How is it atheletes make millions playing games, but my husband, serving in Iraq, makes less than $7 an hour?

Question

My husband put his life on the line everday and if you figure that they work a 40 hour work week he only makes only 6.50 an hour. If you figure a 24 hour day he only makes $2 an hour. How is that fair? I suppose all the benifits the receive are supposed to make up for the lack of pay, but they don't. Just wanted to get everyone's opinion on this matter.

Answer 1

What a just and valid question? This is when you understand why they say :
"AMERICA'S BUSINESS IS SHOW BUSINESS"
And now you can realize what a brain washed miss informed society we have. if it was me, I'll quit in a minute bcze i refuse to take order from murderers to kill Innocent?!!

Let the "Thumbs Down" roll !?

Answer 2

It is a question of value and scarcity of resource. The same reason gold cost more than wood, there is more of it, lots more. I have been a US Marine, and a professional athelete. I served in the fist Gulf war and then went to university. The military accepts thousands into the service a week, while professional sports take a few a year. The average person can pass the physical, and now the lowered mental requirements for service in the military. To be a professional athelete takes the smallest percentage of people perceived to be performing at the top of a chosen endevour. It also requires a great amount of luck, prepartion, and marketability. To break down the numbers, in just football, there are more people in the military, than play all of high school football. Of those football players, less than 1% will be able to play in college. Of all the college players, .04% will even have an opportunity to try out for a pro team. These numbers don't imply a value to service, just an economic reality. It does not matter that a top of the line Benz only cost $4,000 more (material cost) to produce than a top of the line Toyota, they don't make as many of them, so they charge a whole lot more. I hope that your husband comes home safe, and this thing does not drag on too much longer...

Answer 3

we have to look at it in a different way. Athletes work for themselves not for the team or fans or the owners. When the athlete decides he does not enjoy the game any more he quits on it which in turn make his value on the market drop. A regular person usually works under someone and needs the work to feed the family and is to scared to risk opening or pursuing his dreams because it might cause major financial losses. In the society we live in, sadly , there is greed that runs through the veins of owners of businesses. So what society has actually done is legalized slavery. Just like back in the old days, the big people on top and the slaves at the bottom working to survive. It is sad folks we survive life not live life. Nothing will ever change because the little people never get heard.

Answer 4

Greetings. that question has been asked ever since there was a military. the way it works is the more dangerous the job is and the more chance to get killed at it is the lower the pay, because they figure there is something wrong with you to do it in the first place. It goes backwards of how one would assume it would, with hazardous duty paying more and safe duty less. Think it is bad now? I was in the Marines in the early 60's and our pay was $73 a month. and most of that went for replacement for uniform items that wore out, hygenic things like shaving soap and razor blades. So pay in the military has never been good and under the republicans the benefits suck big time. When I was in one could actually in the real world get a college education through the military correspondance schools connected to big universities like Berkley. not any more I understand. Now they promise and that is all they do. and if one is wounded they simply toss you on the scrap heap. What we used to call being surveyed or **** canned, useless so thrown away as trash. Which is why the VA is as rotten as it is. Now atheletes play stupid games and get high pay with next to no risk other then maybe a sprained muscle. ever listen to the song about music that goes "Play the guitar on MTV. Money for nothing and the chicks are free. Get a blister on your finger or a blister on your thumb." that is about what atheletes do. plus they rake in a lot of extra money advertising consumer items like basketball shoes or jackets. Low risk-high pay. High risk and you are lucky that they don't charge you for the privilage of signing yourself into slavery to the state. Your husband would make better pay even working at McDonalds and not have to worry about getting killed earning it. of course he woludn't get the kick out of killing or wearing a fancy uniform. but everyone to their own choice.

Answer 5

If anyone joined the military for the money, they joined for the wrong reasons. As an E-1, I made a whopping $72/mo but then things improved as I went up in rank. We adapted, learned how to get by and, all in all, did pretty well. I bought a house, had two cars, had nice expensive furnishings I'd bought overseas, and all of that on a MSgt's pay. I'm still doing pretty well between retirement pay and disability, so I'm not complaining.

Since retirement, my medical bills have been a money pit and I could not have afforded to have the treatment for pancreatic cancer that I have without them. If I had had standard medical insurance I'm sure I would have capped out on coverage and been dropped long ago. With my military medical benefits, it's like I'm being paid an extra $75,000 a year so my investment of 20 years was well worth the low pay at the beginning.

I'm not really sure why pro sports players are paid such ridiculously huge amounts of money. In the big picture of life, pro ball players aren't going to contribute much more than scoring points. Overall, it's silly; a matter of people (team owners) having more money than sense.

Hang in there. Things get better.

Answer 6

I agree that it is not right that military families suffer on the low pay. I respect our military and their families way more than I do an athlete.

I used to live by the Navy base in IL and most of the families received low income housing and food stamps. This is no way to treat our military that fight for our rights. And no, the benefits will never make up for lack of pay. Tri-care can be a headache, waiting for bah or base housing can be very trying.

Being in the military is not always a piece of cake, like some think it is.

Also, it is not just military, it is also police, firefighters, teachers, and more. All of these professions are low paid but teach us and protect us. Our country really should reassess the pay scale for our heroes.

Thank your husband for all he is doing for us.

Answer 7

I'm with you it's total b.s. My husband is leaving for Iraq in a week. He tells me at least the money will help, but it doesn't, it just pays all the overdue bills from the lousy checks they get when they are not in combat. And it's definitly not the same as having your husband home. And it blows my mind that there are people out there that complained they get paid too much! The nerve. They can make more working at burger king but because of the benefits and the education things are supossed to be ok. We are at Fort Irwin and the doctors and hospitals here are horrible! But at least we can be proud of them. What millionare b-ball player can say they helped saved lives and see what they see.

Answer 8

I'm a retired soldier. I never joined the Army to get rich. If great wealth had been my goal, I'd certainly have chosen a different line of work.

By the way, most of the big pay raises for our soldiers have come under the Republicans. President Jimmy Carter gave us 5% raises as we enjoyed 15-18% inflation.

Last time I checked, professional athletes were not on the government payroll. They're paid what the market will support. If they relied on me for their support, they'd be making a lot less.

Answer 9

Yeah, it's a drag. It is insane that athletes get paid millions to play a game...but they generate a lot of money. It's just the way it is. I'm sure your husband works a hell of a lot more than 40 hrs./week. At the end of the day you/he has to decide if you can live with yourself for the decisions that you make. Money isn't everything...it won't give your life meaning by itself...but it provides opportunity.

Bottom line...he should get an education which will provide him more opportunities to make a contribution and make money at the same time.

Answer 10

I know this is not going to make you feel better but did you know Blackwater mercenaries get about $100,000 a year plus benefits doing the same thing your husband does. You might want to ask why? Another piece of information I found which might make you feel even more livid. Chelsea, fresh out of school, was given a very well-paying job at McKinsey. (reportedly a 'low six-figure' salary). She has since moved on to much greener pastures (hedge funds). You might want to point out to Mrs. Clinton, Chelsea's mother, ex-first lady and possibly the next president, the discrepancy between what your husband gets for risking his life in a war that she voted for and that her cronies profit from and the fat bundle her little pampered offspring makes for figuring out more ways for the monied class to make more money.

Answer 11

Shut up, you are way off. I make $8 an hour, and I make way less than a soldier. You have some or all of your housing paid, medical, discounts at the PX, life insurance, so on and so forth. You have a lot more liquid cash than anyone else making $6.50 an hour.

You also fail to understand that you are paid for what you can generate. I understand at my workplace as a manager that I can't get paid much more than what I get because the place will lose its value for the owner. An athlete can command a lot of money solely because in their sport, they are celebrities. A WNBA player cannot because they don't attract that many fans. Sports is really an ENTERTAINMENT business. They are not earning their money for scoring 30 points a game!

Strippers can earn more than teachers, but will they earn more in their lifetime? Doubtful, remember that. Strippers hav a VERY short shelf life.