I hate the idea of government mandates. But the wage gap - the gap between the haves and have nots has become dangerous to our society. Because of GREED. In a perfect world, any CEO, Board of Directors, owners of sole proprietorships etc. would find it morally reprehensible to offer less than a living wage to full time workers and accept compensation packages that exceed 100x what they are paying the folks who do the actual work. Same goes for transitioning your workforce to mostly part time to avoid paying a living wage or offering benefits. Same goes for the concept of a golden parachute and lack of skin in the game. How can one accept 100 - 300 times what the people who actually build the widget or perform the service make if what they make is less than it takes to survive? That is despicable. Can a government mandate fix it? ...Most likely not. IMO what is required is no less than a shift in consciousness.