I have a new venture, just launched this week: GreenSpace™.
Here is the quickest way to donate, or even request a quote on a project:
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Bread and Circus, American Style
I like to read Salon. I find the writing far superior to most online or print journalism, though sometimes the bias leads to articles that serve mainly as fodder for the right-wing sycophants. But here is an article about the NFL that I read, and it gave me some ideas.
See, there are two things about the NFL that make it unique in the professional sports world, although neither is necessarily unique on its own.
First, the NFL has an issue with lifelong debilitating conditions, suffered by its players, as a result of the violent (as in gladiatorial) nature of the sport. Players sacrifice their health, and often a large chunk of their projected lifespan, to participate at the highest professional level. Junior Seau and Dave Duerson are two perfect recent examples. As mentioned in the article,
Second, the NFL generates tens of billions of dollars in profit each year, as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization—a 501(c)(6), to be exact. This means that all that money that goes into the pockets of ownership, is courtesy of the American taxpayer, to some extent. To give some idea of the scope of this, even at the lowest recent corporate tax rates, the NFL would pay out three times what the federal government currently allocates to AmeriCorps, should the league pay corporate taxes.
So, let's put all these disparate facts together, and see if a light-bulb goes off overhead. What if, just as a though exercise, Congress or the Executive branch considered introducing a law to remove that exemption, as leverage to get the NFL to do something it should have done already, and certainly would do if pressed by the Big Gubmint? What if the NFL was given a single out from paying billions in taxes, and that would be through putting that money to better use for themselves, by putting it into lavish retirement and health benefits for former players? Imagine what an annual billion-dollar infusion could do to pull the log from the eye, here. Imagine what three billion would do.
Now, I am not arguing for extensive programs to necessarily make the game safer, though that could be well-funded with a fraction of the money we are talking about. I am talking about removing the hypocrisy of pretending football is just another sport, which we happen to love in America, which has former players who have taken a physical beating. It's about acknowledging that football is our modern version of the gladiatorial arena. Let's just be honest about that.
The ancient gladiators didn't have a bunch of retired guys languishing over prohibitively expensive health care and rehabilitation—back then, they were usually dead. But the few who somehow survived to retirement, were treated like gods. They lived lives often as extravagant as emperors; parties, palaces, whatever they wanted.
So, my proposal is that today's modern gladiators get a modern equivalent. Since they don't have to die for glory, there are more of them, and certainly the crass argument can be made that the glory is also diminished as a result. But each can be given the proper seat at the table of honor, that he has earned. And they can all get that, and the health care they need, and the compensation for the years of mobility, quality, and existence they will forfeit, all for less than the taxes not being paid.
See, there are two things about the NFL that make it unique in the professional sports world, although neither is necessarily unique on its own.
First, the NFL has an issue with lifelong debilitating conditions, suffered by its players, as a result of the violent (as in gladiatorial) nature of the sport. Players sacrifice their health, and often a large chunk of their projected lifespan, to participate at the highest professional level. Junior Seau and Dave Duerson are two perfect recent examples. As mentioned in the article,
For the past year, league officials have been working to settle a lawsuit brought by 4,500 former players, who accuse the league of covering up the link between football and brain damage. The NFL will likely wind up paying hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the suit, possibly billions.
Second, the NFL generates tens of billions of dollars in profit each year, as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization—a 501(c)(6), to be exact. This means that all that money that goes into the pockets of ownership, is courtesy of the American taxpayer, to some extent. To give some idea of the scope of this, even at the lowest recent corporate tax rates, the NFL would pay out three times what the federal government currently allocates to AmeriCorps, should the league pay corporate taxes.
So, let's put all these disparate facts together, and see if a light-bulb goes off overhead. What if, just as a though exercise, Congress or the Executive branch considered introducing a law to remove that exemption, as leverage to get the NFL to do something it should have done already, and certainly would do if pressed by the Big Gubmint? What if the NFL was given a single out from paying billions in taxes, and that would be through putting that money to better use for themselves, by putting it into lavish retirement and health benefits for former players? Imagine what an annual billion-dollar infusion could do to pull the log from the eye, here. Imagine what three billion would do.
Now, I am not arguing for extensive programs to necessarily make the game safer, though that could be well-funded with a fraction of the money we are talking about. I am talking about removing the hypocrisy of pretending football is just another sport, which we happen to love in America, which has former players who have taken a physical beating. It's about acknowledging that football is our modern version of the gladiatorial arena. Let's just be honest about that.
The ancient gladiators didn't have a bunch of retired guys languishing over prohibitively expensive health care and rehabilitation—back then, they were usually dead. But the few who somehow survived to retirement, were treated like gods. They lived lives often as extravagant as emperors; parties, palaces, whatever they wanted.
So, my proposal is that today's modern gladiators get a modern equivalent. Since they don't have to die for glory, there are more of them, and certainly the crass argument can be made that the glory is also diminished as a result. But each can be given the proper seat at the table of honor, that he has earned. And they can all get that, and the health care they need, and the compensation for the years of mobility, quality, and existence they will forfeit, all for less than the taxes not being paid.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)