Are Professional Athletes and Actors Overpaid Essay

In this essay I onlyow explore a much debated cover versionic in this artless pertaining to the undeniable fact that lord actors and athletes everyplacewhelmingly get paid much higher than the average American. As any highly debated topic, there be incessantly arguments and viewpoints from whatsoever(prenominal)(prenominal) positionings of the spectrum. desire many Americans, for entertainment I thoroughly enjoy watching both lease and professional sporting events. Even though, I get down always maintained a firm stance that many in these professions ar entirely overpaid. I believe once you have read my inquiry and analysis on this topic, you as well will agree from a sociological, economical and even ethical perspective that they ar grossly overpaid. Prop unmatchednts of the film industry or Hollywood and the pro-sporting industry would contend that they are entirely providing for a demand. These two industries do provide for Americans some of the most enjoyed an d public forms of entertainment in our society today. These industries not only provide mesh to the actors and athletes entirely also provide ancestrys to many other Americans as well. homogeneous any successful industry, those who provide the primary service to that industry will in turn be rewarded appropriately for their contributions to its success. Both actors and pro-athletes would argue that attaining their afoot(predicate) level of success was not easy as these jobs are genuinely competitive.Also, there are many times massive expectations to perform and tension that come with the job and the celebrity status. nearly pro-athletes such as football players, would also argue that after they retire, their physical condition has declined much precedent in life due to years of physical trauma and harm and performing in other jobs post-career is many times difficult.As I wrote earlier, there are arguments from both sides of the spectrum. Lets begin to prove from the oth er viewpoint not ignoring the other sides arguments and entangle some of the fundamental and sociological reasons of our need and demand for entertainment. Looking binding to the era of the Roaring 20s in which America was enjoying a period of sustained economic prosperity, the average American could at a higher level afford to enjoydifferent forms of entertainment than previously. This ushered in a new era and cultural dynamic which emphasized organise sports, theatre, and film. Since this era, America has seen economic depression, corner and crisis, but has still preserveed the wealthiest country in the world.Due to this, the entertainment kitchen-gardening that was created roughly 100 years agone still exists today, and the demand for it continues to grow. Each year more than and new play devices, games, videos, movies, and television shows are released. Likewise the costs of these products and devices continues to go up. The unfortunate side to this is that it has create d a more sedentary lifestyle and culture of everyday America, and in turn attributing to issues as obesity amongst both children and adults. Regardless, we have developed and created this culture with the associated increased demand for this form of entertainment, and the industry is nothing more than laughing(prenominal) to oblige us in providing it. In a study conducted by USA today and Statista of top paid Hollywood actors, it found that Robert Downey jr. earned over $75 cardinal in a one year timeframe from June 2012-June 2013. Much of his earnings were a result of his roles in both The Avengers and Ironman 3, with The Avengers alone grossing $1.51 million in box office gross revenue making it the highest grossing movie of 2012 worldwide. Liam Neeson who was ranked as the 10th top wage earner, grossed over $32 million in the same timeframe. harmonise to the Daily News, Samuel L. capital of Mississippi is titled with being the highest grossing actor of all time with earnings of $7.42 billion throughout his film career. Floyd Mayweather Jr. who is a pro-boxer has earned a score of $90 million in 2013 from winnings alone, making him the top pro-athlete earner according to Sports Illustrated. Mayweather has achieved such a high status that it is common for him to have a guaranteed win-or-lose purse of around 30 million per fight. Pro-basketball player Lebron crowd who is at number two in the rankings, earned over $17 million in salary and a staggering $39 million in endorsements alone for 2013. The list goes on and on with astronomical poesy that get higher and higher each year in passing. in that respect is essentially a fundamental question that is raised in regards to all of this, What individual is simply worth that much? The services provided by these individuals is simply for entertainment alone. What is provideddoes not contribute to the functionality or feeler of our society. There was a time when acting or professional sports were a second jo b in which an individual would perform due to their love for the sport or art. After all, a sport is something that is played for enjoyment by the take a breath of us because it is enjoyable. They get paid millions while the rest of us do it for fun. Being the die- delicate Green Bay Packer fan that I am, I scream and yell and root for my team as hard as or harder than the other fans. When my team loses or Aaron Rodgers has a sorry game I can find myself feeling down and upset. Some fans feel as if their whole day or week is ruined if their favorite team loses. I think it is they that always have the farthest laugh. At the end of the day he or she is disappointed but regardless theyre still making millions. When Mayweather has a bad fight, he still takes home his $30 million. In a way we are all pawns in their game, and we are always the losers.As we look at wealth distribution in the U.S., many of these actors and athletes fall into the wealthiest 10% of Americans. According to James M. Henslin in Essentials of Sociology, 70% of our nations wealth is have by this top 10%. To break this down even more, the top one percent owns 1/3 of all U.S. assets. The average per capita income in the U.S. is only $42,000 per year (194). The other 90% who is the fan base that provides the bulk of the income of these actors and athletes, are seeing this income gap continue to widen. Even with the recent recession in our economy, the rich as a whole statistically remain unaffected. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The strong midst strain that once was the backbone of our economy is slowly diminishing and sliding to the left. This middle class are the firefighters, police officers, and service members who protect and serve our communities and country. They are the structure of society who provide strength and functionality and who ultimately serve to the betterment of us all. There is much debate on how wealth should be distributed. A capitalist society has p roven for the U.S. to be effective and be partially credited with building the foundation of all of the wealth and creating the richest country in the world.Completely socialist societies have proven in history to be a failure. Typically there is a Darwin Effect of natural selection of the Fittest which dominates. There obviouslyneeds to be some middle body politic here, but finding a solution is difficult. In this case of actors and athletes, I believe us as the consumer and their supporters have the power to control this huge inequality and disparity by saying, Enough is enough and demand that some rationale come into play. Paying these individuals this much money is simply piteous in my opinion. Fundamentally we as a society should give repute to those professions which serve us in a way that promotes a more sustainable society.Works CitedFortunate 50 Sports Illustrated13 Apr 2014. WEBHenslin, James. Essentials of Sociology A Down to Earth Approach. EdwardsvilleSouthern Illi nois University. Print. Seventh Edition.Maitland, Sashana, Samuel L. Jackson named highest-grossing actor, DAILY give-and-take 25 Oct 2011, WEB, 13 Apr 14Maria Puente, Robert Downey Jr. is highest-paid actor, USA TODAY 13 Apr 2014, WEB, Jul 2013Best-paid Hollywood actors of 2012/2013, Statista13 Apr 2014, WEB