Quote:
Originally Posted by FRPLG
Halle-freaking-lujah
I tire of this argument too. The commerce of our country and (increasingly in the rest of the world) is governed by freedom. In a free market, products and services of value are paid at the level at which they are available (scarcity). Professional athletes are amongst the most scarce commodities anywhere. You don't have to like it but it is the system by which you yourself gain a great amount of benefit.
The common misconception is that people get paid to do their job based on how "important" society deems it. That couldn't really be any further from the truth. It's a function of value and scarcity. And where there is little scarcity (teachers) there is little pay no matter how much society values the work they do.
I appreciate what teachers do (as an example) and I have many friends/acquaintances who do it. A few complain about pay some. I always ask why so many people teach if the pay isn't good enough. They never have a real answer.
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Interesting concept. I'm not sure I completely buy it though. I believe one reason cops and teachers are paid the way they are is because they are state employees. While state employees tend to have pretty good benefits, their salaries aren't always high, but I don't know if that is an argument of scarcity or just the fact that the government is only going to supply X amount of money to pay these state employees, since the government has X amount in their budget to pay for each and every program.
A truer comparison would be if all education and law enforcement was privately funded. Not saying cops and teachers would be making millions a year, but I could potentially see them making more.