Playing Sports and Saving Lives

I'm not sure when the last thread like this, if at all, was made but I'm gonna go ahead because I see opportunity for discussion here.

So, there has been a lot of talk about the amount of money sports players earn in comparison to what the people who save lives earn. Also, I've heard that soldiers fighting in armies don't get paid as much as they should. Where do you stand on this matter? Why do you think footballers earn millions and nurses earn a lot less than them?

There is a supposed deal happening between 2 football teams; Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur in which Real Madrid want to buy one of Tottenham's players, Gareth Bale, for around £100m. Is this right?

Discuss.

Celebrities always get the most attention, and because people seem to look up to them they are worth (and possibly have) millions of cash. Meanwhile nurses and solders get ignored and are left with almost no money.

The world is really a screwed up place, and the shiny celebrities and footballers get the live the luxury seem to complain about the smallest of things; while the unfortunate suffer and fight to even breathe the same air.

That just seems to be how life works.

The thing is, there's not really an easy way to fix this inequality.

Celebrities are essentially private businesses. Their money comes from their fans and people buying their music/films/etc.

Nurses, in the UK, are paid for by the government mostly - therefore there are limited funds leading to a limited salary.

The US, I'm assuming, has to run hospitals even more like a business, where an overall profit or some financial stability is needed - therefore they have to balance their fees with how much they pay their staff.

The only real solution would be for the government to claim more tax from celebrities - however, is that really... far? Dare I say it?

Do all nurses or soldiers even deserve more pay? The latter especially is quite questionable.

Really, this gets down to whether we believe it's fair for people to make huge amounts of money far beyond their needs and/or contributions to society. Obviously what constitutes a "contribution" is something worth debating, but I would hope there wouldn't need to be too much debate on whether several million dollars is enough money to get by and feel comfortable. It's way more than enough.

The bad part is that the people who make a lot of money are pretty essential to Capitalism. It isn't particularly hard to enlist or become a police officer, and most people with average grades and strength can do it. Celebrities on the other hand are a severe minority, and have to work hard to get their money (excluding those who had their money passed down to them.)

Soldiers can actually make a pretty good amount of money here in the US, as long as they work hard. It isn't a million dollars, but its pretty good, and for most more than enough to live comfortably.

I believe it is fair for people to have millions/billion of dollars. This mostly comes from the fact that they spend a lot of money as well (thus contributing a lot to the economy). As a matter of fact, I would hate it more if millionaires/billionaires tried to live like normal people.

There is nothing we can do about it either. If these rich people lose their money in any way other than spending it MC Hammer style, then our economy might suffer. Think about what would happen if all of the hollywood stars just gave out their money. Suddenly there would more money in circulation than normal, and the value of our money would actually go down.

I think this touches on a larger subject of income inequality, which has steadily become a glaring issue over in the United States.

I think the fact that movie stars and professional athletes making that much money is an ugly reminder of what our culture really values or deems acceptable. Our culture dominated by the media, marketing, and unadulterated capitalism basically allows for this. I don't think it should be acceptable for public servants, emergency workers, teachers, police officers, etc, to make so little when they mean so much to the future of our society. It's pretty embarrassing I think. People who make honest contributions to society deserve to be taken care of, to a degree.

I think what some people are forgetting is that many celebrities and athletes do donate to worthy causes, even if it's not our soldiers or nurses. For the most part, soldiers and nurses can pay to feed themselves and to own a house/apartment/lot/living space, whereas there are people who can't who aren't in either profession. There is certainly a point where you're being paid too much (such as Gareth Bale and his 85mil Euro transfer), and technically he's entitled to do what he wants, but I'm sure within the next few years the media will focus on what Bale spends his massive stash of money on. Whether it'll be good or bad, who knows.

A lot of this over-payment stems from the fact that the entertainment sector brings in a lot more money than the health sector. In something like the sports world, the incomes out of the total profit is probably fairly distributed (barring things like talent judging). The business of saving lives isn't exactly financially lucrative. But all this is pretty common knowlege I'd presume, I just don't have much to add. :P