> I thought the primary argument against it was that the alternative is unemployment.

Which is utterly insane when you think about it. The current minimum wage is practically unlivable, and it's supposed to be a good thing for people to make even less just to box-check "employed"?

At least if you're unemployed, it's theoretically possible to put your energies into learning something to get a better job, but impossible to do that if you're burning all your energy for little more than pocket money.

The only people who'd gain from a lower minimum wage are employers, who'd have the opportunity to exploit cheaper labor.