Posted on 10/18/2011 12:10:58 PM PDT by jazusamo
President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have led increasingly successful efforts to pit Americans against one another through the politics of hate and envy. Attacking CEO salaries, the president - last year during his Midwest tour - said, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."
Let's look at CEO salaries, but before doing so, let's look at other salary disparities between those at the bottom and those at the top. According to Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for 2010, Oprah Winfrey earned $290 million. Even if her makeup person or cameraman earned $100,000, she earned thousands of times more than that. Is that fair?
Among other celebrities earning hundreds or thousands of times more than the people who work with them are Tyler Perry ($130 million), Jerry Bruckheimer ($113 million), Lady Gaga ($90 million) and Howard Stern ($76 million). According to Forbes, the top 10 celebrities, excluding athletes, earned an average salary of a little more than $100 million in 2010.
According to The Wall Street Journal Survey of CEO Compensation (November 2010), Gregory Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, earned $87 million, Oracle's Lawrence Ellison ($68 million) and rounding out the top 10 CEOs was McKesson's John Hammergren, earning $24 million. It turns out that the top 10 CEOs have an average salary of $43 million, which pales in comparison with America's top 10 celebrities, who earn an average salary of $100 million.
When you recognize that celebrities earn salaries that are some multiples of CEO salaries, you have to ask: Why is it that rich CEOs are demonized and not celebrities? A clue might be found if you asked: Who's doing the demonizing?
It turns out that the demonizing is led by politicians and leftists with the help of the news media, and like sheep, the public often goes along. Why demonize CEOs? My colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell explained it in his brand-new book, "The Thomas Sowell Reader." One of his readings, titled "Ivan and Boris - and Us," starts off with a fable of two poor Russian peasants.
Ivan finds a magic lamp and rubs it, and the jinni grants him one wish. As it turns out, Boris has a goat, but Ivan doesn't. Ivan's wish is for Boris' goat to die. That vision reflects the feelings of too many Americans. If all CEOs worked for nothing, it would mean absolutely little or nothing to the average American's bottom line.
For politicians, it's another story: Demonize people whose power you want to usurp. That's the typical way totalitarians gain power. They give the masses someone to hate. In 18th-century France, it was Maximilien Robespierre's promoting hatred of the aristocracy that was the key to his acquiring more dictatorial power than the aristocracy had ever had.
In the 20th century, the communists gained power by promoting public hatred of the czars and capitalists. In Germany, Adolf Hitler gained power by promoting hatred of Jews and Bolsheviks. In each case, the power gained led to greater misery and bloodshed than anything the old regime could have done.
Let me be clear: I'm not equating America's liberals with Robespierre, Josef Stalin and Hitler. I am saying that promoting jealousy, fear and hate is an effective strategy for politicians and their liberal followers to control and micromanage businesses.
It's not about the amount of money people earn. If it were, politicians and leftists would be promoting jealousy, fear and hate toward multimillionaire Hollywood and celebrities and sports stars, such as LeBron James ($48 million), Tiger Woods ($75 million) and Peyton Manning ($38 million). But there is no way that politicians could take over the roles of Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and LeBron James. That means celebrities can make any amount of money they want and it matters not one iota politically.
The Occupy Wall Street crowd shouldn't focus its anger at wealthy CEOs. A far more appropriate target would be the U.S. Congress.
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Lincoln’s first inaugural address March 4, 1861
It will only be a matter of time before we see “Occupy Hollywood” or “Occupy Malibu”./s/
How about ‘Occupy Pelosi Vineyards’
‘Occupy NBA’
‘Occupy Revlon’
‘Occupy Apple’
etc., etc., etc.
Why not?! I can't equate America's liberals with anything BUT Stalin and Hitler... OK, I can also equate them with what I unceremoniously flushed down the toilet this morning, but that's about it.
You should read Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals. Divide and conquer. Trash resisters. Obama plays strictly by those rules for the Establishment.
The better angels took their time showing up.
Let’s get one thing clear here—Obama doesn’t mind (yet) that Oprah made $290 million. She’s one of “his people”, as Holder would say. In fact, Obama is likely OK with left-leaning celebrities earning “obscene” amounts of money, because they are part of the cultural elite guiding the country through the transformation it needs.
**The better angels took their time showing up.**
During this past decade - yes, you are right.
They have appeared several times since 1861 - so we must not be discouraged.
Yet these fat cats contribute to this imposter. I find this all beyond my comprehension.
Protection $.
I was referring to the period Lincoln was referencing. The better angels never really did show up, as the war ended only when the South was beaten into submission.
I am guessing that you do not use a Mac since you left Microsoft and all the billionaires from that company who want their taxes raised, of your list.
Indeed - Lincoln was the first President to face rebellion and tried hard to appeal to those better angels.
Today - it seems we have an administration which is deliberately pitting us against one another and fomenting hatred, if not violent rebellion.
“I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
I agree Mr. President, I think you make way too much.
Yeah, I did. I could have listed hundreds, hence the etc., etc. And no, the only Apple product I have is a used Ipod, can’t afford the new stuff, yet. ;-)
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