[jebartle]

Why do we pay our Sports HEROES????? outrageous salaries while the surgeon that saves a small child from certain death earns much less ....Why do cities balance budgets by building elaborate Sports Arenas and lay off teachers at the same time...Our values are all screwed up!....Do you have some questions or answers?

[ijusluvit]

Originally Posted by jebartle

Why do we pay our Sports HEROES????? outrageous salaries while the surgeon that saves a small child from certain death earns much less ....Why do cities balance budgets by building elaborate Sports Arenas and lay off teachers at the same time...Our values are all screwed up!....Do you have some questions or answers?

Humans stay about the same. These are our bread and circuses. Gratification. Discipline and working for a better future are too hard for many of us, and harder still for those those younger whom we may have spoiled.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by jebartle

Why do we pay our Sports HEROES????? outrageous salaries while the surgeon that saves a small child from certain death earns much less ....Why do cities balance budgets by building elaborate Sports Arenas and lay off teachers at the same time...Our values are all screwed up!....Do you have some questions or answers?

Agree with you, but more to the point why, in the richest nation on earth, do we let our children go hungry. Whether we like it or not, they are the future of this country.

Where has the decency and kindness gone from this great country?

[joannej]

I would remove the word heroes from the phrase "sports heroes". They are idols, someone who gets worshiped for little good reason. Then I would then put the same word "heroes" after the military, doctors, paramedics, educators, anyone who has accomplished something of worth in this world. These are the people who deserve to be emulated and admired. It is the greed of the owners of the sports team who pressure the politicians to take taxpayer money and pour it into projects such as super large stadiums. It is the owners who pay these players outrageous salaries so they can brag to their friends about their teams and make big profits when they win the super bowls, world series, etc. Greed is a human trait; and it is also one of the 7 deadly sins. Our quest for Greed is taking our civilization down the wrong path.

[JLHart]

We pay ALL of those that entertain us (sports, music, acting) far, far to much in relation to their actual value to society. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints QB) signed a $100 MILLION, 5yr contract .... a cool 20mil to throw a football. While we lay off teachers, fireman, police ..... sad.

[BarryRX]

I think I may have a different take on this then some other posters. I would certainly spend one dollar to make 2 dollars. I would also spend 1 million dollars to make 2 million dollars. That is what the owners of these sport teams are doing. They are just being free market capitalists. The cities give them tax breaks on their stadiums because their teams bring in lots and lots of revenue for the city. It is that revenue that helps to pay our teachers and police and fire fighters. The fault is our own. We are the ones that watch sports on tv and buy tickets at outrageous prices to the games. If no one watched, the athletes wouldn't be paid.

[collie1228]

I would love to live in a society that puts economic value on the people and ideas that I think are valuable. But that's just not going to happen. Someone like Derek Jeter or Drew Brees or Labron James plays a popular sport so well that they can fill stadiums with people who are willing to pay a big ticket price to see them play. If the players don't get the money, who should? The owner? Wouldn't that be a form of slavery? I don't think the taxpayers should EVER pay for a stadium for any owner, but the athletes themselves are worth whatever the fans are willing to spend on them. And I don't agree that taxpayer support of these stadiums is an economic boom to the municipality. Studies have shown that this is a misconception. If the sport is economically viable, the owner should be willing to find his own funding. One of the biggest problems in our society today is government "investment" where the private sector can't justify private funding. Do a Google search on "Destiny USA", where the city of Syracuse was so enamored by an outlandish developer, they gave him an outlandish deal. And he stiffed them all.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by jebartle

Why do we pay our Sports HEROES????? outrageous salaries while the surgeon that saves a small child from certain death earns much less ....Why do cities balance budgets by building elaborate Sports Arenas and lay off teachers at the same time...Our values are all screwed up!....Do you have some questions or answers?

If a surgeon could get 70,000 people to pay $150 each to watch and have companies pay millions to advertise while he operates, he would make the same money as a professional quarterback.

It's not a question of importance it's a question of how much revenue a person can produce. A baseball player may make $12 million a year but if a surgeon tried to make that kind of money, he'd go out of business and people would simply die.

The $12 million a year comes from a small amount of money from millions of people watching every game.

When a city builds an elaborate sports complex it's because they expect there to be a financial return. That return should actually help them to keep teachers on the payroll.

[JLHart]

"If a surgeon could get 70,000 people to pay $150 each to watch and have companies pay millions to advertise while he operates, he would make the same money as a professional quarterback."

and there in lies the root of the misplaced value that people place on escapist entertainment. That these fine 70K will pony up that $150 per game (min) .... and then bitch an moan about the amount paid to a teacher (after all they just educate our youth) or a Fireman (after all they just run into burning buildings to save those that can not run out) or a Policeman (after all they just protect us)

[hulababy]

I do but you would have to watch the Movie "Agenda - grinding america down" to understand the answer

[jebartle]

educating our youths for THEIR future and our country with increased salaries for teachers, instead the first thing to go, our teachers....It doesn't make any sense!

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

If a surgeon could get 70,000 people to pay $150 each to watch and have companies pay millions to advertise while he operates, he would make the same money as a professional quarterback.

It's not a question of importance it's a question of how much revenue a person can produce. A baseball player may make $12 million a year but if a surgeon tried to make that kind of money, he'd go out of business and people would simply die.

The $12 million a year comes from a small amount of money from millions of people watching every game.

When a city builds an elaborate sports complex it's because they expect there to be a financial return. That return should actually help them to keep teachers on the payroll.

[redwitch]

And how often did you vote against school bonds? Before I adopted my daughter, I voted yes for every school bond on my ballots even though I did not have a personal need for schools or school improvements. In 20 plus years of voting, only 5 school bonds passed. I found it sad that people couldn't see the value of paying an additional $3-10/month in property taxes to build new schools, yet thought nothing of spending $15 a week for a movie and snacks (things were cheaper then) or $20-50 to see a sporting event or an entertainer.

People value entertainment more than education, safety, etc. They may give lip service to saying public services are more important but the reality is that they'll pay for entertainment first. Then, when things no longer work, the blame goes to the government. Sorry, the buck really does stop at our front doors. We choose what is important to us, not necessarily what is important to our community or our neighboring communities.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by redwitch

And how often did you vote against school bonds? Before I adopted my daughter, I voted yes for every school bond on my ballots even though I did not have a personal need for schools or school improvements. In 20 plus years of voting, only 5 school bonds passed. I found it sad that people couldn't see the value of paying an additional $3-10/month in property taxes to build new schools, yet thought nothing of spending $15 a week for a movie and snacks (things were cheaper then) or $20-50 to see a sporting event or an entertainer.

People value entertainment more than education, safety, etc. They may give lip service to saying public services are more important but the reality is that they'll pay for entertainment first. Then, when things no longer work, the blame goes to the government. Sorry, the buck really does stop at our front doors. We choose what is important to us, not necessarily what is important to our community or our neighboring communities.

This is true. I have been trying to get links to the Florida Victim Services Directory since 2000 from all types of libraries in FL. Public, law, academic and medical librarians have received my various e-mails about this resource since 2000 and some of got it.

But, the links disappear after a while. Seems some library users and management are more interested in escaping the world than actually trying to do something about improving it.

Movie theaters, popular novels, football and soccer stadiums all offer escape from daily realities.