how much is too much

How much is too much? With gas prices soaring, the housing market crumbling, poverty rates rising, and the country sinking into more debt by the day, money is on a lot of people’s minds right now. Millions of people are struggling to put food on the table while celebrities are signing multi-million dollar contracts for movies and sports. Many entertainment and sports personalities have very high incomes, while most people in "ordinary" professions like nurses, doctors and teachers earn only a small fraction of the income of these "stars". These days, there is a controversy concerning the millions of dollars that famous athletes and entertainers earn every year. Some people argue that these celebrities are overpaid and do not deserve high salaries for what they do, on the other hand, others believe that the celebrities deserve this money on the social and economical level.

Actors are paid much more than what they work for. Of course, they provide entertainment, but they do not do anything more. There are numerous other people who deserve recognition but fail to gain it despite their massive efforts. No posters are made about scientists who make the world a better place to live in. There are no blogs or Wikipedia pages about soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the country. No videos circulate on YouTube about the charity missionaries. There are a zillion examples of people who fail to receive recognition or even enough financial support for the contributions they make to the planet. For instance a surgeon studies for 15 years and saves people’s lives but they get paid much less than any celebrity. For example according to Parade magazine 's annual survey, “Simon Cowell, the sharp-tongued judge on American Idol, made $20 million last year for shooting down hopeful singers with remarks like "You are all horribly stupid and pathetic!" That 's a much better salary than high school counselor Carla Bailey, who made just over $20,000 trying to build up student 's confidence.” But others believe that athletes and entertainers deserve these salaries because they have the right to earn as much money as they can as long as it is legal and they increase the money flow in a country.

So, celebrities deserve getting paid high wages. A lot of people sing or dance but very few are celebrities. Their success and fame occurs in a society where only a few people can be favored and adored by the public. Celebrities earned their high places in society through hard work and perseverance they have endured for years .A person may not have to go through four years of college to be able to sing a song, but either way he must work to earn what he does. An example of that would be the famous rapper Eminem. While growing up, Eminem had to work to support his mother because his father had left them. Music was his way of expressing his feelings, and he felt that if he tried hard enough he would be able to become famous one day, and because he believed in that, he worked hard to be something big. It took many years of reading, to achieve his level of vocabulary, but he stuck through it, and eventually made it. Many young people look up to Eminem because of the hardships he went through to make it big. Furthermore, in a democratic country, people have the right to earn money in exchange for their skills. Some business people, doctors, and lawyers also earn millions of dollars every year. When people have some talent and work hard to develop it, they have as much opportunity as anyone else to earn a large salary. Most celebrities and professional athletes worked hard developing themselves to get to where they are in their professions. As long as celebrities are making the salaries legally, there is no reason why they should not receive large salaries. In addition, People expect celebrity to behave in a certain way, to be dressed in a certain, to go to certain high profile parties…So for celebrities to live up to the expectations people have in them they must be payed large amount of money

Moreover, celebrities increase the money flow in a certain economy. People put a very high value on entertainment and will put exuberant amounts of money to get it. Entertainment is a business. A popular baseball team can bring millions, or even billions, or dollars into an economy. The players are the reason for the economic money flow, so that makes them and their skills valuable commodities. Furthermore, when a city has a successful baseball team, the entire city receives economic benefits due to the performance of the players. So basically celebrities give back to society, in one way or another,. Like for examples the profit from a music CD goes to the owner of the CD shop, the producer… In addition, famous people invest their money in economical projects which would increase the income of a certain economy. For instance opening a hotel ehich would decrease unemployment… Furthermore, celebrities give numerous donations to charity. They help orphans , handicapped , ill children… And a lot of celebrities adopt children to ensure that they get a better life. Such as Angelina Jolie who adopted 3 sick African children and ensured that they get a better life. Finally, although some believe that the celebrity’s skills are not worth it, others believe that celebrities deserve to be payed very high wages believe that that athletes and entertainers deserve these salaries because people have the right to earn as much money as they can as long as they do it legally, and because celebrities give back to society through investments and charity work. If people are against celebrities being payed high wages maybe they should stop buying these artists’ CDs or going to their concerts.

Maria Hage

Links : http://www.helium.com/items/2251277-high-wages-of-actors http://isaneringles.blogspot.com/2011/11/are-celebrity-salaries-too-high.html http://www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/do-celebrities-deserve-their-high-incomes http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Links: : http://www.helium.com/items/2251277-high-wages-of-actors http://isaneringles.blogspot.com/2011/11/are-celebrity-salaries-too-high.html http://www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/do-celebrities-deserve-their-high-incomes http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/