Denigrating the Highly Compensated

[Evandril]

my question is more on the lines of yeah someone can dunk a ball through a small hoop but in the grand scheme of things why is THIS particular job more valueable than a teacher??? the answer is we as a culture/society seem to worship what most of us do not posess and scorn those who are trully useful doing or performing those tasks which trully benefit society as a whole.

The people paying the millions aren't doing so because they are so impressed with the players...They are doing it because they feel the player will earn them more money than they are paid. Teachers 'value' is does not directly translate to profit, therefore they are not paid a similar amount...Though if you want to compare a teacher to an athlete, it'd be a tenured professor at a major univeristy, at the least, to match a professional athlete.

[AdminAssistant]

I'm at a 'major' Research-1 state university, and most of the tenured humanities faculty make around $50,000-75,000/year. In the sciences, I'm sure that could go up to $100,000-200,000. In the Ivy Leagues, I'm sure it's possible for the biggest names to get in the $500,000/year range. Now, administration is different. Chancellors, deans, and the like get much more, and I'm sure there are a few with salaries in the millions.

Of course, the athletic directors and coaches at these same schools are often the highest paid employees at any university. Our basketball coach has a $3 million/year contract. I'm actually okay with that, since our athletics program actually pays for itself and gives money back to the university. But, fact being, he makes more than any faculty member in America ever will. And in most cases, the athletics program does not generate a profit for the university.

[Hyena Dandy]

I'm sorry, Admin, I'm afraid I don't understand what the point you're trying to make is?

[AdminAssistant]

I'm sorry, Admin, I'm afraid I don't understand what the point you're trying to make is?

I was referring to this:

Though if you want to compare a teacher to an athlete, it'd be a tenured professor at a major univeristy, at the least, to match a professional athlete.

And I was just pointing out that tenured professors don't make anywhere near as much money as professional athletes.

[ExRetailDrone]

They make people happy. Making people happy benefits society as a whole.

Reading this, I can't help but think of all the riots that have come from angry sports fans whose teams lose (or probably sometimes when they win). Just this year there were riots in Vancouver because the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup. I'm sure this makes a lot of people anything but happy.

And I'll admit, I'm not a sports fan and I don't understand the mindset. I realize that the high-name professional athletes have great talent and should be compensated accordingly, but I don't get why so many people will pay such exorbitant prices for sporting events. I love music and enjoy concerts, but I couldn't bring myself to pay high prices for better seats. Granted, I also don't have a lot of money to throw around, and I know that's part of it for some people - they do have that disposable income.

[Hyena Dandy]

I was referring to this:



And I was just pointing out that tenured professors don't make anywhere near as much money as professional athletes.

Oh, yes, that's true.

[Rageaholic]

I just read a thread on something awful that was critical of TGWTG. I actually agreed with some of it (I like the reviews, but don't care for the skits). On the other hand, some members seemed bitter of the fact that they were making money and thought they should get a "real job". To me that just sounds like "How dare they get paid to do what they enjoy!". Because obviously only "real jobs" are those that you can't wait to get out of.

[Racket_Man]

Because it does benefit society as a whole.

The popularity of sports provide a base that the rest of the country can touch on. Its unifying. Sports help children play together, by providing a rules set. It allows them to focus their energy on a single game that they can all agree on. This helps keep kids from fighting.

and I have no problems with that

Additionally, "big money or not" is an important phrase there. Are your stats going only on big money players, or not? If its only big money players, you'll find far fewer going broke than you would the guys on the practice squad.

I was watching a recent episode of Real Sports on HBO and the 60 - 70% going broke or bankrupt figure was ALL players (big money or not) cycling through the NFL. as for say the NBA I have no idea of the stats there but I would assume it is something similiar

Also, you have millions of people watching your every move. That's millions of people who get a benefit. The number of people watching the Superbowl is higher than the population of some countries.

but that number pales in comparision to say World Cup Scocer and that is BIG money for the televisors and players alike. I keep hearing of a player who Madrid is trying to entice back with a couple of year $50 million contract. heck scocer stadiums seem to be much bigger and seat more people than here in the US. Just look at Wembly (sp) stadium in the UK

Society as a whole is benefited from the pleasure we get out of watching people perform.

They make people happy. Making people happy benefits society as a whole.

I just call that "bread and circuses" entertainment. something to keep the masses happy and distracted. no better than the Roman era chariot races, gladiator matches.

yes society benefits in an ecomonic manner but it still boils down to a mass of people feeling good but with little else

Why is this job more valuable? It isn't. I won't say it is, but I would argue that it IS definitely of value. And they can't hold down a job in the 'real world'? That's like the 'real women don't look like models' argument. If they can't hold down a job in the real world, where do they all live?

The story on HBO focused on a few of the big name stars who did get "warned" at rookie camp by NFL reps, but choose not to take the advice of (generally speaking) "DO NOT piss away your salary on stupid stuf. invest wisely, keep the bling, the cars, and the houses to a minimum."

they all seemed to laugh and think it was a joke, but in the end they still pissed it away and have nothing to show for 10 or 15 years of play in the NFL.

some can not even find a job at say McDs. one had to move his family back in with his wifes parents cause he could not get a job and t6hey existed on HER meager just above minimum wage job

[Andara Bledin]

And I was just pointing out that tenured professors don't make anywhere near as much money as professional athletes.

While that is true, tenured professors will be making money for decades, while athletes tend to have much, much shorter careers with not a lot to go on to afterward.

Reading this, I can't help but think of all the riots that have come from angry sports fans whose teams lose (or probably sometimes when they win).

Generally speaking, most of the rioting that goes on in North America isn't being done by sports fans, disgruntled or otherwise, but by opportunistic fucktards using the sporting events as covers and/or excuses.

Soccer riots, on the other hand, seem to be another matter entirely, though it could be a case of mostly the same thing, except the hoodlums who would riot just are also actual fans of the sport as well.

^-.-^

[DrFaroohk]

I never had a problem with athletes making money, same with rock stars and actors, because we choose to go pay them. We choose to buy the ticket, the album, the t-shirt. It's a luxury, and a lot of people want it, so why not pay the guys?

The ones I can't stand are services that are NEEDED. They always try to cover it up with "expenses", but it's always massively inflated. They cry poverty and make claims of educational expenses, office supplies, tools of the trade...but it just goes up and up the ladder of bullcrap. All these things don't HAVE to cost as much as they do, and especially when it's a necessity, it shouldn't be sold for extreme profit.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

I thought of another angle to this topic.

I have no problem with someone who earns wealthy fairly and legally but a lot of wealthy people, particularly in business or politics, do not do this. The make their money immorally, unethically and illegally, often because they know there's a slim chance they will face serious repercussions for their actions.

If they don't get off completely it is either a slap on the wrist fine or short prison term or they set up a fall guy to takes the stiff penalties.

[Andara Bledin]

That would be a topic for another thread.

This one is mostly about people talking shit about other people solely because they think that because their skills are being really, really good at things we all did as children that they don't have "real jobs."

Honestly, that's exactly the same as someone at a craft show talking shit about the art being offered for sale on someone's table because, "Oh, I learned how to do that when I was in Girl Scouts," and then walking off like knowing how something is done is somehow the same as being able to do it well enough that you can make a living from it.

^-.-^

[anakhouri]

Being an actor or an athlete is a lot of hard work. I don't doubt it.

But it's hardly 1 million dollars an episode/game hard.

I don't blame the actors and athletes; I blame a society whose priorities have become completely screwed up.

Actors and athletes provide entertainment.

Teachers, for example, provide education for our children. Yet my mom (who is a teacher) raised 2 kids by herself for many years on $20,000 a year.

My husband, who works a MINIMUM of 60 hours a week (some weeks he has worked 100 hours) doing cardiac research in order to save the lives of people who were dealt a shitty genetic hand, makes less than $40,000 a year. Once he did the math and figured out he makes something like $2 an hour, after 10 years of school and a Ph.D.

Our society doesn't put value on jobs like these because they are not visible. Actors and athletes are highly visible, so they get paid more.

[mikoyan29]

Reading this, I can't help but think of all the riots that have come from angry sports fans whose teams lose (or probably sometimes when they win). Just this year there were riots in Vancouver because the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup. I'm sure this makes a lot of people anything but happy.

From what I've heard, the riots were going to happen whether the Canucks won the Cup or not. They were by people who wanted to stir some crap.

Personally, I don't have a problem with an athlete making what he or she does since he generates at least that much revenue for the team. I do have a problem with some CEO's making what they make though.

[Gravekeeper]

From what I've heard, the riots were going to happen whether the Canucks won the Cup or not. They were by people who wanted to stir some crap.

Correct, the first car that got lit up was actually driven downtown by them for just that purpose. It was already loaded and ready to go.

As for the topic, my problem with it is that the cost of these ridiculous salaries is passed along to those who are the biggest fans of the bearers of said salaries. It's not that the corporate assholes in the middle pay an actor/athelete a lot of money of their own accord. They pay them a lot of money whilst trying to figure out what the absolute maximum amount of money they can walletfuck the average customer for to pay said money. Whilst still leaving a disgustingly tidy sum for themselves.

The thought "Oh hey we made a billion dollars last year, we should lower ticket sales to reward the fans who put us here" never enters into their heads. Or the heads of any corporation in America, really. Really, it's more "Oh wow, we made a billion dollars last year. I bet people still have enough money left that they could give us two billion next year!"

Kobe Bryant makes 25 million a year playing basketball ( Not including corporate sponserships, etc ). An "authentic" ( read: Stitched in a sweat shop for $20 ) Laker's Jersey cost $300. So its quite understandable that some people to make a connection between the two.

For the record, I only typically have a problem with the amount of money atheletes make in a sports league that does not have salary caps. Because there's where the stupid shit starts and shit rolls downhill into ticket sales, merchandise, etc.

Ironically, I don't really have a problem with what actors make. Very few are actually paid really big bucks and being an actor in any kind of big movie is actually a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Especially if the filming location is no where near where you live and you end up in the back end of New Zealand for a year away from your family.


Oh, and the highest paid athelete in the world, even now? Tiger Woods. Not exactly an exciting sport thats bringing joy and community to millions a multitude of fans. >.>