This political cartoon really sums it up.

For years, Democrats and their left-wing allies have acted as if basic economics can be bullied into submission with a slogan, a protest sign, and a government mandate.

They demanded higher wages for entry-level fast food jobs, not because every franchise owner suddenly had extra money lying around, but because it sounded good politically.

And that is always the problem.

It sounds compassionate. It sounds fair. It sounds like standing up for the little guy.

Then reality shows up.

A few years ago, the big rallying cry was the $15 minimum wage. Democrats treated it like some magical solution that would lift everyone up with no downside, no trade-offs, and no consequences.

Then the kiosks arrived.

Now, as the push gets even more aggressive, franchise owners and fast food chains are doing exactly what any rational business would do when labor costs are pushed beyond what the business model can absorb.

They are replacing people with machines.

Not because they are evil. Not because they hate workers. Because they have to survive.

A self-service kiosk does not call in sick. A robot arm does not demand overtime. An ordering screen does not trigger payroll taxes, benefits, scheduling headaches, or lawsuits.

That is the part the left never wants to talk about.

When politicians force costs higher, businesses adapt. Sometimes they raise prices. Sometimes they cut hours. Sometimes they close locations. And sometimes, they automate the very jobs Democrats claimed they were trying to protect.

The sad irony is that the people cheering the loudest for these policies are often the same people hurt first when the entry-level ladder gets pulled away.

Maybe leftists should think things through before taking action that makes their own lives worse.

Good intentions do not repeal economics. They just make the consequences more expensive.

After all, folks:

“Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker’s productivity worth that amount—and, if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed.”
― Thomas Sowell, Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy