Minimum wage was intended to be a living wage and has failed to keep up with inflation/worker productivity/cost of living

Yes I agree. Even though in an ideal world, everyone would be able to make a living wage, but unfortunately, it would just not be feasible for all businesses to be required to pay such a high wage in this current economy, while also still remaining profitable and open for business. Such legislation, although done with good intentions, would likely force a lot of companies to lay off a lot of their workers, leading to high levels of unemployment, and considerable damage to the economy.