October 29, 2011
My tolerance
OK this is getting ridiculous. I’ve had enough of all the bitching and complaining going on in society today about money. Don’t get me wrong, money is very important aspect in the world. But there are more important things out there that people are not paying attention to. A few weeks ago, a little girl in China was killed after hitting hit and run over by not one, but two vans. This happened while a total of 18 pedestrians walked by the girl in distress without so much as a glance. Types of injustices like that is going on in the world and yet here in the US, money has been the topic of discussion for the past months, at least in my world. I recently got a job working for American Express in lower Manhattan right by the WTC site, right by Wall Street, and right by the Occupy Wall Street protests. As the beginning of November approaches, I am reminded the NBA is still in lockout and commissioner David Stern has just canceled the first month of games due to failure to negotiate with the players union. These two topics are what’s upsetting me nowadays and here’s why:
First let’s talk about the NBA because technically the lockout came first. The dispute right now between the players union and the association is about money. Owners and the officials want to take money away from the players and players don’t want to have their money taken away. The NBA is saying that they have been losing money and the only way to salvage that loss is by cutting salary of the players. Players are unwilling to have their salary cut because they feel that they are the ones on the court everyday busting their asses playing ball and getting hurt. But here’s what I think. Players are getting paid to PLAY. TO PLAY! Starting tomorrow, I’m paying $150 to play 8 games of 40 minutes each and I don’t even know how much playing time I’m going to get. Yes NBA players get hurt, they train hard, etc etc. But hey, if I were getting paid six or seven or some even eight figures to train and play ball, I’d be pretty happy. Heck, I do it for free if I was given the facilities. Heck, I pay to do that. And yet, players are making it sound like they can’t make ends meet. That after they retire, how are they going to make money because they’re going to retire a lot earlier than normal people do. Bullshit. Nobody’s telling you to make six cars, three houses, 50 pairs of Jordans, and have three wives and ten kids. If you’re so worried about the future, put some money aside like the rest of normal people do. Don’t splurge on so much unnecessary garbage. Sure you’re a celebrity so you gotta look good and live large, I get that. But c’mon…I’m betting that there are at least 30-40% of NBA players who could’ve cut back their spendings by just lets say 30% if unnecessary products were taken out. On the other hand, the league is losing money? OK, sure the popularity and lets face it, the quality of the league has gone down over the years. Hence less fans are watching. But I’m guessing the NBA is far from bankruptcy and far from financial troubles. Who told you to offer seven and eight figure salaries in the first place? Athletes are not above the law. Celebrities are not above the law. Sure they have a talent that us normal everyday people do not have. But at the end of the day, we’re all still people and greed is always going to be a vital sin to society. It’s human nature unfortunately to want more, to try and push your luck to see what’s the most you can get out of a situation. In the end, either yourself or someone else always suffers.
Now on the OWS – I can’t even think of a word to describe the situation. Ridiculous, outrageous, stupid, idiotic – some words that come to mind but not strong enough. They’re disorganized, barbaric, and ignorant. Half the people have no idea what they’re protesting about and haven’t gotten all the facts correctly before raising their voices and picket signs. The outlying protest here is that the rich 1% of society have substantially more money than the other 99% and they don’t get taxed enough. That they don’t deserve to be way up there while the rest of us mortals are suffering on the bottom. But here’s the thing that they don’t think about, where would society be without that top percent. They didn’t get there for nothing. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump – they got to where they are today throughout intelligence, smart business tactics, and gut. Mark Zuckerberg should be the prime example used to combat the protests. Here’s an individual who went to Harvard, had a great idea, used his intelligence, and dropped out but got rich off a brilliant idea, Facebook. He revolutionized social media and its usages today. OWS would not get the attention its received without Mark Zuckerburg. And yet, they’re complaining about these geniuses’ taxes not being high enough and that they’re not hiring enough to give everyone else a chance. But look at what you’ve been doing for the past two months. You’ve been sitting in the streets of lower Manhattan (and other states as well) and yelling and raising signs and causing havoc. All this time could’ve been used to find a job and maybe try to get into that 1% group. I look at my life and I can’t help but hate the protesting going on. I grew up in an average environment. I went to average schools, got average grades, and led an average life. I have nothing to be especially proud about in regards to my upbringing, never won awards and received honors. And look at where I am today: I’m a 22 year old recent college grad with a Marketing Analyst job at American Express, one of the top companies in the world. And how did I get to where I am today, but with hard work and determination? There is zero chance that all the people at OWS have worse and more unfortunate upbringings that I do. And yet, they’re complaining that they don’t receive the equal treatments? Complete bull. And on top of that, they’re extremely disorganized. Different people with different agendas protesting different things. I’ve always said “I don’t have to agree with you but if you make solid points and arguments, I respect your passion.” But not them. If they put on an organized protests with clear objectives, then at least I would admire and respect them for their passion and determination. But they aren’t doing that right now. Soon the weather in NY is going to turn cold and snowy. People are going to start leaving the protests, some going back to their home STATES. Then what’s going to happen? Let’s put this thing on hiatus and wait for next summer? Good luck with that.
