The Fight for $15 will be a decade old in 2022.

The success of that minimum wage campaign has been massive. There is now an hourly $15 minimum wage in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County and for large firms in California.

But how did it happen?

Well, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was instrumental in raising low-end wages. It turns out that looking for a million or more workers raises those workers' wages. Amazon's minimum wage is now $15 plus benefits and distinctly higher in some regions. The effect Amazon has had on locally prevailing wages has also been tracked as significant.

Other factors have also played roles in raising wages. A shortage of workers has driven up wages as companies have been forced to compete for new and retained employees. Target, McDonald's, and all the rest have had to increase their pay.

But the record on wages between Amazon and unions offers a truly interesting contrast.

After all, unions spent a decade gaining higher wages for a couple of counties and one state. One capitalist entrepreneur achieved the same goal for much of the country — no politicians involved or even unions.

We should note the lesson. Assume that we all want workers' wages to rise. I take it to be the basic idea of having an economy at all — that the average person becomes richer over time. So which method should we be using to raise wages? The one that works only in parts and requires vast effort or the easier capitalist one?

We might even say that Bezos deserves his $190 billion. He's managed to do what legions of unions and liberal politicians haven't managed over the same decade. Bezos shows that the capitalist pursuit of opportunity and wealth leads to workers' benefit.