I’m sick and tired of it!

I’ve never spent a lot of time thinking about money. Maybe that’s because I never had much of it. I was gainfully employed all my life, so Marcia and I were able to raise four kids and pay the bills. Granted, there were some lean years in my topsy-turvy world of three distinctly different careers, but we always had enough to eat. 

My thoughts turned to money recently, however, when my cousin Nancy---who had an amazing career as an exemplary teacher---posted this little statement on Facebook: 

Imagine a world where pro athletes buy their own footballs

 and teachers get diamond rings for being good at their jobs. 

As a former broadcast journalist, I’m still a bit of a news junkie…so I started paying attention to stories about those persons who make a lot of money. 

-Donald Trump, during a recent deposition, threw around all kinds of sky-high figures, pegging his famous name and related brand at $2.9 billion and even $3 billion! 

-Shohei Ohtani, major league baseball player, was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers and this was his wage: $700M (10 years)! 

-Nick Saban, Alabama’s legendary coach who stepped down last year, had a salary of $11,407,000! 

-Tyler Perry, rated the nation’s highest paid entertainer last year, made $160-million dollars! 

I’m thinking more about the opposite side of the coin. 

I have a very good friend who works at a successful local business, and his wage is $12 an hour! 

I’ve had personal experience with nursing home personnel, and I’m seeing numbers that indicate nursing home aides are making about $16 an hour! 

My job involves working with prisoners, and I can tell you that the State of Michigan has a serious shortage of officers serving in our facilities. I’m not sure who would even work under those conditions for $23 an hour! 

Like him or not, Bernie Sanders has it right: 

“…health care costs are going up, child-care costs are going up, college costs are going up, and housing costs are going up. But wages are not. Low-income workers need a significant boost in what they earn if they are going to live in dignity in today's economy.” 

 And, this quote about the shameful imbalance in wages: 

“A CEO shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the janitor is paid. An athlete shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the waterboy is paid. A film star shouldn't get several hundred times the salary that the crew at the bottom are paid. 

I understand if you are not yet civilized enough to flatten the field completely – for you are an infantile species after all. But at the very least, do your best to reduce the gap - that is, if you intend to be human someday.”

― Abhijit Naskar

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