The problem with a lot of what this guy says is that he is assuming that everyone has a clean slate of debt to deal with. The issue with taking a McDonalds job when you used to make 80K a year is that you own a home that is now underwater, and you cannot sell it in this market without taking a HUGE loss. Americans had LIFESTYLES, and just because you wave your magic wand and say MCDONALDS JOB OPENING, does not mean that will pay the bills for that person. Yes, if they ignore their mortgage, and college loans, credit cards, car insurance, etc and just pay a very low monthly rent and eat very little, then YES, they can live on a McDonald's income. The question for the intelligent people out there, (and I do think Carthoris is intelligent) IS THIS A GOOD THING FOR AMERICA? To have our college graduates, and former professionals working at Micky Dees? Is that what Americans with Degrees have waiting for them?
If that is so, I want a job as a high school counselor, because I will just tell most of the kids to skip the college, and get right in line for the McDonald's job they are working, and work HARD. That way, they will NEVER own a home, NEVER have a credit card, Never have college loans, and THEY CAN LIVE THE DREAM WORKING AT MCDONALDS. This shit makes me laugh.
You see, you forgot that it is a little more complex than the simple equation you spelled out earlier. So ask yourself, do you want a generation of college graduates and former military personnel working at McDonalds or Taco Bell? I don't, the world would be miserable.
Think about this, a CEO works 50 hours a week, and a McDonalds employee works 50 hours a week? Does that CEO work THAT MUCH HARDER, that they deserve $100,000,000 a year, when their production line worker is living on $20,000 a year? And what is worse, is that the CEO jobs are now projected to be cut in half over the next 10 years or so, with many buyouts and conglomerates being formed. So guess who is next in line at McDonald's? The CEO's that used to make 100 million a year. Oh, yeah, they don't have to work, because they have a ton of money in the bank, but you get my drift.
That is where personal responsibility comes in. If you buy a million dollar house on credit without an eye towards the future, you have to take responsibility for what happens. You have to buy and live with your mind on what you can sustain, not what you can get today.
I make good money. I went to buy a house after the bubble popped. Thank god for that, btw. They still OKed me for a 3-400k loan. I bought a 80k fix me up house. Why? Two reasons. First, I knew I could build what I truly wanted in a house for about 20k more. Second, I knew that if I lost my job that I could sustain a 600 dollar mortgage easily where as a 3k dollar one might be a bit of a burden. I bought a house well within my means and I planned for the future because I am able to. If I lost the job I have, I could get a job at Wal-Mart or McDonalds making 8-10 bucks an hour and I would be able to pay my bills. Of course, I also have the personal ability to make money outside of my job when I need to. I have extensive knowledge Computers, Mechanics, and Antiques. I could probably make a living buying and selling antique glass on ebay. I probably have 100k in glass on hand that I have acquired for pennies on the dollar from yard sales and flea markets.
I was not advocating that people quit school and work at McDonalds. However, if you aren't a mental defect, you could easily go to work at McDonalds, Walmart, ect ect when you are 18 and be making 50k a year in 5 years. Walmart Store Managers make 150k salary, and 100k bonus a year and you don't even have to have a high school diploma. co managers make 90k with bonus. Assistants can make 70k with bonus.(starting would be 55k though). McDonalds don't make as much, but they still make decent. It isn't that hard to get promoted in the companies because they open so many new stores every year. You wouldn't expect someone to flip burgers or stock shelves from high school to retirement unless they were retarded. It isn't the ideal job, but it is an opportunity. That was my point more than trumpeting the job. In most big companies there is such a lack of leadership and ability that anyone who can read, write, talk, and shows a little leadership can get ahead easily.
The reason people don't do this is because they are in debt up to their eyeballs and have not planned for the future. That is a personal issue, because no one ever showed them how to manage money and their lives.
People deserve whatever they can convince someone that they are worth. If you are a CEO and you are in charge of billions of dollars, I think it is reasonable that you would be compensated in the millions of dollars. There is a lot of stress involved with running a company. Think of a company like a football team. They are both out to make money in the end. They pay a good Quarterback 10 million a year if they have to because they want to succeed. There are only so many CEOs out there that are of the Brett Favre and Joe Montana quality, so you have to pay for them if you want them.
There are no 100 million CEOs. From the link I provided, these are the top 2. Everyone else makes less (1 person made more than 35 million)
Oracle CEO: The highest is 84 million, but thats not his PAY. His pay is 6 million. The rest is stock and options. His companies stock went up 33% due to his leadership in acquiring other companies and doing the right thing in a business sense. Oracle is a huge company, and they are worth 33% more in one year due to this guy. I can see why he was rewarded 78 million over his regular salary, he made them billions upon billions more than someone else probably would of.
Boston Science CEO: 33 million. His pay was around 600,000. The rest is stock, options, and bonus. In a rocky year, the company still increased its value by 14%. Largely due to their CEO. Id say keeping him there by giving him a small percentage of what he made them is good business sense.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1004/gallery.top_ceo_pay/
If you own a store, and I become the manager for you. You are making 100k when I take over, and I make you 500k the year I take it over. You are going to want to keep me, so you are going to give me incentives to stay. If I build that store into a chain that is making hundreds of millions in sales, you are going to give me a fair chunk to stay since I obviously am good at it. CEOs are getting .001% of what a company makes maybe, I don't think that is unreasonable and neither do the companies or they wouldn't pay it.
Not even mentioning that a third of those peoples money is going straight to the government.
I guess the important question is... if you were offered a 100 million dollars a year to do a job, would you take the job? I would.
Most people are jealous that there are others making that much, that they have something you want. Stopping CEOs from making too much money is like cutting pretty peoples faces up because they are too attractive and we are jealous of it. In the end it is just Jealousy. Nothing else.
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