Lots of free time???

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Registered: 03-20-2003
Lots of free time???
21
Thu, 09-27-2007 - 7:49am

I know there are other teachers lurking around.

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Registered: 08-02-2007
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 3:22pm
This is a departure from the usual woes-of-singlehood / joys-of-companionship (and vice versa), so moderators please bear. This question was asked.



Funny you should mention the professional athletes. My friend and I were discussing last night that they are more highly paid that most of the rest of the world. Why are they so highly valued? They simply provide entertainment while the people who educate people, keep the government running (not including the politicians, I mean us average govt workers), and even those who fight and die for their country are paid much less. Why are our professions not worth more than an athlete or actor?



Why do star athletes make obscene amounts of money, while those who provide an important service to society, the teachers, educators, etc just get by? Good question.



The shortest and the most direct answer is – all these athletes, entertainers, etc are commissioned salesmen and women. What they get paid has nothing to do with the value they provide to society, and has everything to do with the value they provide to their employers. Their paychecks come from sales, and sales alone, not from telling jokes or throwing balls through hoops, as it may appear. They sell products. When their products sell they pick up their commission, the size of their commission being proportional to how much they help sell. If they fail to sell, they are out.



But still, how do they manage to make obscene amounts of money ? Simple. There is no upper limit to how much you can make (even though liberals/Democrats try to restrict that through punitive taxes). Ideally, there shouldn’t be a lower limit either (minimum wage being ZERO/hr) but that’s another topic. How much an athlete or an entertainer makes in a year, whether it’s 1 million, 5 million, 32 million, 60 million or 260 million, is a small fraction of what he or she helps bring about in sales. The greater the sales figures, the higher the commission. Oprah tops the list in sales and not surprisingly she is also the wealthiest. So what is this sales business I keep talking about, you ask. How exactly is Jay Leno selling products by telling jokes ? Or Kobe Bryant throwing balls through hoops ?


By grabbing your attention.



Advertising increases sales. It’s a proven fact. All these entertainers have to do is grab the attention of as many viewers (‘ratings’) for as long as possible so that when they duck out periodically, enough of you keep watching. You keep watching as ads flash across your screens and as a result some (enough) of you are persuaded to go and by those products. That’s all. That’s all entertainers are paid for. Obviously NBC ‘s Tonight Show must be resulting in enough sales for it’s advertisers to justify paying them close to $300 million annually. So NBC is happy, the advertisers are happy, Jay is happy. On the flip side, Katie Couric is a disaster for CBS Evening News. They signed her on for $15 million but ratings and ad revenue have only fallen since she joined CBS. The free market has spoken. Katie will be out within a year.




But the question remains, Jay gets $32 million for telling jokes and interviewing people ??? Yes. Economics 101 – supply and demand. You think NBC wouldn’t hire another comedian for $16 million if they could without diminishing revenue ? Or another one to replace him for $8 million, or 4 million, or $2 million ? They would if they could. But people want to see Jay. JAY results ratings, not any one else. They would happily hire John Melendez to host for $500,000 if they could, but people would tune out and ratings and revenue would plummet. ( I am only using Jay as an example, substitute your favorite comedian if you like).



Basic capitalism. You get paid based on your ability to directly affect an organization’s bottom line. You ask for what you think you are worth. The company pays what it thinks you are worth to them. Whether you like him or hate him,Tom Cruise can demand $30 million in upfront salary(plus back end deals), because it’s Tom Cruise who results in $100s of million in sales, not anyone else, or at least not so much. All others are replaceable. Not Tom Cruise. The studios would be more than happy to pay him $1 million for a movie but then Tom Cruise would walk and nobody would make any money, or not as much This is the beauty of free market capitalism. I help you make money, you help me make money



So what about teachers ? Why do teachers make pittance compared to these entertainers ? Well, while an important service that they DO provide, teachers do not operate in the free market. At least those in public schools. Enter private schools or private universities (for profit organizations) that are open to market competition and salaries go up, as do quality and cost of tuition. But teachers go into the profession knowing full well they won’t become millionaires through teaching. There are enough teachers available willing to work at the salaries they are offered.






Edited 10/2/2007 4:40 pm ET by capegirardeau

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