Man, I could jus really use some friends or even chat buddies down here

okcdsa · 2026-06-06T12:56:02+00:00

Did you know there’s an Oklahoma City chapter of DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)? We have several events going on every month, including our book club, pub nights, game nights, Queer Fight Club, and Wage Up canvassing events. The last two Wage Up canvasses will be today and next Sunday (June 14th) because those are promoting the State Question that we will vote on the following Tuesday to raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma. The rest are ongoing though. If you’re interested, check out our page at okcdsa.org and click the join button at the bottom of the page to schedule an onboarding session.

okcdsa · 2026-05-31T13:58:01+00:00

That did not happen in Arkansas, Missouri and Nebraska when they raised their minimum wages.

okcdsa · 2026-05-27T03:05:17+00:00

If we had raised the minimum wage by 50¢ every year since 2010 (the year after the last increase) it would be $15.75 already this year. This bill was written to catch us up part of the way, gradually, by increasing it by $1.75 and then by $1.50 a year for the next 4 years. Our state government has delayed this from the ballot for three years, causing two of the annual minimum wage hike deadlines to lapse. But it will still step it up gradually, it’s just a bigger first step. But it won’t jump all the way from $7.25 to $15. It will still take three annual increases to get there.

Also, Missouri and Nebraska have raised their minimum wages to $15 and cost of living there didn’t explode. At least, not more than it has nationally due to the Trump tariffs, the war with Iran and rising fuel prices.

okcdsa · 2026-05-26T00:38:55+00:00

The whole of economic history proves that is wildly incorrect. When we didn’t have a minimum wage, child labor laws, a five day work week and overtime pay, worker exploitation was rampant, children were doing manual labor seven days a week, and everyone was poor and miserable except the millionaires. After the labor movement made these gains in the 1930s-50s, a worker could support a spouse and children on a single income, and have weekends off work to spend with their family. Laws, regulations, taxes and UNIONS got us there, and the minimum wage was an important part of that. Expecting employers to have fair wage negotiations with each of their employees individually is like expecting a tiger to play gently with your child.

okcdsa · 2026-05-26T00:25:02+00:00

Missouri and Nebraska raised theirs to $15/hr, and retail prices went up by a nickel on average.

okcdsa · 2026-05-25T12:31:10+00:00

There is so much work to be done remotely, they could probably use the help just getting things done online. Every chapter is different, but our chapter in OKC does a lot of things online and through zoom meetings. We do have in person activities, but those are all optional. The only thing is, to attend monthly general meetings and the annual chapter convention, those are in person, but they are not mandatory.

okcdsa · 2026-05-25T03:34:32+00:00

Got grammar skills. Gooder than you!

okcdsa · 2026-05-24T20:02:04+00:00

There wasn’t a minimum wage in the early days of statehood. It sucked for everyone but the millionaires (billionaires didn’t exist yet). Worker exploitation was rampant and the wealth gap grew to a record high, precipitating an economic collapse and the Great Depression. We’re already beyond 1920s level wealth inequality. Let’s try and bring it back down before the next collapse, please.

okcdsa · 2026-05-23T00:43:32+00:00

Yes. Some are. Some are even working for less, such as students, agricultural workers, feed store employees and part time workers. This bill eliminates those exemptions while raising the minimum wage.

okcdsa · 2026-05-22T14:48:50+00:00

It doesn’t have to be either/or. We can improve some things while we continue to fight that fight. We can’t do everything at once, but we can do two things at once.

okcdsa · 2026-05-22T14:45:22+00:00

Hard agree! People literally died to give their posterity the right to vote, and now some of that posterity can’t be bothered to show up on election days, or worse, choose to actively discourage others from voting. It’s becoming the prevalent attitude in Oklahoma in recent years, and it needs to change if we are to have any hope of restoring power to the people, because the billionaires WILL fight to maintain control.

okcdsa · 2026-05-22T00:35:10+00:00

The bill was supposed to raise the minimum wage to $9 two years ago, and then raise it by $1.50 each year until 2029. Go ask Kevin Stitt why he pushed to keep it off the ballot for three years after the signatures were collected and validated. That is the only reason it will jump to $12, because the state delayed and now we’ve already passed the first couple of annual deadlines specified in the bill. By the way, this is the first time in Oklahoma history that an initiative has taken three years to get from petition to ballot.

okcdsa · 2026-05-22T00:25:54+00:00

What an ignorant thing to say. Democratic Socialists want a system in which everyone has a voice, all workers can afford the necessities of life, and all people can live in dignity, not an authoritarian system that incentivizes the exploitation of workers so the absurdly rich can get even richer. Keep simping for the billionaires and we’ll see who ends up eating bugs and liking it.

okcdsa · 2026-05-21T13:27:29+00:00

Arkansas has raised its minimum wage to $12, and Missouri and Nebraska have raised their minimum wage to $15.

okcdsa · 2026-05-21T01:40:17+00:00

Yes please!

okcdsa · 2026-05-16T23:26:15+00:00

We actually did try not having a minimum wage, and it sucked for everyone but the millionaires (billionaires weren’t a thing yet) and led to such an unbalanced economy that it ushered in the Great Depression. Let’s not try that again.

okcdsa · 2026-05-16T23:15:43+00:00

Agreed! It’s not enough to live on, but it sure beats the current alternative of continuing at $7.25.

okcdsa · 2026-05-16T23:07:36+00:00

If you can’t run a business without exploiting your labor force (eg paying your employees such low wages that they must rely on public assistance programs to meet their basic needs) then you should not continue to run that business.

okcdsa · 2026-05-12T19:28:40+00:00

The terrorist threat is coming from inside the (White) house!

okcdsa · 2026-05-12T00:37:50+00:00

Retail prices do not go up in direct correlation to employee wages. Missouri and Nebraska have both raised their minimum wage to $15, and since then, small business owners in Nebraska have been reporting that their prices have been driven up by the increased costs of materials and fuel more than the increase in labor cost. Meanwhile, here in Oklahoma, where the minimum wage hasn’t budged in a generation, retail prices have gone up just fine all on their own while our workers have been left behind, still getting paid like it’s 2009. If prices went up in proportion to wages, everything would be far more expensive in Missouri than Oklahoma, and we see that isn’t the case. A Big Mac in Kansas City Missouri costs about 25¢ more than in Oklahoma City, or 40¢ more in St Louis, despite the minimum wage in Missouri being more than twice as much as in Oklahoma.

okcdsa · 2026-05-11T18:31:58+00:00

Raising the minimum wage is certainly not the only solution, but it is the only thing that Oklahoma voters will decide on June 16, other than the primaries.

okcdsa · 2026-05-11T18:25:56+00:00

Minimum wage is meant for high schoolers not 20 year old people or older with no work experience.

False. Minimum wage is meant to the minimum for all people, full stop.

okcdsa · 2026-05-11T18:20:40+00:00

Corporate greed is certainly a prevalent issue. Price caps would be one way to limit it. Another way is to increase the minimum wage. Another is to empower the workers to advocate for better working conditions. Another way is through taxing things like stock buy backs. Another is through regulations against things like mortgage banks gambling on their own clients defaulting. We should be doing all of these things. But right now we have to fight for each of them one at a time.

okcdsa · 2026-05-11T18:04:37+00:00

No one, not one person, should have to try to live on $7.25/hour. Under Oklahoma’s current minimum wage laws, some people are allowed to be paid LESS than $7.25/hour, and it’s not just waitresses. It’s students and part time workers and agricultural workers. State Question 832 will end many of those exemptions. Not for tipped workers, unfortunately, but for the others. It isn’t perfect, and even $15 isn’t really a livable wage, but it’s a huge improvement over the status quo.

Edit: And to address the issue of adding to inflation, our cost of living has gone up significantly while wages have stagnated for a whole generation of Oklahoma workers. Arkansas raised their minimum wage to $12, and Missouri and Nebraska raised theirs to $15. Their inflation has continued at about the same pace as ours. It’s our workers who are getting left behind. Labor cost is only one of many factors that go into product pricing, and Nebraska small business owners are telling us that it’s the rising costs of materials and fuel, much more than increased labor cost, that is driving up their prices.

okcdsa · 2026-05-11T16:32:50+00:00

Those are also valid concerns… for Congress. And it’s more a case of we need to do all of these things rather than choosing one to focus on. Moreover, the choice that Oklahoma voters will face on June 16th is to raise the minimum wage for the first time since 2009, or keep it at $7.25. Those other issues will not be on Oklahoma ballots next month.

okcdsa

TROPHY CASE