Quote
Ramgator
When it comes to value. One person drug from a structure fire is worth more than the total salaries combined of EVERY NFL, NBA, MLB MVP ever. And me being a football junkie? Yes I am. BIG TIME! But even I have cut waaaaaaaaay back on what I spend on NFL. I do not do the NFL / Directv thing. I go to maybe 3-4 NFL games in a 5 year span. I buy a new T shirt about every three 3 years. When I DO go to games, I eat in the parking lot. Have not had a bite to eat at a NFL game in over 20 years. Imagine how much casual fans are cutting back!

I agree with ya. But it's not just athletes and entertainers. Those rank and file workers who actually save lives, seriously change lives for the better, and work their butts off for little money and no recognition? They're worth more than all the CEOs, hedgefund managers, Wall Street gurus, combined, too. They're worth more than all the "capitalists" on this planet combined.

Another huge issue here, when people seem to say it's no big deal that Jimmy G is getting this massive payday for seven games: Under the capitalist system, when one person wins big, others have to lose. A lot of others have to lose to make up for it. Cuz, unless you're actually printing brand new money to hand to him, it's coming out of a lot of pockets elsewhere . . . and throughout the history of capitalism, that's meant rank and file workers, primarily. The other ways to manage/hide/shift these losses:

Borrow massive amounts from the future, which have to be paid back
Automate jobs out of existence
Outsource them overseas for pennies on the dollar
Slash benefits broadly for the rank and file
Hoover up tax breaks from local, state and national governments
Get the customer to do as much of the work as possible, so they can fire workers (self-serve gas stations and check-outs, etc.)

Sometimes, it's all of the above. But the fact remains that math makes it inescapable. Pay big bucks to Jimmy G. Ya gotta get that money from a lot of people's hides. And cuts to the rank and file ripple out into the economy too. They have consequences. There are always consequences to concentrated wealth among the few.