I was doing some math yesterday. For anybody that may have known me in High School, where I once scored less, yes, less than 1% on a math test, this may strike you as a bit of a surprise. Truth is, I don’t know if I did the math right, but I think I did. Basic skills really. A little division. I needed to figure something out. Something about worth.
Worth is a funny thing isn’t it? I mean, how we define it, I suppose is what is funny. There tends to be a direct correlation between it and stuff. Money. Possessions. Cars and trucks and big screen TV’s and side by side stainless steel refrigerators filled with name brand groceries because the no name stuff doesn’t taste as good. That’s funny too. I bet half of that stuff is made in the exact same factory, they just slap a different label on it and charge 50% more.
It would take me 2,900 years of doing what I’m doing right now… Afternoon Drive at FM 92.1, to make the same amount of money as Beyonce made in 2008. When they give the figure of her income, it doesn’t seem so ridiculous. Millions. Billions. Trillions. It’s all normal now. We toss those kind of numbers around every single day. Worth. Profit. Debt. That is why I did the math. I wanted to try and gain a little perspective on it. After I got it, then I mostly just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry.
I hope that Beyonce appreciates what I do for her. After all, if it weren’t for the lowly radio guys like me, nowhere near as many people would hear her music and in turn, buy her records or go to her concerts. It seems a little backwards to me. Beyonce needs me more than I need her. Still, I’d have to work 2,900 years to match her income last year.
Ryan Seacrest and I are a little bit alike. We’re both broadcasters. He does radio and TV. I’ve done radio and TV. Granted, he is better looking than I am. He’s probably better at TV than I am too. But outside of that, we’re about the same. I would like to think my voice is a little less annoying, but I suppose I am biased on that front.
Seacrest signed his new Idol contract this week. Keep in mind, this is only for Idol. It doesn’t count the work he does for E! or KIIS FM. I did a little math on that one as well. Again, it’s all about bringing perspective. What I determined, though I admit it’s not an exact science, is that 12.5 minutes into the first episode of American Idol Season 9, Ryan will have made what I make in a year. Is he really that much better than I am?
The whole idea of celebrity is stupid to me, if I’m being honest. I don’t necessarily blame the celebrities though. Mostly, it’s us that made them what they are. It is you and I whom have elevated these people to a higher level. Why? I’m not entirely sure. But for some reason it’s as though we have convinced ourselves that these people are worth more than us. That they are more intelligent, better at what they do, stronger, smarter, more athletic, take your pick. The list is endless.
The higher that we elevate these people, the more out of control things get. So while our country faces an economic crisis, and people are losing their jobs daily, a handful of people are making more money in 12 minutes than what most of us try and live off in a year. While families struggle to pay rent or buy groceries, the celebrities are spending more money on a single dinner for two than we would spend to feed our family for a month.
There are all kinds of ways to try and justify the salaries, contracts and bonuses, but you’ll never convince me that it’s necessary. And to that person reading this who is right now saying “if somebody offered you Seacrest’s contract you wouldn’t say no” I’d say you’re probably right. I could do a lot of good with that kind of money. Much more good than I am able to do with my kind of money.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m picking on Beyonce or Ryan Seacrest. I’m not. Understand that they are just the two that I read news stories about this week, so they are the two that got me thinking about all of this.
It just bothers me how we so easily elevate others above us, and then allow them to define our worth simply because they are famous or they make more money or they have a 100 bedroom mansion with 87 bathrooms. We scream and swoon and suffer chest pains when we get a chance to meet them. We ask them to sign pictures and t-shirts and body parts. We go see their movies, buy their records, hang up their posters and follow their Twitter feeds. In the midst of it all, we slowly devalue ourselves by over-valuing them.
What I am about to say is probably a little crude. It may offend some people. I apologize. But I’ve been racking my brain all day trying to figure out the most effective, most blunt way to bring about perspective again. How do I remind you that nobody has more worth, in the purest sense of the word, than you? How do I remind you that true value is defined not by status or wealth, but by God who loves us all equally. How do I make the celebrities we turn into idols, human beings the same as you and I. The best I could come up with is this…no matter how you view them, what you think of them, or how high the pedestal is they are placed upon, at the end of the day their farts stink just as bad as mine.
2 Responses
I recently attended a concert starring Elton John and Billy Joel. Between the two of them I am sure there is wealth that is probably beyond my comprehension. But the amount of talent and charisma also seems beyond measurement. Are they worth it? In our society it seems value is determined by what we, the consumers are willing to pay. It is you and I who determine their value. A little ironic. The way I put it into perspective Marc is a little different and that is when Elton and Billy and I die we will all have the same quantity of material possessions. The richest man cannot take a cent more to the other side than I, but we can leave behind love and kindness in the hearts of people we knew. If we do that then we can truly be rich.
Posted on July 14th, 2009 at 23:46
As you said, we have made them who they are. Without us buying concert tickets, trashy magazines, iTunes downloads, etc… they would be at the local club performing a gig night after night trying to make a living like we do. It is a very bad cycle how we are so into measuring everything and everyone by their net worth, brands they wear, house, cars, color of their credit card; but it seems that we have been in this cycle forever and that might be the biggest plague of the human race, our own self inducted karma of always wanting more.
I was recently without a job or source of income for 6 months, yes I struggled, I worried to have money to pay my mortgage and other basic needs… but did I die? Did I become a worse person? Did my value as a human being go down? No, not at all. I have to say that I came out even stronger, understanding my real value, that when I told my friends I might not be able to come to your dinner party because buying a 15$ bottle of wine is not an option, they made me see how it was my company and not my wine they appreciated the most.
It is important to challenge ourselves and to want more in life, but I truly believe that there has to be a sense of balance and a sense of never forgetting that there are people that have it worse.
And sometimes it is not about being “better” it’s about having the right opportunities ;-)
Posted on July 15th, 2009 at 14:31
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