Post by Darth Stateworker on Nov 6, 2011 9:33:26 GMT -5
Reading the news this morning - and for the past few months - I keep coming across stories on the NBA lockout. Those stories generally go something like this: greedy, wealthy owners are trying to strongarm their poor unionized players into accepting a poor contract, screwing the players and the fans out of their basketball season.
Let's think about that for a second. Public perception on this seems to be overwhelmingly on the players side. These players - where even the lowest paid are paid far better than the average person in this nation and would be considered wealthy by most accounts - are fighting for better compensation for themselves via a union, and they have oodles of public support, while the owners - their employers - are painted to be some sort of greedy, Scrooge like characters.
It presents an interesting dichotomy. When you look at public sector employees - civil servants who strive every day to help people and make the world a better place, suddenly, the employees are evil for simply wanting to MAINTAIN their benefits and pay, while someone like Andrew Cuomo is a savior of the taxpaying public. It is the polar opposite of the majority opinion held on the NBA lockout.
What is wrong with the world when people want to see wealthy athletes increase their wages for SIMPLY PLAYING A GAME, and at the same time the same people act like rabid dogs over people who actually serve the public, screaming for them to accept wage cuts, benefit cuts, you name it? Has our society become that stupid that they do not realize that even a single teacher, social worker, police officer, or any other civil servant has far more value to society than the whole of the NBA, both owners and players?
It is a sick world indeed when the middle class fights the middle class while cheering on people who got wealthy by playing a game as they fight for better pay and benefits. It is a sick world when sports writers all come out in favor of unionized players, but the political writers and editors of newspapers all over the country continually attack civil servants or remain complicit (or worse yet, help) in the attacks perpetrated by others like Andrew Cuomo.
This isn't about "you get paid with tax dollars and they don't". Such statements are canards. Cop-outs. Red herrings if you will. Everyone gets paid by everyone else. That's how an economy works. You don't think you pay these players or owners because you don't attend games or buy gear? Guess again. Buy something from one of the leagues sponsors - you just paid them. Buy something from someone who isn't a sponsor but does business with one of their sponsors - you just paid them. Watch part of a game on TV - you just paid them by generating advertising revenue for them. And as many of these teams have lucrative tax deals, pay your taxes - you just paid them. So for all of the spin, we all pay each other in some way, shape, or form, even if you don't WANT to pay the other guy.
At one point, our population was intelligent. It had morals. It understood right from wrong. It would have known that civil servants were worthy of societies respect, admiration, and thanks, and that they deserved far more support to maintain their pay and benefits than a pro athlete does. Today, we've become a society with little morals or character, and simply worship at the alter of the rich and famous. Anything they do is OK. But heaven forbid a teacher expect to make more than a fry cook or expect a better set of benefits than the fry cook.
Let's think about that for a second. Public perception on this seems to be overwhelmingly on the players side. These players - where even the lowest paid are paid far better than the average person in this nation and would be considered wealthy by most accounts - are fighting for better compensation for themselves via a union, and they have oodles of public support, while the owners - their employers - are painted to be some sort of greedy, Scrooge like characters.
It presents an interesting dichotomy. When you look at public sector employees - civil servants who strive every day to help people and make the world a better place, suddenly, the employees are evil for simply wanting to MAINTAIN their benefits and pay, while someone like Andrew Cuomo is a savior of the taxpaying public. It is the polar opposite of the majority opinion held on the NBA lockout.
What is wrong with the world when people want to see wealthy athletes increase their wages for SIMPLY PLAYING A GAME, and at the same time the same people act like rabid dogs over people who actually serve the public, screaming for them to accept wage cuts, benefit cuts, you name it? Has our society become that stupid that they do not realize that even a single teacher, social worker, police officer, or any other civil servant has far more value to society than the whole of the NBA, both owners and players?
It is a sick world indeed when the middle class fights the middle class while cheering on people who got wealthy by playing a game as they fight for better pay and benefits. It is a sick world when sports writers all come out in favor of unionized players, but the political writers and editors of newspapers all over the country continually attack civil servants or remain complicit (or worse yet, help) in the attacks perpetrated by others like Andrew Cuomo.
This isn't about "you get paid with tax dollars and they don't". Such statements are canards. Cop-outs. Red herrings if you will. Everyone gets paid by everyone else. That's how an economy works. You don't think you pay these players or owners because you don't attend games or buy gear? Guess again. Buy something from one of the leagues sponsors - you just paid them. Buy something from someone who isn't a sponsor but does business with one of their sponsors - you just paid them. Watch part of a game on TV - you just paid them by generating advertising revenue for them. And as many of these teams have lucrative tax deals, pay your taxes - you just paid them. So for all of the spin, we all pay each other in some way, shape, or form, even if you don't WANT to pay the other guy.
At one point, our population was intelligent. It had morals. It understood right from wrong. It would have known that civil servants were worthy of societies respect, admiration, and thanks, and that they deserved far more support to maintain their pay and benefits than a pro athlete does. Today, we've become a society with little morals or character, and simply worship at the alter of the rich and famous. Anything they do is OK. But heaven forbid a teacher expect to make more than a fry cook or expect a better set of benefits than the fry cook.
