[Crescens]

1 ) Do you think celebrities (athletes, music artists, etc.) receive way too much money for what they do?
2 ) If so, what do you think could be done to help solve the problem?
3 ) Don't you think reality TV is a fairly good example of how far society has declined due to becoming celebrity-obsessed?

I'm interested in what everyone has to say about this. I don't see how the "contributions" celebrities make to society are at all profitable to anyone, and I think they receive way too much money without doing anything to really earn it. However, I'm not sure what could be done to solve the problem of celebrities. (Most of my reasons would probably end up with someone being launched into the sun. )

As for reality TV, my mom watches all that garbage, and I still can't understand how she finds it remotely appealing. Most if it's not even real. How has society declined to the point where celebrities are valued to this kind of extent?

I'm not saying that there aren't any celebrities that are good role models. There are some good sports stars, like Michael Jordan, that have given millions to charity. However, celebrities like Michael Jordan seem to be becoming rarer and rarer. Sports idols have gone from being good role models to being involved in scandals such as that of Kobe Bryant. Is the problem in the celebrities themselves, or in the society that has accepted them?

I want to hear what everyone thinks on this. I understand that my personal biases are present in this, and I'd very much like for someone to provide a logical explanation for something like reality TV or prove me wrong.

[CongressJon]

1 ) Do you think celebrities (athletes, music artists, etc.) receive way too much money for what they do?

Absolutely. A person who plays baseball, and is fairly good at it, noticed okay, maybe by his home fans well, gets about... I'd say $2,000,000. Let's put the things that he earns into account:

• Taking risk of injury.
• Traveling all around the USA, or other country/countries.
• Being away from family.
• Playing a lot of baseball.

End. It's insane. Two million can be underrated, but this is no exception. Celebrities, sports players, everyone who does something like that gets INSANE salaries.

2 ) If so, what do you think could be done to help solve the problem?

Decrease the minimum payroll. This might not work, but it would definately give a significant drop to salaries, thus making it smaller. (Note: This will not totally solve it.) Increasing the minimum wage might work a bit though, if increased enough it could balance it a bit more to everyday hardworking civilians.

3 ) Don't you think reality TV is a fairly good example of how far society has declined due to becoming celebrity-obsessed?

Absolutely. People will do anything to get on television. Anything. Even if it means going on a show like Fear Factor, where you have to do insane things like jumping out of helicopters, eating intestines of other animals, and driving a car into a brick wall.

People watch these things, and they love it. Joe Millionaire for example: they cheat people, lie to them, and send them home sad that they couldn't marry a millionaire, and then a week later find out it was all a sham. And the society loves it. Don't tell me that isn't low.

I don't watch reality TV, and neither does my family. It can be very sickening.

[Kowboy]

1. Yes. They get millions of dollars for something that some people would do for free.

2. No clue hehe.

3. Reality TV? I dont watch it because it is so fake and pointless. Almost everyone on the shows has no talent. They have some very crazy an pointless shows these days like American Idol and American JRs. All they want is money.

[CongressJon]

Errr... BUMP! I really think this has a lot more importance than many may think.

[Crescens]

Meh, the Debate Forum never gets the attention it needs because it's a sub-forum of Study Hall...

Cspace, is there any chance that Debate could be moved out of Study Hall? One, it doesn't really seem to fit, and two, it misses out on the attention it needs 'cause no one finds it in Study Hall...

[cjjones]

I think that celebs are over-rated, but if TV/Production companies want to spend millions on things the public will spend more millions on, then so be it. And also, for sports stars, they are even more over-rated - this year the All Blacks wanted about double what the NZRFU would pay them for winning the RWc, if they won it. There was a public outcry that the NZRFU wouldn't pay them the NZ$150,000 (quite a bit for NZ's economy), so they raised their pay for winning the cup up a little. I don't think that their risk of getting injured, or the fact that they have to travel comes into the salary, it's part of the job and all travel/accomadation expenses are paid.

I don't think there is a very effective way to decrease salaries.

Reality TV makes me sick, and it should be given a world-wide ban by the UN.

[CongressJon]

[Neraphym]

The best thing about the USA is freedom. Everyone should be, and is free to be as stupid as they want, provided it doesn't conflict with others's freedom. If people are dumb enough to watch the crap on TV, let them. It just goes to show how ignorant they are.

The only scary thing about this is the number of stupid people there are. Basically, the problems ALL originate in schools. Students's friends dictate another's intelligence from day one. Hang out with the wrong people in kintergarten, their negative influence will stupidify you, turning you into one of those morons who watch these shows. If the schools put a lot more thought into corpral punishment and better discipline, stupidity rates would dramatically decline. This is just my theory.

[Crescens]

Debate is no longer a sub-forum of Study Hall, so we should get a lot more traffic in the future.

[CongressJon]

Awesome! This is great!

[Crescens]

Oops, spammed, gotta warn myself

[Neraphym]

Yay, we get our own forum! Oh, and to further illustrate my point on lack of child discipline, read this.

[Crescens]

LOL, you should never take Maddox that seriously ... Really, the stuff he writes is all in good humor, but don't take it seriously at all.

[Neraphym]

My suggestion is similar, but not to the extent that Maddox goes. (I tried using the dragon kick once.)

[Kowboy]

Celebrities: Overpaid and Underworked.

*Congrats on the moving of the forum Cress.*