They
Okay, I am sick of this.
Today I heard yet another ignorant utterance of the age-old stupid question “Why don’t they pay doctors and teachers the same amount of money as they do professional sports players?” While the equally idiotic response is usually along the lines of “Sports players put themselves at risk every time they step on the field/ice/court, so they deserve more money”, this is actually NOT the reason that “they” pay them more. So here is uncle Crommunist with a quick economics lesson.
This is mister Jones.
Mister Jones is a hard-working citizen. He pays his taxes on time, mows the lawn twice a week, helps his neighbour’s daughter with her sex-ed homework. Mister Jones is a model citizen. Mister Jones is currently employed as a schoolteacher at a local high school. He spent many years of schooling, graduating from high school, followed by a bachelor’s degree in education and two years at teacher’s college. Mister Jones makes 50 grand a year, before taxes.
This is Doctor Thompson.
Doctor Thompson is, as his name suggests, an orthopedic surgeon. Before he was allowed to saw people’s arms off and re-attach them with surgical staples, he achieved an undergraduate degree, went through 4 years of medical school, then spent many years achieving a PhD in orthopedic studies. After all this, he spent 10 years as a surgical resident in a local hospital. Finally, after MANY years of struggle and sacrifice, Doctor Thompson is a well-respected surgeon, consulted by many hospitals. He makes a whopping 300 grand a year, before taxes, practice insurance, medical association fees, what-have-you.
This is Steve “Bonecrusher” McGee
Steve dropped out of high-school twice, but eventually graduated and was drafted into college on a football scholarship. When he wasn’t busy playing football, carousing with the campus sluts or getting drunk buying body-shots with his scholarship money, Steve occasionally attended his “Physics of Frisbee flight” class. Steve was so good at football that he was drafted into a professional team as an all-star linebacker. Steve makes 3.7 million dollars a year, plus endorsement contracts and various benefits, before taxes, personal insurance, and 3 different monthly alimony cheques to his ex-wives.
“A travesty!” you might say. “They should do something about this GROSS overpayment of a man whose stock and trade is a non-vital service! The people who educate our children and heal our injuries deserve more, as they had to work harder to get there! They should change this!”
Well, genius, let’s look at who “they” are.
For mister Bonecrusher, “they” are a LONG list of people including
- the fans who pay tickets to see him play
- the advertisers who put ads on television, in the stadium, in the sky, on the ground, etc.
- the company that sponsors him to appear in their commercials, use their equipment, have their logo stitched on his jersey, and so on.
The fans don’t pay Bonecrusher directly, but they do invest in the team. And, as a marquis player, Bonecrusher gets a nice slice of the pie because he brings people to the games, sells jerseys and other team paraphernalia, and also propels them to the Superbowl. Because sports are a free-market venture, Bonecrusher is eligible to play for any team he likes once his contract runs out. What the team has to do is make sure that they throw enough money at him that he won’t void his contract and go to play for another team. Because he is a highly prized player, other teams would LOVE to have him, so his team must make sure he is financially happy.
What about mister Jones? Mr. Jones is a highly-trained, highly-skilled professional with lots of education. Mister Jones also works as a government employee. You see, boys and girls, the taxes that you and I pay to the government go to roads, and sewers, and all of those little things that go into making a society function. One of these things is education. When he entered the teaching field, mister Jones was given a pittance of a salary, and had to work his way up to his 50 grand. This is because, even if they wanted to (and they don’t), the government cannot afford to pay all of its teachers millions of dollars a year. The pool of money from which Mr. Jones gets paid is the same pool from which the roads are fixed, the sewers are built, the missile defense systems are crafted, and most importantly, the members of Parliament are paid. As a result, there is only so much money in the system.
What about Dr. Thompson? Same deal. In Canada, Dr. Thompson’s salary is paid by the provincial government, who gets the money to pay him from the taxpayers. In order to pay him more, they would need more money, and that is not happening for the same reason. In the United States, where freedom is the most important thing, Dr. Thompson is free to charge whatever he likes for his services. However, his colleagues are also free to charge LESS, and thereby steal all of Dr. Thompson’s patients. Dr. Thompson must therefore make sure that he charges the right amount or else he will not make any money.
Why not put more money into the system you ask? Very simple. There are a bunch of MEAN people who do not like to pay for things like education and roads. They are called taxpayers. They want to keep all their money for themselves, to spend it on SUVs and premium gasoline and tickets to see Bonecrusher McGee destroy someone’s sporting career. When the government says “We need more money” these people grumble and become vexed because they work hard for their money and do not want to see another slice of it taken away from them.
“Well that blows” you might say. “I think the government should decide how much money everyone makes based on who needs it the most and who works hardest for it.”
Well children, we had that. This was the result.