It happens every year, in the early spring.\u00a0 Right before we become obsessed with NCAA basketball, and several weeks before pollen blankets our patio furniture, Parade Magazine treats us to its annual rundown titled \u201cWhat People Earn.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a fascinating, frustrating look at our American economic system and what capitalism has wrought.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those articles that makes you sick, but you can\u2019t put it down.<\/p>\n

Because Parade is a supplement in the Sunday newspapers in major metropolitan areas, and because so few of us even bother to subscribe to printed newspapers any more, it might be a good idea to recap the highlights and lowlights of \u201cWhat People Earn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some of the lowlights; workers in America who earn under $100,000 per year:<\/p>\n

A civilian psychologist for the U.S. Army.\u00a0 A botanical photographer who searches for rare plants.\u00a0 A historic preservationist.\u00a0 A designer who creates 3-D virtual models for Navy stealth destroyer ships.\u00a0 A library director.\u00a0 A pediatric speech pathologist.\u00a0 A sign language instructor.\u00a0 A waste-water treatment plant operator.\u00a0 Lab technicians.\u00a0 Day care providers.\u00a0 Public safety dispatchers.\u00a0 Substitute teachers.\u00a0 An educational theater specialist.\u00a0 Pastors.\u00a0 A nuclear security training instructor.\u00a0 A pathology assistant who analyzes surgical specimens.\u00a0 An associate professor who teaches welding.\u00a0 A weapons technician, a bookstore owner, an emergency flight nurse, and a special needs school bus driver.<\/p>\n

Think about this.\u00a0 Some of these people are creative, blazing new trails and looking to make a difference.\u00a0 Many of them are the people who take care of us, and our children.\u00a0 They work to make our lives better, healthier, more productive.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t show up for work, we may suffer.\u00a0 And most of these individuals make much less than $100,000 per year.<\/p>\n

Now here are a few of the highlights; individuals who mostly earn well over $100,000 per year:<\/p>\n

A tennis champion.\u00a0 A pop music sensation.\u00a0 An actor-producer who collects $500,000 per episode.\u00a0 Comedians, actresses, football players, singer\/songwriters.\u00a0 A spa owner.\u00a0 A celebrity chef, who earns an extra $100,000 for each personal appearance.\u00a0 A bridal shop owner.\u00a0 A country music star and a reality show coach.\u00a0 An actor\/producer who made $7 million doing perfume ads.\u00a0 Professional basketball players.\u00a0 And an actress who made $160,000 per pound for each of the 25 pounds that she lost for her last role.<\/p>\n

Oh, and we can\u2019t forget someone named \u201cHoney Boo Boo\u201d Thompson, a seven-year-old star of a reality TV show who makes about $50,000 per episode and whose net worth is estimated to be more than $300,000.<\/p>\n

Now think about these folks.\u00a0 These are people who entertain us.\u00a0 Certainly, most of them are greatly talented, and we enjoy watching them perform.\u00a0 They can make us happy.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t teach us, they don\u2019t take care of us, and they don\u2019t really make our lives better.\u00a0 More fun, yes.\u00a0 But not necessarily better.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting that Parade fails to include some of the titans of industry; those CEOs and Wall Street wonders whose million-dollar bonuses have become commonplace during the past few years.\u00a0 Perhaps the editors of the supplement believe that we can read all about them in the Wall Street Journal or in the business pages of our daily papers. Also excluded are politicians, who seem to amass great wealth once they step into the halls of power in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

One week before the Parade magazine article appeared, the New York Times ran an article headlined \u201cSwiss Voters Approve a Plan to Severely Limit Executive Compensation.\u201d\u00a0 Almost 68 percent of Swiss voters backed a plan to impose some of the world\u2019s most severe restrictions on executive pay.\u00a0 In the run-up to the vote, bankers and prominent executives were accused of receiving \u201crip off\u201d pay packages.<\/p>\n

Americans are being ripped off, too, and it\u2019s undoubtedly going to take more than a few newspaper articles or Sunday supplements to make us aware of the economic disparities that we seem happy to tolerate right now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s going to take.\u00a0 But personally, I\u2019d like to see some of the money that Honey Boo Boo is making go to the guy who shows up every day to operate the waste water treatment plant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It happens every year, in the early spring.\u00a0 Right before we become obsessed with NCAA basketball, and several weeks before pollen blankets our patio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":23523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[994,93,45,195,77,1],"tags":[970,1332],"yoast_head":"\n