I Put My Pants on One Leg at a Time... Just like You Do!

"Who should be paid more, a corporate CEO or the President of the United States?"

After reading through part of the accompanying discussion thread where folks offered intelligent opinions supporting their opposing views, I finally had to add my own two-cent's worth:

"Who cares? Both are highly overpaid and don't really need those inflated salaries anyway!"

When we start discussing and debating other people's six-figure salaries and multi-million dollar compensation packages, it should get us thinking about what's really important... like... "Why?" Why are people like this so special and deserving of such outrageous sums? What makes their time or skill so much more valuable than the time and skills of the people holding up those ladders on which they've gained such lofty positions? Whatever happened to "making money the old-fashioned way"... by earning it? How much is "too much" and when will we wake up and realize that we've returned to the caste system of medieval days? Most likely, these are rhetorical questions because even if there were answers, the brainwashed segment of society that keeps paying the "lords" will go on paying them believing that we have to, and go on wondering why the people we're paying make so much more.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't promoting the idea of equality one of the reasons America's founding fathers had for forming a "more perfect" union? You know, that "All men are created equal" way of thinking. When did that principle stop being important? Are we really created "equal?" You'd be a fool to think so. Somewhere along the way, we've evolved into a society that really is made up of just two kinds of people: the "Haves" and the "Have Nots" ... and when you consider that there are a lot more of the "Have Nots" it kind of begs the original question: "Why?" Another question that comes to mind is: Are we who make up the majority really so stupid, or gullible, or just plain too tired of struggling from one paycheck to the next to even give a damn anymore?

Perhaps a simple way to understand this concept is to compare people to products. Consider the Cadillac... underneath all its luxury appointments and elegant styling, it's still just another car with the same basic function as any car; to transport someone from one place to another... sure beats walking, right? But, what makes it a "better" automobile than, oh, let's say a Chevrolet Impala? If both cars were stripped down to the bare chassis and parked side by side, I'm betting that it would be tough to figure out which was the Cadillac and which was the Impala. And, since it's really the chassis of an automobile that gives the car it's purpose, how can one really be "better" than the other? Well, because the Cadillac costs more, so therefore it must be better! Oh, really? It's just another car.

Now consider the CEO of, oh, let's say General Motors... huge salary and bonuses, lots of fancy perks... an "important" person, but, underneath it all, he puts his pants on one leg at a time... just like the assembly line worker who works the midnight shift in one of the plants and struggles to get by from one paycheck to the next. Which one is the "better" person? The CEO, of course! Why? Because he gets paid more, he must be better! Now if you believe that, then you're either the CEO of a major corporation, or you're among the brainwashed masses who have come to believe that a person's worth really is measured by the amount of money and other assets he holds.

Let's explore this analogy a bit further. Granted, the Cadillac does have a lot of nice features that the Impala doesn't have, and the CEO of General Motors has responsibilities that the production worker can't even fathom. But are the extra amenities on a Cadillac really worth the extra $10,000 (or so) on the sticker price? Is the CEO's responsibility to make more money for the stockholders (often times at the expense of the workers) worth the extra six figures (or so) he gets in his paycheck? My "common sense" tells me the answer here is "No." The extras on a Cadillac surely don't cost anywhere near $10,000 and a CEO's decisions (which are more often than not based on input received from lower level people earning a lot less) surely don't cost anything, so what basis is there to justify such an exorbitant compensation package?

(Can you see where this is going?)

What about "The American Dream" you might be wondering... that's exactly what it is: a dream, something we only seem to fantasize about. The time has come for us "Have Nots" to quit hitting that snooze button and finally wake up to the reality around us. And what a sad reality it is when you stop and think about it. It's sad that a corporate executive can live high on the hog while the people feeding him through their hard work and sacrifice have to live in fear from one day to the next worrying about whether or not "downsizing" or "cut-backs" or "layoffs" will jeopardize their very existence. It's heartbreaking when a wealthy businessman or lawyer or career politician can be given the keys to a luxury mansion and be paid six figures for being nothing more than a figurehead while many of his constituents live in cardboard boxes or under bridges worrying whether or not they'll even survive another night on the streets. The saddest part of all is that we have allowed it to happen, and keep allowing it to continue every time we just blindly accept the status quo and let the "lords" be the "Haves" while we remain complacent as the "Have Nots."

Consider that poll question I used to inaugurate this, my "Common Sense by T.P. Lentz" series. If you're neither a corporate CEO or the President, and fall into the "Have Nots" category, chances are you're going to get mad about this and other common sense topics you'll see here. But, will you get mad enough to do something about it? Mad enough to decide (as that one character in that movie said) that "I'm not going to take anymore!" I hope so... and deep down, I believe that you hope so, too.

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