A moment on haves and have nots sports version

nobody is worth that living expect Life

 

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“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

 

John Ruskin

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Well.

 

I wrote not too long ago about why the everyday schmuck like me gets a little grumpy with the non everyday schmuck who can spend $75000 in one night pay too much nobody is worth salary money society<The fact that an NBA star spent $75,000 for a ‘5 day get away’ made me sit back and shake my head saying to myself “… and wealthy people wonder why an everyday schmuck like me gets aggravated over the whole wealthy & inequality discussion?”>

 

Today I am going to point out  the absolutely mind numbing crazy new six-year deal Colts quarterback Andrew Luck signed worth more than $139 million with $87 million in guaranteed money.

 

One Pro Bowl NFL defensive player tweeted: “Nobody is worth that. God isn’t worth that.”

 

In my “$75k in one weekend spending” post I then pointed out that $75,000 out of pocket is a family of 4 who earns maybe $120,000 annually <taking out taxes & social security & deductions to get back to the $75,000 real cash on hand annually>.

 

I will today point out that $23.2 million a year <the 6 year deal broken down> would pay for … well … a bunch of things.

 

not worth it we are our choices societyThink about the fact that the annual income threshold for being counted as living in poverty was $11,490 last year for a person and $23,550 for a family of four. I could maybe bring a million+ people out above poverty.

 

Think about the fact the median annual Public School Teacher salary is $53,315. I could hire 450,154 new teachers annually.

 

Think about the fact the median expected annual pay for a typical Police Patrol Officer in the United States is $52,613. I could hire 456,161 new police officers annually.

 

Think about the fact the median annual Fire Fighter salary is $44,043. I could hire 544,922 new fire fighters annually.

 

Think about the fact it can cost <estimated> about $20,000 annually to give a homeless person permanent supportive housing coupled with supportive services. I could take 1,090,900 homeless people off the streets annually.  

 

Think about the fact I am using MEDIAN numbers … which means over 50% of the averages are below the annual numbers I have shown.

 

Think about the fact if I used a portion of the $24 million annually to simply give people raises … well … I could give 1.2 million people a $20k raise … or one time annual bonus. That would be 7.2 million different people if I did it over 6 consecutive years with the money.

 

Look.

 

I do not begrudge people earning money.

 

I do not begrudge wealth.

 

I do not begrudge getting as much as the market will bear as a salary.

 

But this is kind of nuts.

 

We conceptually discuss inequality and how the rich get rich and the non rich don’t get … well … rich. And, sure, we can talk about big business and grumble against some trade deals which <don’t really> negatively affect the everyday working person … but maybe we should just assume some responsibility for our own society and how we view what is important.

 

I can’t blame China for this bigly salary.

 

I can’t blame some stupid trade deal for this bigly salary.

 

I can’t blame Wall Street for this bigly salary.

 

I can’t blame some mysterious cabal of elites for this bigly salary.

 

I can only blame us … society … Americans … and how we view who gets what and why someone gets what they get.

 

Do I believe Andrew Luck should be paid some extremely high salary versus me or some everyday schmuck? Sure. He should go for it.

 

Do I believe some quarterback playing some sport should be paid $24 million annually? No. I do not.

 

In my heart of hearts I put this almost in the same category as some CEO who earns $24 million a year while a whole bunch of working schmucks, who haven’t had a significant raise in some years, earn just enough to live.

 

Look.

I absolutely understand the law of scarcity and the fact that if only a few can do something they will inevitably be rewarded appropriately. But out of whack is out of whack and scarcity can only explain so much disparity.

 

Maybe I am way off base here … and maybe I am not.

 

But what I do know is that a whole bunch of people don’t have enough and they

are working their fucking asses off to get more.

 

And what I do know is that a culture with a healthy fairly distributed structure

............. what the hell ???? ........

…………. what the hell ???? ……..

of wealth distribution <low to high> creates a healthy economy and mindset.

 

And I do know that when some crazy annual salary like this is given to someone … particularly someone who doesn’t necessarily manufacture anything or directly create jobs <although some people will suggest he does create jobs> or doesn’t really offer a directly meaningful service to the betterment of society or fulfillment of Life … well … I think a lot of us every day schmucks scratch our heads a little and wonder if things are a little out of whack.

 

 

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Written by Bruce