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Zeke and Goff Sign Record Contracts - Where's the Wealth Inequality Outrage? (1 Viewer)

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PhantomJB

Footballguy
A combined $224 million to play a game for five years, give or take.

It's always puzzled me that sports and entertainment figures are never subjected to the same vitriol as other "millionaires and billionaires."

Goff, Zeke, LeBron, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, etc. act no less greedy than anyone on Wall Street...and surely no one can argue they are actually producing anything of tangible value.

Perhaps we could have a discussion about why these sports and entertainment incomes don't trigger the same type of outrage as more corporate types.

 
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There is zero to be outraged about here...they are employees getting paid by their teams.  Not many people complain about lower employees getting paid what they are worth.

There is nothing liberal vs. conservative about this.  Im not sure I understand the need to be outraged?

 
I don’t get it. Are they paying their fair share of taxes? If they weren’t, that would piss me off. But, just a simple disdain for rich people? Seems like you are picking a fight for no reason.

 
dozer said:
I don’t get it. Are they paying their fair share of taxes? If they weren’t, that would piss me off. But, just a simple disdain for rich people? Seems like you are picking a fight for no reason.
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Child, please. It sure seems to piss off Bernie.

“Grotesque” is how Sen. Bernie Sanders has described the level of wealth inequality in the U.S., and he’s not the only Democrat running a presidential campaign that relies heavily on this idea.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/many-americans-think-economic-inequality-is-a-problem-just-not-the-most-pressing-one/

 
Personally I don’t think liberals should be outraged by any salaries, full stop. Bernie, Warren, and other leftists play this game of demonizing corporate executives and Wall Street. It’s a populist game; it’s awful. Hillary didn’t play it. I don’t think Biden does either. This is a key difference between liberalism and leftism. 

 
Had a minor discussion with my sis in law about this.  She hates Bezos....And not for any of his politics, opinions, or anything.  Just because hes super rich. That's it.  Period.  

Thinks we should "do something about that"

This didn't come from a woah is me I'm broke and he's rich jealousy mindset either.  She just hates that there are people that are so wealthy out there.  

Of course she has no solution, and really cannot find a line where the government acts and does something about it, or leaves well enough alone.  But she was adamant about her anger.

 
timschochet said:
Personally I don’t think liberals should be outraged by any salaries, full stop. Bernie, Warren, and other leftists play this game of demonizing corporate executives and Wall Street. It’s a populist game; it’s awful. Hillary didn’t play it. I don’t think Biden does either. This is a key difference between liberalism and leftism. 
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Perhaps sports and entertainment figures are immune to criticism because they are worshipped by the very people the populist politicians are courting. That may sound patronizing and probably is but also probably true.

 
supermike80 said:
Had a minor discussion with my sis in law about this.  She hates Bezos....And not for any of his politics, opinions, or anything.  Just because hes super rich. That's it.  Period.  

Thinks we should "do something about that"

This didn't come from a woah is me I'm broke and he's rich jealousy mindset either.  She just hates that there are people that are so wealthy out there.  

Of course she has no solution, and really cannot find a line where the government acts and does something about it, or leaves well enough alone.  But she was adamant about her anger.
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For you and the OP:

It's not that these people are rich. It's that they're that rich AND they pay their workers like crap.

I know, not quite as simple as "libs hate rich people". Sorry about that.

 
PhantomJB said:
A combined $224 million to play a game for five years, give or take.

It's always puzzled me that sports and entertainment figures are never subjected to the same vitriol from Democrats as other "millionaires and billionaires."

Goff, Zeke, LeBron, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, etc. act no less greedy than anyone on Wall Street...and surely no one can argue they are actually producing anything of tangible value.

Yet there is zero outrage at their stratospheric incomes from Liz and Bernie, Barack and Joe and all their Democratic friends. Ever.

Perhaps some of the more enlightened liberal minds on this board can explain this to me?
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I want to frame this.  It is perfection. An academic could write a book about the conservative movement's refusal to even attempt to understand liberal and progressive policy preferences and perspectives, and you couldn't capture it better than these five glorious sentences of pure, uncut nonsense.

 
Skoo said:
For you and the OP:

It's not that these people are rich. It's that they're that rich AND they pay their workers like crap.

I know, not quite as simple as "libs hate rich people". Sorry about that.
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Now we're getting somewhere...so you hate rich people that create jobs for others and not ones that play sports for a living?

 
TobiasFunke said:
I want to frame this.  It is perfection. An academic could write a book about the conservative movement's refusal to even attempt to understand liberal and progressive policy preferences and perspectives, and you couldn't capture it better than these five glorious sentences of pure, uncut nonsense.
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I'm not refusing anything. It's simple question asking why sports and entertainment people are not the subject of the same type of criticism as others who make a lot of money.

 
PhantomJB said:
Now we're getting somewhere...so you hate rich people that create jobs for others and not ones that play sports for a living?
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We hate rich people that pay their workers like crap.

I know, I know, you're willingly ignoring that part because it doesn't support your ridiculous argument.

 
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PhantomJB said:
Perhaps sports and entertainment figures are immune to criticism because they are worshipped by the very people the populist politicians are courting. That may sound patronizing and probably is but also probably true.
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Actually there’s a long history of celebrities being attacked for income. Back in the 50s there used to be articles by leftists: why does Elvis Presley make 20 times what Jonas Salk earns in a year? Etc. (Salk cured polio.) 

 
Skoo said:
We hate rich people that pay their workers like crap.

I know, I know, you're willingly ignoring that part because it doesn't support your ridiculous argument.
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So you hate Jerry Jones and not Zeke Elliot?

I'm just trying to understand the "hate inequality" and why sports and entertainment figures are immune.

 
PhantomJB said:
So you hate Jerry Jones and not Zeke Elliot?

I'm just trying to understand the "hate inequality" and why sports and entertainment figures are immune.
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We hate rich people that pay their workers like crap.

Would you like me to repeat it a 3rd time, or you just going to ignore that one too?

 
PhantomJB said:
So you hate Jerry Jones and not Zeke Elliot?

I'm just trying to understand the "hate inequality" and why sports and entertainment figures are immune.
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Jerruh and his 31 partners put the screws to their fans, their communities and their employees every chance they get. The whole structure of the NFL is based on a monopolistic cartel designed to extract and even extort the maximum dollar from everyone it encounters. What do the players do along these lines?

 
timschochet said:
Actually there’s a long history of celebrities being attacked for income. Back in the 50s there used to be articles by leftists: why does Elvis Presley make 20 times what Jonas Salk earns in a year? Etc. (Salk cured polio.) 
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Elvis created the fried bologna sandwich with butter and cheese though.

 
PhantomJB said:
A combined $224 million to play a game for five years, give or take.

It's always puzzled me that sports and entertainment figures are never subjected to the same vitriol from Democrats as other "millionaires and billionaires."

sGoff, Zeke, LeBron, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, etc. act no less greedy than anyone on Wall Street
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Seriously?  You can't see a difference between people getting compensated for their talent, actions, whatever, vs. corporations who knowingly harm consumers whether environmental, financial, etc.??

 
Skoo said:
We hate rich people that pay their workers like crap.

Would you like me to repeat it a 3rd time, or you just going to ignore that one too?
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You do...But not everyone does.  Should I repeat my sister in law's position?

Has zippo to do with how he pays his employees

 
parasaurolophus said:
Probably because most athletes pump 99% of that money right back into the economy within 5 years. 
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pump isn't the right word - lose their wealth is a better explanation :(  

but to the topic .... smart athletes hide their wealth and just like Democrats and Republicans they exploit every tax loophole ....  now they also have charitable organizations (or many do) so they all do good things

the money they make is sick - but its part of a free capitalist market .... every sports player should vote GOP 

 
roadkill1292 said:
Jerruh and his 31 partners put the screws to their fans, their communities and their employees every chance they get. The whole structure of the NFL is based on a monopolistic cartel designed to extract and even extort the maximum dollar from everyone it encounters. What do the players do along these lines?
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Well they have a Union (NFLPA) that extract 58% (IIRC) of the gross revenues to the players and have negotiated a salary cap floor to ensure the money is actually being spent on salaries.

There may be an argument there, perhaps

 
The Z Machine said:
Are those guys involved in wealth extraction from the poor to the rich?
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Seems to me they are. Millions of middle class (and below) people attending sporting events and concerts and those tickets are outrageously expensive. Just as much exploitation going on there as anywhere else.

 
PhantomJB said:
Seems to me they are. Millions of middle class (and below) people attending sporting events and concerts and those tickets are outrageously expensive. Just as much exploitation going on there as anywhere else.
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Zeke is setting ticket prices now?

This just gets dumber and dumber.

 
Skoo said:
Thing is, I don't believe you're telling the truth.
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I never lie.  No need.  Especially on a BB.

I mean except for my super model wife.  My 10",  my 700,000 home and 25 hour a week work from home job that pays me 600K......Except THOSE lies

 
PhantomJB said:
Goff, Zeke, LeBron, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, etc. act no less greedy than anyone on Wall Street...and surely no one can argue they are actually producing anything of tangible value.
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Taylor Swift hasn’t created anything of tangible value and nobody can argue otherwise?  Can you flesh this out a little? From my vantage point she has made millions of people happy.  

 
msommer said:
Well they have a Union (NFLPA) that extract 58% (IIRC) of the gross revenues to the players and have negotiated a salary cap floor to ensure the money is actually being spent on salaries.

There may be an argument there, perhaps
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That's an interesting way to view unions and labor negotiations. 

 
Anyway, since I made light of it I guess I should try to give a vaguely serious response:

1. The money made by these entertainers is coming from ownership and management, not customers. If you zeroed out their profits the laborers (the ones who create virtually all the value) would make even more while the price to consumers would be even less.  It is this middleman (team owners, record labels, streaming services and other media players) who adds relatively little value and profits largely as a function of their (often inherited) wealth and social status that liberals and progressives despise, both in this context and in the larger context of how the private sector usually functions.

2. The post shows a bizarre failure to comprehend the massive gulf between making $200 million over the course of one's career and making $20 billion. The ratio is the same as the difference between 100,000 and ten million. I assure you, if the Koch Brothers, Jeff Bezos et al. reduced their wealth by 99% their would be a lot less outrage about it from the left.

3. Most of the people listed provide unique value to consumers/the public created entirely by their talent and hard work. For example if LeBron James did not exist the sport and fans would have lost something significant.  In contrast, if Jeff Bezos did not exist some other rich person would likely have created a dominant one-stop shopping destination on the internet through a combination of insight, marketing and exploitation of other people's work.  Society would have been no worse off for his absence- possibly better, if whoever did it in his absence treated their warehouse employees better than he does.

4. Entertainers and athletes tend to give a much higher percentage of their wealth to charity despite the diminishing marginal returns of wealth. They also don't use that wealth to alter public policy in ways that harm the welfare of the public but benefit their own wealth (see eg the Kochs anti-climate change propaganda campaign).

5. You seem to have conflated pure socialism or communism with democratic socialism or Liz Warren style capitalism. Even the latter is on the left wing of the Democratic party.  Advocates for the former are very few and far between.

 
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PhantomJB said:
Seems to me they are. Millions of middle class (and below) people attending sporting events and concerts and those tickets are outrageously expensive. Just as much exploitation going on there as anywhere else.
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It's a salary cap league. Zeke's salary doesn't change the Cowboys' payroll figure, it only rearranges it.  Therefore, it has zero effect on ticket prices.

 
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