I have had this philosophy for eons. If teachers got as much pay as a pro athletes the country would be smart instead of ignorant.

Pretty sure I don't need a politician since I'm not a major corporation or a billionaire that can buy one & yet, they all yammer for my vote then ignore me.

Because the entertainers and athletes make us forget how much we need all the others!

Those occupations that contribute to our physical survival are vastly more important than anything else.

I agree.

So true, but not just in the U.S. Australia suffers from the same misunderstanding.

i have very much needed artists. some artists are actors. not everything is physical. there is no reason for the people in the meme to be idolized and overpaid, but it is a stretch to say we don't need any of them.

g

I understand the sentiment, but I think we do need art and artists of all types. We just don't need to give them the extravagant amounts of attention and money that they receive.

Yes, why these people get so much attention is beyond me. Breads and circuses, I guess.

Hear, hear.

Better teacher pay... it’s an idea that is easy to support but difficult to carry through.

Like it or not, if people did not value athletes and entertainers/artists etc., or their “product,” they would not be paid what they are paid. They do enhance our lives, in some positive manner (I’ll leave that for you to suss out), and the process of delivering their services provides employment for many others.

So, there is positive benefit to what entertainers and athletes do.

Yes, teachers, by many measures, are under paid. So are law enforcement officers, fire fighters, nurses, secretaries, security guards, journalists, soldiers and sailors, and many others. But, the people who collect our trash and help to dispose of it could make a case for being the most deserving of a large check. They keep us from being buried by our own filfth.

One of the arguments that teachers use to justify why they should be paid better is the 10+ hour days they have to work to do their jobs. My response is that, for many of them, it’s is a 9 month job. Yeah, they may have a second job during those 3 remaining months. Or, they have to return to school to meet continuing education requirements. I sympathize. And, I agree, they have an important job educating our children. And, it’s time consuming. And, we should give them better financial support.

But, their desire for better pay needs to be based on the importance of the job, not on hard work. A lot of people work hard.

For most of my working life, I worked a minimum of 80 and, at times, up to 120 hours a week, every week. During one stretch, I did not take a vacation for 4 years. I had to learn new things on my own if I expected to keep up with my profession and to advance. If I did not, I did not advance. Many times, I was away from my family, traveling for work, for days at a time. There were others who traveled much more than I did.

If hours of hard work were the sole basis of better pay, I and many others would have a better case than many teachers think they have.

The bottom line is we each contribute to the betterment of scociety the best way we can. Some are vastly underpaid. Some are vastly overpaid. A lucky few of us enjoy our work, despite any negatives there may be.

If we want to pay teachers better, society needs to change. A higher value needs to be placed on their work because of its importance. And, society needs to bite the bullet and pay for it. Of course, there are other needs for taxpayer dollars that compete. Needs like trash disposal, health care, infrastructure, law and order, unemployment, safety... so on and so forth. Some won’t be met. Some will. That’s the nature of a democratic society where ideas compete for money.

And as to those entertainers and writers and musicians and even pro athletes... without them, it would be a much duller world, like it or not.

I think this is true for most of the world sadly. Fame and extravagant wealth as the “be all end all” goal is not unique to America
Here in Canada we are mostly simeler to Americans, we even share pop stars and celebrities, but I have waisted enough time on YouTube to know that even Iran has a version of “American Idol” where kids line up for days for a chance to be famous. Even in really poor countries they don’t line up to become farmers.....
Farmers are important
Eat local
End rant

The three industries by order of how much money they make world wide are: 1) weapons industry (do we absolutely need that? Are we still so evil, conceited, and fearful? And I am a vet. 2) Drugs, legal and illegal (Okay we need some drugs, but at what cost? And at whose huge profits? And at how many costs in lives ruined - especially for illegal drugs, prison system out of control, etc.) 3) Food (now, I think we can all agree that one is important. So, why isn't it first?)

There are far too many people whose opinions are touted as of some importance, or other, who have nothing more to say that is of any greater significance than a random truck driver.