Babe Ruth was a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox for five years. Then he was a star hitter for the New York Yankees for fifteen years. The Babe missed part of the 1926 season due to overeating. The total he was paid for his career was $860,000. Most players then had to find another job in the off season. Now the minimum salary for a Major League Baseball player is $700,000. Fernando Tatis Jr. with the San Diego Padres has a contract for fourteen year receiving a total of $340 million dollars. The Padres should give him a chauffeur driven limo so he won’t have another accident on his motorcycle.
A song in 1933 sung by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers began this way: “We’re in the money. We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along.” That was at the height of the Great Depression.
Fast forward to the present. There are 740 billionaires in America. When you are that rich you have investments, receive interest, and dividends. You automatically take in a lot more money without doing more to earn in. It is hard for the super rich to give enough to charities, political parties, or friends and relatives in order not to have your wealth steadily accumulate as time goes by. A few crazy individuals give money to US government to pay off a tiny bit of the trillions of deficit which also rises with each passing day. Hurrah for the American Way.
Deuel Woodward resides in Chula Vista.
