Quote:
Originally Posted by kartu
Shaquille O'Neal might bring more money to Nike, by filming in a 10 minute advertisment. But how could it be fair that he gets more money for that than all Nike factory workers combined in a year?
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Actually he doesn't bring in more money than all the workers combined, I know (mostly because there are a whole lot more workers than you could imagine and because wages at the factories have been skyrocketing in recent years). And yes, on the face of it it does seem incredibly unfair how much more Shaq makes. But now imagine you were running a company. You hire Shaq and if he gets 5 million for 10 minutes of work and generates 50 million in additional sales and 20 million in profits (an example, not real figures, of course) how was Shaq NOT worth it? If you pay someone an obscene amount of money but he makes it all back and a whole lot more --- then I call that a great deal. That is reality. You pay someone minimum wage and his labor does not generate enough income to cover what you pay him --- what would you do if you were the boss?
And while we are at it -- those workers at the Nike factories make a whole lot more money than the average worker in those countries does. Companies like Nike have done a lot to lift living standards and working conditions in Asia. People in China would still live like they did during Mao's time without them. And you will have a tough time finding anyone in China who wants to go back to those "good old days". But we have already had a number of discussions on this subject.