The Hollingsworth letter about the evils of shared American prosperity and raising wages for those who choose to labor at the bottom begs the question, “Are we on the same planet?”

Actually 88 percent of minimum wage earners are 20 or older. Not teenagers. Fifty-five percent are women. Average age of minimum wage earners is 35. Fabricating our own facts accomplishes what, exactly?

There are basically two ways to make a living. You leverage money or you leverage your labor. Or others’ labor. And when laborers’ sweat raises the equities of some sedentary sanctimonious simpletons who make up their own facts, it just turns adversaries into enemies. This is why Republicans keep losing presidential elections — five of the last six at last count.

Lately The Press is sounding like the propaganda of America’s largest private employer with ridiculous assertions that wages don’t really affect morale or happiness. So let’s lower your pay like middle class Americans have endured since 1996 while the gross national product has doubled since NAFTA and see how happy you are.

MIKE RENO

Post Falls