Do you think that the ways of this world are screwed up?

Question

It's crazy to me how academic careers are not as rewarding as careers rooted in entertainment. I just don't see how actors, singers, rappers, etc. get paid more than doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc. do. Academic careers, to me, are more important than careers centered around entertainment. Doctors, teachers, scientists, and so on are the ones that truly make a difference and the ones that should be most valued. Am I the only one who sees this as a problem? What do you think???

Answer 1

NO

Answer 2

yuuuuuup.

Athletes also. Some athletes take away a scholarship that is really needed by someone who has the grades but not the money. Obviously, if the athletes need the money to go to college, they should get a scholarship, but if they don't NEED it, it could be given away to someone who really does. Do you see how much some athletes get paid a year? It's ridiculous.

We can live without entertainment; we can always create our own if we need to. Can we live in a world without doctors? No! Along with many other occupations. They make milllions and millions a year while some doctors don't even have 6-digits on their paychecks. Again, it's ridiculous.

Think about how much money it would be if half of the salaries of all actors and athletes were given to charities and such. There would be A LOT less people dying of hunger each day, A LOT less bums on the street.

Answer 3

The value of any given society lies within the wants/needs of said society. We live in a world that can not cure cancer or AIDS but we can grow back your hair and give you an erection. The reality is that America is on the outs. We are all aspiring to be the next great icon, while Europe and Japan push out the next generation of engineers and rocket scientists. Almost everyone of us is an aspiring millionaire in some way or fashion because we have bought into this rag to riches dream when true happiness comes from what you have, not what you don't.

But I here what your saying, teachers are the foundation of society and get paid no where near what their contribution to society's future is worth. You have our officers (must have a degree) in the military that without their leadership all of civilization would fall apart. But "fiddy cen" makes millions by actually keeping those listening to him in the very bondage and struggle he no longer has to deal with.

It's not that the world is screwed up it is that people are.

Answer 4

ABSOLUTELY!!! (Except some doctors - some of them already make almost as much as some celebrities - especially the ones out there doing unnecessary plastic surgery - the kind that a person's health isn't dependent on.) Add to that list the careers where people voluntarily put their lives on the line to help others every day....firemen, EMT, law enforcement officers, the armed forces! I see it as a BIG problem that celebrities apparently have a higher $$ value in our society - especially since many of them aren't very good role models for today's youth!

Answer 5

I think the high salaries of many entertainers need to go down by large amounts, but the salaries of practicing doctors don't need to go up. An average practicing doctor makes usually around $200,000 to $300,000 per year - there's no need to dramatically increase that.

Teachers should get paid more, but the typical English teacher really doesn't have a huge amount of technical and intellectual skill, so their salary should reflect that.

Answer 6

A problem to you may be a good thing for me, how can we tell that you are the one and only moral compass, and everything you see as bad...is bad?

Look at it this way, whats the meaning of life? To everyone, this answer is different. To me, it's to have at least some fun before I die, you know, the "come crashing to the finish like w/ no energy left" kind of motto

So shouldn't I regard entertainment higher than academics? I mean, it's the reason I live for. Why should I not want to pay more for it haha.

Answer 7

A problem?
I don't know about you but I enjoy being entertained - by professionals.
Doctors and lawyers make livings comparable to the entertainment industry.

Answer 8

You are absolutely right, of course, and you're certainly not alone. As to why this is, i've thought about it and come to this conclusion:

It's a matter of what people not just want, but want the most often. Just think... how often do you think about a doctor, about the initial intelligence, the strong desire, and then the hard work and the dedication that it took to make that person into one. Never - that is until the time your body starts messing up and letting you down and you are forced to get help from one. Same thing with dentists, lawyers, and others with special professional skills that took years to hone and perfect. You never give them a thought until you want one.... and you NEVER want one, till you need one.

And we take teachers and scientists very much for granted. We just know they are "out there" doing whatever it is they are supposed to do.... and we expect them to do without us having to really think about it.

BUT, what occupies us every single day? We want to be "entertained". We have to go to work and slog it out for our eight hours a day or whatever it is... and we have to commute there, and commute home, and pour out our sweat for our crust of bread. We have to get jacked up by the boss, or listen to some wacky customer whining about something that isn't our fault but we still have to try and keep a smile on our face and smooth the ruffled feathers as we groan inside. But how do we wind down and cool off from all this? We look to be Entertained..... T.V. Videos. Movies.. Rock Concerts, whatever. And whoever contributes in any way at all to our "distractions" gets our attention, and our cash.

Once in a while I confess I have bought a copy of Enquirer, or Examiner, or one of those "gossip rags", and dang, I always forget the fact that the last one cost me almost three bucks. I'll see wacky Rosie O'Donnell on the front page and get an impulse to read about her latest shinnanigans. Or there's that scrawny mutt Paris Hilton, who hasn't got the brains God gave a cockroach, but who is all over the magazine pages for her latest episode of nothingness. Why do we think the Papparazzi get paid thousands and thousands of dollars for a single big photographic "get"? Because millions and millions of "regular folks" are prepared to pay their hard-earned bucks to go see them on stage, or at the movies, or at the ball games, or buy those magazines to SEE them in the act of some outrageous behaviour when they are doing something other than what they do for their overpaid living.

It's how the "masses" of regular working folks, who can't afford to engage in those behaviours, or ever be able to make it in Showbiz themselves, get their "vicarious fix" and for that, they are willing to pay every thin dime they can scratch out of their pocket... even at the expense of the cell phone bill, or a credit card payment, or car instalment.

Is this ever going to change? Sure it is. But don't look for it in our lifetime. I mean go back in history. Look how long the female of the species was regarded by human society as only slightly above the status level of a man's livestock. That changed, didn't it? But not in any one person's lifetime. It took a slew of generations to happen. This "worship of the famous" who only got famous because we decided to worship them, is definitely a phase in our human evolution. It'll pass as surely as all other phases have. I won't see it, and probably you wont. Maybe the babies being born right now might see it, because a whole lot of things will have changed by the time this century comes to an end. Perhaps the beginnings of that change could be happening right now.... as more and more people, like you and me, start questioning why the heck people are setting their priorities this way. I hope so. I am even prepared to say I know so.

Answer 9

there is definetely a problem with the huge gap in pay, especially in the field of education. Teachers not only make a small amount of money per year, they also spend lots of time doing unpaid work, like grading assignments at home.

Answer 10

I agree with you, however, more people are more interested in the entertainment industry, thus, that's where the money is.

However, health care costs would skyrocket if we paid doctors and nurses $4.5 million a year.

Answer 11

I actually think about that a lot, and I totally agree with you. You bring up a very good point that should be known to the world.