There is no doubt in my mind that we as a society have our priorities mixed up drastically. The middle class person is suffering because the rich are looking out for themselves. The problem is the rich are the ones we the middle class are looking for answers to our financial problems. When everything is said and done, they are still going to be rich, and we will still be living in poverty. This is a problem.
I have been giving this a lot of thought since I have become a teacher, and can be honest in saying that I have never thought about it until I was teaching. Maybe it was me getting older as well… it can be a mixture of things including our economy being flushed down the toilet. I really do not have an answer for that, but I can say that I have thought a lot about it. I have also thought a lot about how our “role models” seem to thrive, and go untouched while the people who make a positive impact on every day lives somehow skim by day-to-day. I think about the pop stars, professional athletes, actors, and actresses who are able to make millions and millions of dollars for essentially playing a game, or giving a good performance. It is absolute insanity that this is the case. The unfortunate part is these “role models” for our youth are the worst people we could ever hope for. What is even more unfortunate is we as society are the ones who have created these monsters. What is the answer? What can we do? What the real question is, what are we willing to give up? Professional athletes strike when they feel they are being treated unfairly. Can we honestly look ourselves in the mirror as a society and say we are being treated fairly? I look at these people who are making the millions and millions, and wonder, “do they remember where they came from?” Some of them came from poor communities, towns, schools… the ghetto. What do they do to better the situations of the communities they grew up in? I have no idea, I guess that is what I am wondering. Would it be possible for an entertainer to make it in society by only making a million dollars a year? I honestly have a problem thinking they couldn’t, since people are able to live with a lot less.
I understand that it is a free market, and if some fat cat is willing to pay somebody some crazy amount of money to do the thing they are doing then it would be dumb for them not to take it right? (Especially since we live in a “look out for yourself, screw everybody else” kind of country.) I really get that, but why is it fair for them to be put in that situation to begin with? Why can’t that rich fat cat person with all the money donate some of that money to the city or town they live in, or maybe to the people who deserve it (teachers, police, fire fighters, doctors, etc?) Why even offer people that kind of money to do what they are doing to begin with? Why cant owners donate the money they spend on players to the community they inhabit?
Role models? It is insanity to me that people like “Pacman” Jones can get paid millions of dollars to PLAY football after being arrested, and suspended from the NFL. Or that movie stars are able to publically get arrested for drugs, drunk driving, having drugs while drunk driving, and get off the hook for being who they are. Would anybody else get away with basically murder because they are a professional… sandwich maker (I’m looking at you OJ)? I really doubt it, but they should be treated as fair as any other professional in this country. The thing I guess I am getting at, is we are paying the way for these “stars” to do whatever they want, and in turn influence our youth. It is ridiculous that Kanye West can flip out in the middle of the airport, and get away with it. If a “regular” civilian did the same I am sure they would have gotten seriously injured, and arrested. These people are our role models, and I really think there is something wrong with that. The dumbest thing somebody said was, “I am not a role model,” this was said by former professional basketball athlete Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley was an awesome basketball player there is no doubt about that, but what would be so bad about wanting to be a role model, and somebody to look up to? He was an 11 time All-Star, Olympian, and after he retired we was an NBA commentator. Why not be a role model, he would make a great role model in my eyes. To my knowledge he never had any trouble with the law… oh and not to mention he made millions of dollars in the process. On the other hand there is Kobe Bryant who is also an awesome basketball player has a salary worth millions of dollars with the Lakers, and makes even more in endorsements… seems like a lot considering he was accused of rape. I know if I were accused of rape I would have gotten fired, and would never get hired back. Is that fair? I guess I just have a real problem with people getting paid so much money to do something many of us pay to do for fun, and get an infinite amount of get-out-of-jail free cards, or get the chance to publicly announce that they don’t want to be associated as a role model.
Now I know a big thing that movie stars, professional athletes, musicians all deal with tabloids, and fans. I am also sure that is a big part of why they feel they should be paid so much, but isn’t that the point of what they are doing? However consistently putting themselves in the limelight is not helping their cause. Maybe people feel they have the right to know everything they are doing because the people are paying their livelihoods.
This brings me back to my original question. What can we do, and what are we willing to give up? Well I mentioned before that professional athletes, writers, actors, and actresses all strike when they feel they are being treated unfairly. I guess the only way I can see anything happening would be if the people went on strike against the entertainment industry as a whole. It’s a supply and demand industry, and we should demand what we think is right, just like how people in entertainment demand what they think is right. The thing to keep in mind is they obviously can care less about us as a society.
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5 comments:
You have extremely legit points my friend. You should know that you're not the only one who contemplates the issues of society on a daily, and seemingly endless basis.
I wish I had answers for your questions, but honestly I'm just as boggled, if not more.
Get your ass down here, and we can discuss further over some beers. If life has taught me anything, it's that all problems can be solved whilst intoxicated.
I hate sports, and don't have cable, I steal music on the internet, boombang!!!!
you know, in a way, sports and entertainment are really the closest thing we have to a free market. pay is based on performance, and it doesn't matter if you are black, white, male, female etc. If you and I produce a movie, and pay Star X to be in the lead role, we're pretty much guaranteed to make money, some times a lot if it's a hit. Or we can cast Mr. Nobody and very likely lose money. A lot of people seem to really like watching Angelina Jolie on film, so they buy tickets, it's pretty simple. So as investors, producers don't give a crap what an ass they may be in real life. I asked a sociologist what they thought of stars and producers that put out these very violent and disturbing movies - her reply was that they are basically sociopaths - they have no regard to the effect of their actions on other people. So when I choose to go to a movie etc., I tend to think about that a bit. There are some stars I find so annoying I'll no longer pay to go see their work. Kids like to buy Kanye's music, what can you do about it? In a way, you can go on strike by not participating, don't buy tickets, CDs, or sit and watch the beer commercials on game day.
As for sports stars, you can bet the Detroit Lions owner is hurting more than the Titans, his "staff" is underperforming and a lot will get cut. Look at baseball - there are very few humans percentage-wise who can stand in the batter's box and stare down a 90 mph fastball and hit it out of the park. No one wants to pay money to see you or I play. I think the NFL in particular does have some good community outreach programs, and a lot of the players particpate. It seems like a lot of the really highly paid players have set up charity foundations in their cities. But the bad boys make the news. As for the owner giving the money to charity instead of the players, pretty soon he'd have no team, and no more money to give away. I think a big percentage of rich people give to charity (they like the social functions involved), but it's unreasonable to expect them to give away a huge percentage of their wealth. As they get older, they usually set up foundations because death taxes will get it anyway. Bill Gates for example has set up a foundation that gives away tons of dough (so have Wal-Mart family members). But that is boring, Mark Cuban is more interesting press.
I liked your post, and often have the same thoughts. Some times I feel like everyone but me has found some to get rich from modern media. Kim Kardashian - famous for... nothing! I guess all I can say is that life is not fair. I think Karma catches up with a lot of these people - look at Michael Vick - rags to riches to prison clothes and bankruptcy all due to his own stupidity. But then again, they may re-instate him!
Anonymous,
I do agree with a lot of what you said. I have been noticing the the NFL does seem to do community outreach things, and that is awesome... well they only one I have really seen was starting youth football programs, but they are trying I guess. I just think owners or players can do so much more than that. What about the kids like Deadbeat (commented above you) who are not into sports, and will never benefit from those programs?
I also agree with you about people not paying to see people like you or I playing a sport, but that is the purpuse of the salary cap. If athletes are not able to make MILLIONS where are they going to make thousands. I would love to see Manny Rameriez make a living doing something other than baseball. For many professional athletes sports are all they know, and if they did not have the option to make soooo much money, I am sure they would do the exact same for a lot less.
Hi Seth,
I really enjoyed this post, and Sociology (my major) addresses a lot of these issues. Part of the problem is that people see the disparities in class as natural. But the real question is how much is society,( the majority of people who don't make millions) willing to accept with the gap between the rich and the poor? When are we going to say enough? And I think society is reaching that point. The problem with the free market is exactly what you addressed; it works for those that already have the means, but hurts a majority of the society that don't. However, there is a general misguided assumption that those that are poor, are poor because they fail to work hard. This is simply not true, the real problem is the system they are stuck, and the myth that if a person works hard they can make something of themselves... this ideology over looks a simple fact, that inequality is present and the playing field is very unequal.
The problem with these role models is that they are entertainment. However, I do feel they should be held accountable as being role models, and criticized when they are not being good role models.
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