Once Peggy realized where the dinner conversations were going she pulled me aside and begged me to keep my opinions to myself. First of all, Peggy is my no means as conservative as me to begin with (she was born a Catholic in Boston; her parents probably had a picture of Kennedy next to the statue of Jesus in the bedroom). Second, she needs to work with these people and, as I think we all know, “tolerance” in Ithaca never includes tolerance towards conservatives.

As you might expect, in a room full of college professors, the dinner conversation was dominated by two basic areas.

The first was their lifestyles. I have to admit, these folks live pretty good. They travel all over the world. They live in what had to be $200,000-plus houses. They drive high end cars (mostly Volvos). They attend various cultural events. Their kids want for nothing.

The second was various recitations of the standard issue liberal themes. One of which was, of course, redistribution of wealth, and how the rich don’t pay their “fair share.”

Now, as always, something about this didn’t seem to make sense to me. But it didn’t hit me right away. To be frank, since I couldn’t say anything back, I was trying not to listen too hard. After all, I was trying to digest my food and having to listen to leftists drone on isn’t the most conducive situation for doing so.

Later, however, it hit me just how hypocritical and foolish you could make these people look when they start whining about wealth redistribution.

Now, at this point, you might be asking “but what does this have to do with why we should thank the folks who call for a living wage?”

I’ll tell you what.

According to the Ithaca Times (and as a good liberal paper, they should know), “‘Living Wage’” is the name for a weekly paycheck that just covers expenses - rent, transportation, food, health care, recreation and entertainment, a small amount of savings, taxes, and some miscellaneous costs.”

In other words, a living wage is the basic amount of money a person needs to survive.

Living wage estimates vary depending on the local cost of living, but in Ithaca, the Alternative Federal Credit Union (an “enlighted” financial institution) has estimated it should be $8.68 an hour for a 40-hour workweek.

In other words, to get by in Ithaca, a person only needs to make $18,060.00 per year.

Call me crazy, but I have a distinct feeling that the average Cornell professor, living in a $200,000 home, driving a $40,000 foreign car, vacationing all over the world, and giving his or her kid anything they want, probably makes a whole lot more than that $18,060.00.

So, the next time you hear some leftist college professor (or similarly well off liberal) go on about how we need to redistribute wealth, ask them what they think of the “living wage” concept.

Odds are that they will be 100% in favor of it.

And ask them if it’s true that the living wage is the basic amount that a person needs to survive.

Again, the odds are that they’ll agree. They might even half close their eyes and nod sagely, thinking that they are starting to “enlighten” you.

Then say, “and in Ithaca, that’s probably–let’s be generous here– $20,000.00"?

Again, more sage nodding. Possibly, they’ll add “Maybe even more.”

Once they admit this (And how could they not? After all, they don’t want to start arguing against the living wage, do they?), point out to them:

“Well, you obviously make A LOT more than that. So you obviously make MUCH more than is needed to survive. If you really wanted to redistribute wealth, shouldn’t you take every dime of your salary over that living wage and donate it to the poor? Instead of spending it on expensive cars, trips and houses?”

“If you’re not doing that, aren’t you being greedy? Aren’t you being a hypocrite? If you’re not part of the solution, aren’t you part of the problem?!?”

Once you throw that “classic” sixties slogan back at them, they should freeze like suburban deer looking into a set of headlights.

Granted, they are NEVER going to admit to being wrong. Or even of being a hypocrite. But, hopefully, your line of reasoning has stunned them enough to stop talking for a while.

And sometimes, getting a liberal to “shut up” is the best you can hope for.