The 1% Exist Because the 99% Want Them To Exist

In 1941, the average annual American income was only $1,496.  It would cost you 25 cents to see a movie. And, one of the highest paid actors, Jimmy Stewart, earned about $72,000 that year. In that  same year, Joe DiMaggio was paid $37,500 to play for the Yankees.  By any measure, both Stewart and DiMaggio were considered to be the 1% of their time. Stewart made almost 50 times more than the average American. DiMaggio 25 times.

Today, the average American makes about $42,500.  That's 28 times what their counterpart made in 1941.  At the same time, the top-paid actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, makes more than $77 million a year; or, more than a 1000 times what Jimmy Stewart made in 1941 and 1,655 times the current American's income.  Then, too, the top ball player for the Yankees, Alex Rodriquez was paid $32 million to play in the 2011 season. That's 850 times what DiMaggio was paid and 752 times the average individual income in 2011.

So, in roughly 70 years, the average American's pay  increased 2,800% while the pay of our sports and movie idols, combined,  jumped by more than 90,000%. Of course, a liberal would point to this disparity in salary growth as proof that the rich are getting richer while the rest of us, the 99%, languish.  But, the reason that A-Rod and DiCaprio get paid so much is because "we", the 99%, made it so.  It was "we" that demanded to see DiCaprio on the silver screen and it was "we" that were so eagerly willing to pay high box office prices and buy the DVDs that drove DiCaprio's income higher and higher.  The same was true with A-Rod and our willingness to see him take the field.  And, this attitude didn't just stop with sports and entertainment.  On Wall Street, the salaries are high because "we" chase the companies that best perform in handling our investments.   And, in business, too, the competition for talented people has also driven CEO pay higher and higher. 

As long as "we" won't settle for anything but the best, "we" will continue to see the rich get richer.  We made them what they are.  More than 90% of today's millionaires are newly minted thanks to us.  Which just proves that if your talented or have great ideas, this country will compensate you with millions.