How has this small island has come to host some of America’s largest and strategically important military facilities? The use of Okinawa by the US began before the end of the Asia Pacific war, when the US military expropriated Japanese Imperial Army bases on the island. Okinawa remained under the control of the US until 1972 despite US occupation of mainland Japan ending in 1951. The island was returned to Japanese administration, but the US continues to use the island as a military base today. However, the long history of military occupation has not been entirely smooth sailing.

Ultimately, it is the public that takes up the slack of a low minimum wage. A report from the Centre for Labor Research and Education found low wages paid by businesses are costing taxpayers in the United States nearly $153 billion a year. After decades of wage cuts and health benefit rollbacks, more than half of all state and federal spending on public assistance programs is going to working families to meet basic needs.