Here is an inconvenient truth, technology and productivity gains have made many lower skilled people obsolete, even higher skilled jobs are feeling some pressure. Worse, the trend line is accelerating. Yet the population continues to grow. People fall all over the bell curve of ability, the reality is that there a sizable chunk of the population that for various reasons are never going to be more than low skilled workers.
So....what is to be done?
Keep them in a permanent underclass? This leads to crime, swelling prison populations, decay of communities, health care problems, and ultimately civil unrest and even war. Not good, the price tag for all of these things is very high.
How about just paying them to live and behave themselves? In other words, a permanent welfare state. There are more than a few economists and philosophers who think that this might be the best choice. Of course all the disciples of Ayn Rand and the self-righteous affluent would never stand for such a thing. Better to pay the poor to dig holes and fill them back in rather than paying them for nothing.
Then there is the rational choice of paying the lower classes a slightly inflated wage for lower skilled work that will allow them to lead half-way decent lives while retaining a degree of self respect. Yes, they are technically being paid more than they are worth but it addresses the problems mentioned above. Yes this flies in the face of free markets, but left unchecked the free markets will lead us into the abyss. With a reasonable minimum wage the Ayn Rand crowd gets their pound of flesh and the poor get to live and feel a little bit better about their place in the world. Also give a poor man a dollar and he will almost certainly spend it, higher wages stimulate the economy. Think of a livable minimum wage as a social compromise.
I suppose another alternative is to take them out in the woods and shoot them. I am certain that there are many people who wish for this option but would dare not speak the words publicly.