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WARNING * unpopular opinion

Daily writing prompt
Name the professional athletes you respect the most and why.

I’m in a real predicament here. I don’t watch any sports, never really have and I have unpopular opinions about the pay scale of professional athletes.

I really don’t know how other sports work, I only know a tad about hockey. I know that they are paid ridiculous amounts of money to skate around on the ice, fight and try to score goals. I know that people with “real” jobs are getting paid one sixteenth of a NHL player’s salary. People who are fighting for freedom, risking their lives, saving lives etc.

It’s very unfair and it’s hard to fathom. I mean yes okay, these professional athletes are skilled at what they do. They have dedicated their lives to their sport. Big whoopty-do. I do not agree they should be getting paid MILLIONS to do it.

The social worker who saved someone from ending their life and helped them find a path to holistic health has also honed their skills and dedicated their life to what they believe is important.

I realize it’s probably never going to change and it would be as pointless to complain about as it is to whine about paying taxes. It just is the way it is.

I would hope that these athletes are charitable with their earnings as, particularly in Canada, social problems are in everybody’s backyard. It’s really unfair that there are Indigenous people living on reserves in conditions similar to third world countries, under boil water advisories, yet we have NHL franchises paying out billions to their teams to “play a game”.

So to answer the question, I would respect only the professional athletes who use their powers for good and not evil. There better be some serious philanthropy going on.

To me, it’s similar to the Hollywood culture, and I have no use for that either.

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An oldie of my younger sister, myself and my Grampa

14 responses to “WARNING * unpopular opinion”

  1. I wrote something so similar to this it’s not even funny 😆

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh I’m in great company then!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. No need to worry 😆 but I get it, I almost didn’t post mine LOL – but yeah, exactly as you said. They get paid way too much and although I do like some sports, I don’t think they should be anymore respected or praised than anyone else working.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Exactly!

        Liked by 1 person

  2. While I’m only familiar with American sports, though I no longer follow any, I assume they are congruent with sports in your country, and the problem is not the players, but the owners. The greedy, rapacious, forking owners. While I agree there is way too much money involved, and I’d rather see it spread around to places where it is genuinely needed, given the system that exists, I’d rather see money going to the players because at least each dollar that goes to them is one less for the wealthy owners.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks JT!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Society allows it to a degree, so really, it’s kind of on us in a way too. If people weren’t willing to pay for the tickets, the fees, the advertisements, etc., then the money wouldn’t necessarily be there to pay those outrageous salaries.
    Laura mentioned influencers in her post too, and I present a similar argument. if they weren’t getting the likes, views, etc., they wouldn’t be getting handed $10k per post to hold a bottle of mineral water in a 20 second video.
    It’s all about “market value”, and let’s be honest, most of us are always trying to increase ours in some way or another.
    Not saying I disagree that there are professions that are woefully underpaid, but in a way, we’ve created this monster. Or at the least, help to feed it.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thanks Kevin, appreciate your input!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. My pleasure.
        And just for the record, I am as guilty as anyone, because I watch a lot of these sports, etc., so I’m not sitting on any high horse.
        Influencer crap I try to avoid though if at all possible.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Totally get this feeling, because wealth in our society is often obscene instead of anywhere near commensurate. Corporate structures amplify any normal inclination for a society to reward its talented people, and ignore carers.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yes exactly, thanks Stephanie!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Pay is mostly a reflection of ability to generate money in the marketplace. It is definitely not a fair representation of value to society.

    The people you mention who are underpaid are generally in the nonprofit or government sectors. Athletes are in the revenue based line of work.

    Besides ability to produce money, one needs enough power to claim their share. Athletes are not easily replaceable therein lies their ability to line their pockets (and not have mighty owners take almost all of it).

    In the end, one way to ensure that people get a fair shake is to have a political system where the wealthy owners and corporations pay their fair share by way of taxes (government-funded education of employees, infrastructure they use, healthcare of those out of workforce, etc.) and for imposing externalities on the rest of society (pollution, noise, etc.).

    This, however, it is argued by the economists would stifle the entrepreneurial risk taking and economic prosperity. But they again, economists are theorists who use the unfair past to predict future. And they are influenced by the very business owners and politicians who benefit from the existing system.

    Wow, I tried to keep it simple as I tried to reason through this insightful question, but I guess the way life works is straight up not simple 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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