As we approach the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, the state of socialism is not especially encouraging. The socialist reign of Hugo Chávez and successor Nicolas Maduro have reduced oil-rich Venezuela to pre-historic conditions with 4000 percent inflation and near starvation levels of food supply. In Cuba, the socialist government continues to limp by with an economy frozen in the 1950s. Indeed, there is only one real success of socialism in the world: the National Football League. When Marx said that “Democracy is the road to socialism,” he could easily point to the 32 owners of America’s football teams. It turns out that socialism works really well for billionaires in a small group with an effective monopoly on an industry.
Indeed, the NFL could be viewed as the most successful socialist system in the world. While it might not work for workers, it seems to work well for billionaires. Revenues from the billions in television profits and much of the ticket and merchandise sales is divided among the fellow travelers of the gridiron every year. They follow centrally dictated salary caps and impose an iron-hand of centralized control through the Commissioner of the NFL.
The NFL displays two common characteristics of centrally planned systems: an insularity from market or political demands and an intolerance for dissent. Both were evident recently as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sought $2 million in fines against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for opposing Goodell’s contract renewal. Goodell and the NFL Bolshevik block declared Jones guilty of “detrimental conduct” to the league. Jones was viewed as the ultimate Menshevik (or minority man) seeking to challenge the status quo and, worse yet, seeking to rally fans in seeking reforms.
The owners of the PRF (the People’s Republic of Football) are actually far less invested in success than the fans. A study in the International Journal of Sport Finance showed that the revenue sharing arrangement means that teams are actually not impacted significantly on whether they have a winning or losing season. A 10 percent increase in regular season wins for an average team was found to produce only a 0.14 percent increase in revenue. The NFL acts much like the older Soviet State Planning Committee known as Gosplan in carrying out five year plans, including a five-year contract for Goodell. It is a plan that is all about squeezing out profit as opposed to satisfying fans.
Putting aside the Green Bay Packers (which is actually owned by the proletariat), the NFL teams have created a socialist system for the ultra rich. The owners view success as the bottomline, not the end zone. And it is working.
Margaret Thatcher once said that “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” That is not a problem with a small group that controls the most popular sport in the United States. The value of teams are up 22 percent over last year with an average worth of $1.65 billion. Those values have tripled over the last five years and, for the first year, every team is now worth at least $1 billion.
The insularity of owners from their fans is telling in the Goodell controversy. Goodell is hated by a huge number of fans. Indeed, it is safe to say that there is no one more hated in football, including by NFL players. Goodell cannot appear at the annual football draft events without being drown out with booing and catcalls. Goodell is widely viewed as consistently putting both fans and at times players last in his decisions. He began as an intern and was virtually raised inside the NFL Gosplan in a culture of maximizing revenue output and minimizing fan input.
Many accuse Goodell of being part of the NFL’s resistance to dealing with concussions, a record detailed in a scathing 2016 investigation by Democratic members on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Goodell also is known as a commissioner who engaged in open and shocking demands for himself, the owners, and his staff. Cities seeking to host the Super Bowl are reportedly shaken down for a guarantee of four “top quality” golf courses, two “top quality” bowling lanes, including the waiver of any fees, free presidential suites in the best hotels and free police escorts for team owners. In his latest contract, Goodell notably demanded not only roughly $50 million a year but lifetime use of a private jet and lifetime health insurance for his family. The jet was understandable because Goodell is so despised by fans that he would have a hard time walking through an airport without being assaulted.
So if Goodell is so radioactive and hated, why would the owners give him a massive new contract? Precisely because he is so hated. Goodell takes the heat for owners who continually milk fans and cities of every possible dime while offering little in return. While many fans have Goodell voodoo dolls on their desks, most would be hard pressed to name more than two NFL owners. They are insulated by their own fans by revenue sharing and certainly do not care about how fans generally feel about the NFL. Goodell serves as a useful goat for owners to carry away the anger of fans. Even the uproar over the anthem protests did not move the owners until the television revenues fell this year, but even then the NFL refused to make the rule in the NFL Manual requiring all stand for the anthem (section a62 63) part of the mandatory provisions of the NFL Rulebook. Even with the dip in fans, the NFL will still post record profits.
That brings us back to Jones.
Karl Marx said that “[t]he meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.” Jones broke from the cartel in publicly criticizing Goodell and disclosing aspects of his bloated contract. He was appealing to the fans, who are the least relevant party in the NFL governance and decisionmaking.
As shown in Venezuela, the centralized control of an economy often leads to greater controls over free speech and dissent. The NFL owners are irate that Jones would ever appeal to fans. Jones threatened litigation over Goodell’s reappointment but notably did not sue. However, owners are using a provision to force reimbursement for litigation related costs – a move pushed by Goodell as what is widely viewed as retaliation against Jones. Goodell wants to reinforce that the NFL is no democracy and, to use football parlance, he was off-sides when he went over to the fans.
Putting aside his motivations (some say he was steaming over the penalty against running back Ezekiel Elliott for alleged domestic assault), Jones was a dangerous display of independent thought in a system where revenues and policies are centrally controlled. As Kim Jong-un has explained, centralized planners must “fight staunchly” to oppose “moves for ideological and cultural infiltration.” The most dangerous infiltration for NFL owners would be the fans and their interests.
For the moment, the NFL owners are safe. One would hope, however, that after Goodell is again booed by fans at the upcoming NFL draft, the owners will take time to raise a glass on the 200th birthday of the man most responsible for their success: the old Gipper himself, Karl Marx.
Today, the Stand Up to ALEC website (the American Legislative Exchange Council is an anti-democracy tentacle of the Koch’s) recognized and asked for support for two Kentucky state representatives. The two politicians of the people recognized ALEC’s threat and unprecedented power grab, by introducing a bill. Their legislation makes the point that the Kentucky House and Senate exists without power because of draft laws written by industry and the richest 0.1% and, enacted by politicians wined and dined by ALEC.
Linda – who pays you to write anti- ALEC comments? No one does it this often for free.
If I was paid, I’d donate my paycheck to the Center for Media and Democracy which operates on a shoe string. Putin and his fellow oligarchs have big bucks and no decency, so they spend $ on honey pots, trolls, assassins, etc. The similar Kochopus spends $ to achieve greater U.S. income inequality, funding groups like Americans for Prosperity ($ for the richest 0.1%), stink tanks and Republican politicians.
I’m luckier than many Americans and Russians, I “can afford meat” 7 days a week.
Bill Gates funds the Center for American Progress, a group that helped Hillary lose. But, neither the exploitive Gates nor, other tech tyrants like Zuckerberg, Andreesen, Eric Schmidt and Reed Hastings pay people to advocate power limitations on oligarchy because they don’t believe in democracy.
“I’d donate my paycheck to the Center for Media and Democracy ”
“The most notable CMD Board member is Ellen Braune, whose leftist affiliations are extensive and longstanding. She currently serves as Vice President of Communications at the Ms. Foundation for Women, and was formerly a Senior Vice President at Fenton Communications and a Communications Director for the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Part of the Soviet-controlled World Peace Council, CISPES was established in America in 1980 by high-ranking members of the Salvadoran Communist Party and Cuban intelligence to support El Salvador’s murderous guerrilla bands and to influence American public opinion through protests and one-sided disinformation.”
CMD isn’t far enough to the Uncle Joe philosophy of democracy that Linda seems to prefer, but it is quite far left.
If “Uncle Joe” is Stalin, the Koch’s successful American agenda matches the destruction he wreaked on the Russian people. (No surprise, the Koch family made money off of the Russian people while Stalin rained terror.) The Koch’s ALEC has driven down labor’s wages to the lowest point in recorded American history and ALEC’s laws have made U.S. citizens the most incarcerated population in the world. The Koch’s finance Republicans who have egregiously gerrymandered states extinguishing democracy. The Republicans have concentrated wealth which dooms future economic growth. The plot of the Walton, Gates, and Koch’s to eliminate the unifying foundations of democracy, is aimed at establishing the iron-fisted rule of oligarchs.
Promotion of tribalism and feudalism is singularly on America’s richest 0.1%. Allan, you can take pot shots at CMD’s staff but, most of the world recognizes the clear and present danger is those who pull Trump’s strings and will pull Mike Pence’s strings.
The Koch companies produce useful products that you can buy if you wish or not buy if you don’t. They seem to be libertarian something that distresses you because they don’t believe in the Stalinesque world you would prefer the world to be. Though the older Koch dealt with Russia that was not an exception to the rule and during WW2 the U.S. was allied with Russia and Britain fighting the Nazi’s. The senior Koch is dead as is the senior Kennedy who tried to deal with the Nazi’s. Despite that last fact the senior Kennedy’s son JFK became President.
The Koch brothers believe in individual freedom, you don’t. That is the basic distinction between you and them.
You blame the Koch’s for the high incarceration rate when you should be blaming Democratic policies. Take a look at where the highest incarceration rates are and you will note how the Democrats have ruined the land and led to such incarcerations. Take our number one city Detroit that is now a sh-thole when it was previously the most prosperous city. It was under Democratic leadership and destroyed. Look at Chicago with 38 killings in February that is down from 49 of last year. Another Democratic failure. Reality smacks you in the face so you disregard reality and chant “oligarchy” while dreaming of Stalin.
I just revealed one of the board members of CMD, but their relationship is to the left of many leftist groups. I am sure in that tiny 501 C (3) there are plenty of people just like her. In fact, I’ll bet a bunch of Stalinists have dealings with that group.
Linda – you are a one-note band. Did ALEC touch you in your ‘special place’ without your permission?
Linda – those centers that you think run on a shoestring, really don’t. I have been around too many blocks and watched funding by individuals and groups. So, you are working for a Soros funded group. This is the major funder that you always fail to list, ergo, this is the puppeteer.
An internet search shows Soros paid internet commenters in the run up to the election which one would expect. He’s an American with money who likely was informed about the Kremlin’s activities. His candidate showed her tax returns so we knew she wan’t beholden to a foreign creditor.
I wasn’t nor am a paid commenter. Fake news sites claim current Soros activity and I hope it’s true as long as Putin continues to fund trolls.
I’m unclear about Soros’ politics so my viewpoint may or may not be similar. It’s a nice thought that one among the richest 0.1%, possibly Steyer or Soros, believes in democracy.
Soros in his own words: George Soros: “Helping The Nazis Was The Happiest Time of my Life …”
Linda, between Uncle Joe (Stalin) and Soros you have some interesting friends.
Linda – if you think Soros believes in democracy you are insane.
Paul, what makes you think she isn’t?
Allan – just laying it out there so she can try to refute it. 😉
SCOTUS will seal the fate of American democracy with its decision in the labor case before them. As a former Supreme Court Justice said, “You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of the few or you can have democracy. But, you can’t have both”. Pres. Obama’s campaign got 4 times the amount from Wall Street that labor could cobble together to influence the election. Couple the Russian oligarchs backing of Trump’s election and, the tech tyrants agenda- the result- no future except labor’s continued downward spiral into poverty. Already, labor gets the lowest share of national income in recorded U.S. history.
SCOTUS’ verdict will further set the stage for American tribalism. Dems like Corey Booker and, Repubs like Mike Pence, got help from state courts and from the Secretary of Education during the past 25 years in privatizing America’s most important and unifying common good, education. Recent commercials on t.v. reflect promotion of child labor. The richest 0.1% worldwide want feudalism and America’s rich are no different.
“Union dollars played a major role in helping to elect President Barack Obama in 2012. He secured more than $519,000 from employees of a collection of labor organizations, which also spent millions on independent ads in support of him.”
In the meantime, almost all of the money raised by organized labor (a very small percentage of labor in the US) goes to the Democratic Party and the workers are forced to contribute.
Allan speaks for the Koch’s mute jurist, Clarence Thomas. The Koch’s talk of limited government while simultaneously spearheading the campaigns of ALEC, State Budget Solutions, and the State Policy Network reflects the oligarchy’s hubris while being duplicitous.
That’s a wilted word salad with Koch, ALEC, Oligarchy and Thomas as croutons. Still inedible.
Try again.
The balance of Oligarchic Politics has shifted towards the Democratic party. Look at the fearless leader of the left, Obama and then look at his ties to Goldman Sachs, etc.. Linda’s archenemy is the Koch’s who didn’t support the Republicans but supported the tea party. The underlying triad of belief by the Tea Party was support of the Constitution, smaller government, and a balanced budget. I would say that Linda is befuddled and should reread her talking points to make sure they are up to date and agree with one another. Then again she doesn’t have to for she has a mentor, Uncle Joe (Stalin) who can kill tens of millions while the Linda’s of the world keep their eyes closed.
Is such economic power as destructive as Linda might imagine? Trump was elected spending only a fraction of what was spent by the opposition and is opposed by the vast majority of the superrich and political elite.
Explain how Gates, Jobs, Ellison etc. have taken away from all of us. Even some of the migrants flooding Europe are demonstrating riotous behavior when they don’t have Internet connections through wifi.
Get rid of their wealth and get rid of your iPhone and home computers that link with the net. Are you better or worse off.
The now-defunct Tea Party built steam based on resentments. The oligarch mouthpiece, Fox, fostered the anti-Obama racial bias that underpinned the Tea Party. The irony is that the Koch’s created the economic deprivations that led to the resentments. They then, exploited the desperate, steering them to Koch politicians.
If you actually knew anything about the Tea Party movement you would know we haven’t gone away. You would know the movement was not and is not race motivated. You would know we aren’t party loyalists. You would know we are all about the rule of law and separation of powers. But you wouldn’t know any of that because that would require a different worldview. There’s that and the fact the Koch’s ALEC conspiracy movement had taken up residence in your head.
“residence in one’s head”- check out the Kentucky state representatives that are currently highlighted at the Stand Up to ALEC site. They have first hand knowledge about ALEC’s power grab, which you and I don’t.
ALEC “A state’s economic vitality starts with a principled tax code that is fair, transparent and competitive relative to other states.”
Linda, You don’t agree with that.
ALEC “Processes for safety regulations should incorporate a least restrictive approach for ensuring public safety and confidence, economics, definitive risk data, and food security.”
You don’t agree with that either.
ALEC: “In September of 2015, ALEC and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) formed a new partnership to prioritize the prevention of overcriminalization, the reforming of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, the reduction of recidivism rates and the promotion of community-based alternatives to lengthy jail stays for non-violent offenders. ALEC members’ work has sparked a new wave of state criminal justice legislation that is carefully crafted to maximize taxpayer dollars to protect the public while preventing overcriminalization and unnecessary prison stays. For years, the ALEC Justice Performance Project has brought together a diverse coalition of allies that offer research and experience to achieve the shared goal of better sentencing laws. Notable members include Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), Justice Fellowship, Right on Crime, Institute for Justice, Prison Fellowship, and Stop Child Predators, of which Stacie Rumenap is the ALEC Justice Performance Project private sector chair. In 2012, ALEC and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) hosted a summit focused on inspiring state criminal justice policy. Working with the ACLU, ALEC members successfully implemented mandatory minimum sentencing reforms around the country.
And finally, you don’t agree with this. What does Linda agree with? The friends of Uncle Joe (Stalin).
The Tea Party is not defunct for the original Tea Party movement was a grassroots movement. It is in a slight slumber at the present, but the desire to reduce the size of government, balance the budget and support the Constitution strongly exists among many. It was that triad that created the Tea Party movement and is something that will not disappear.
Your knowledge of the Tea Party is like your knowledge of everything else totally politicized to meet your view of the world? You are dead wrong, but that is not something new. Your knowledge of the Koch’s is near non-existent.
I asked you earlier about the tech people that created the personal computer, i-phone and Internet revolution. They got very rich making the pie a lot bigger. Would the world be better off without them? Of course not except perhaps we would be better off without the foolish posting persons of your ilk make every day.
My goodness but I have to be blunt on this blog! There is little subtlety to be found and several commenters attribute to me things that I never wrote.
David, clarity is an art. That art can define the individual.
Go look at what I wrote about Karl Marx. Somehow you mistook it as approval on my part for socialism ala Karl Marx. I claim that is not lack of clarity on my part but poor reading comprehension on yours.
David Benson – I used to teach Interpersonal Communications. If you fail to get your point across, it is often because you failed to state the premise properly. You are putting the onus on the ‘listener’ to get your point, however, you may not have stated it with sufficient clarity. If your listener misinterprets what you said, then you just straighten them out. It is all part of the communication process. For the communications to continue, you have to reach a mutual point of agreement on what was said.
Yes, which here means that they read what I wrote, not something else modified by their mental state.
It would be different, and easier, in a conversation. But here the readers have to actually read. Using dictionary definitions of the words.
David Benson – a word means what the sender and receiver agree that it means, dictionary be damned. Even if you go with a dictionary, there are multiple meanings for most words, so which definition do you pick?
If there is ambiguity, ask. Unfortunately some assume and go off on a tangent.
David Benson – tangents are half the fun. 😉
Paul, tangents may be fun but often reveal a lot about who the person is.
Allan – I guess I am half a tangent then. 😉
Paul, if we look at half the person, we might have a good idea of what the other half looks like.
“here means that they read what I wrote”
David, Paul is absolutely correct. It is not up to the reader to interpret what you write unless that is your intention. The blame lies in your lack of clarity. I think that you want that lack of clarity because you are afraid to defend what you believe.
“Go look at what I wrote about Karl Marx. Somehow you mistook it as approval on my part for socialism ala Karl Marx.”
David, did I call you a Marxist? No. Learn to read. Socialism/ communism takes many forms. You need not be a Marxist to tend towards the leftist (socialistic/ communistic) ideology. I will say it again, clarity is an art and based on your most recent comment that art is something that continues to elude you.
I use the dictionary. I recommend you do the same and give up your Red Queenish ways.
” I use the dictionary.”
Really? One might never notice.
David Benson – you may not be using the same dictionary. One thing I learned from the Jesuits was to define your terms in any discussion. So, define your term and see if he agrees with that definition. If he does you can move the discussion from there.
Paul, David’s dictionary has a lot of emphasis on the word “yep”. 😀
Jonathan Turley is just completely wrong. The NFL is a cartel. It has nothing to do with socialism ala Karl Marx.
What a waste of team reading most of these comments. “Mental masturbation” at its finest.
Waste of time, that is.
Yes, don’t need a team to read most of the comments.
“(some say he was steaming over the penalty against running back Ezekiel Elliott for alleged domestic assault).” – bingo
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy–to be followed by a dictatorship.”
― Alexander Fraser Tytler
The American Founders precluded redistribution of wealth by providing Congress the power to tax SOLELY for “general welfare” while deliberately omitting and, thereby, excluding the power to tax for individual welfare which is redistribution of wealth.
The entire American welfare state is unconstitutional including welfare, food stamps, WIC, Obamacare, social services, affirmative action, quotas, utility subsidies, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, HAMP, HARP, Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, etc., etc., etc.
Socialists-cum-communists in America have illegally/unconstitutionally nationalized the private charity industry.
General = All
Wel = Well
Fare = Get Along
Roads, water, sewers, currency, utilities, post office, etc.
The singular American failure has been the Supreme Court.
“…courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the MANIFEST TENOR of the Constitution void.”
__________
“[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
– Alexander Hamilton
Not everything reaches the Supreme court, nor should it. To say this is the sole problem, is disingenuous.
George often escapes from his padded cell in Bedlam.
The NFL receives billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. They are the recipients of tax-free bonds.They get all sorts of perks and protection from competition. For-profit and not for profit universities fund the skill sets required on the field. They have 501 (c) 6 tax-free status for the NFL itself (not the individual teams).
Maybe the politicians benefit from a team that their taxpayers pay for, but the average worker pays taxes for something that he has to pay a high price a second time for in order to enjoy.
Let me help you Prof. Turley with more references on the connection between socialism and democracy:
“Democracy is the road to socialism.” Karl Marx
“Democracy is indispensable to socialism.” Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
“Modern Socialism is inseperable from political democracy.” Elements of Socialism, (1912) pg 337.
“The view that democracy and Socialism are inwardly related spread far and wide in the decades which preceded the Bolshevist revolution. Many came to believe that democracy and Socialism meant the same thing, and that democracy without Socialism or Socialism without democracy would not be possible.” Socialism, Ludwig von Mises, pg 67.
“The Western democracy of today is the forerunner of Marxism which without it would not be thinkable.” Adolf Hitler as a young man watching the Social Democracy marches in Vienna. (Mein Kampf, pg 78. Manheim translation, Mariner paperback)
But then there is David Horowitz, August 31, 2017, on the Sean Hannity Show, radio, with guest host Jonathan T. Gilliam, four o’clock hour, said, “Socialism has nothing to do with democracy”. The right hand doesn’t know what the Left hand is doing. And Rush Limbaugh calls himself the “Dr. of Democracy”, all our schools teach that we are democracy, and President George Bush pushed for democracy everywhere.
America is a Marxist state and I live among a bunch of idiots. All those “conservatives” pushing democracy! What a crock.
I’ve been saying this for years about most sports. Socialism is ruining them and is why for the most part I now ignore all of them. I was a huge Yankee fan but once they tore down the real stadium (along with all their history) which was a result of “profit sharing” I was done. NASCAR has been ruined by every team having to be the same and worse, that a team that dominates a race is not celebrated. But what is to be expected in the world where everyone is a winner and every snowflake gets a trophy.
Jim22 – I do not follow the Arizona Cardinals but I have been to their stadium and toured with an architect friend. It is very interesting. I am just glad Glendale got ripped off, not anybody else. 😉
Great article by Jonathan Turley, he should do a similar article on an issue that harms more Americans: Electric Utility Monopolies in some states.
Constitutionally, we are seeing the real harm from the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Eminent Domain” ruling amending the Constitution to alllow private companies Eminent Domain rights. They also essentially regulate themselves and destroy healthy competition.
From several years ago:
https://youtu.be/bNbMPz5CPY8
Two words: Patriots, Browns.
Enough said.
Overpaid they certainly are and the players are not fully at fault -it’s those behind the scenes agents who roam around getting their cut. The larger (money) the contract the more monies they receive -plain and simple.
Capitalism is touted as rewarding risk-taking. The marketplace sets the ticket price. And, it sets the revenue from the promotional side of the business. So, the question is what share owners receive vs. players. Players take the risks of the game. The owners off-load their financial risk to the public when it buys their stadiums. The NFL team in Indiana (Pence sets pace for the Koch’s oligarchy) gouged the citizens the most of any NFL team.
No huge fan of the NFL anymore but the owners take the risk of owning the team. Players would not be playing if it were not for the owners. Why do players feel that they should be paid so much? I agree though, they should pay for their stadium like the Patriots owner, Kraft did.
There’s no game without the players. No one wants to watch an ex-wife who gets a team in a divorce settlement play on the field. No one wants to watch some pampered heir who inherits the money to buy a team, play on the field. The Brown family, famous for their front office nepotism, who own the Bengals take no risks. The NFL limits the competition they would face in a free market.
“The NFL limits the competition they would face in a free market.”
That is correct Linda and that is why they are able to rip the people off. Donald Trump tried to break the NFL monopoly years back by trying to start a new league.
I will not watch NFL games. I do not think the system is Marxist. It is devout Capitalist. But, who was worse, Marx or Hitler?
College football is using students as slaves … end of story.
As for the main article . Whup them up alongside the head Professor JT
Question when is the world’s population gong to start tricklingdown. When the world’s governments quit stealing from it’s citizens
Michael Aarethun – I do think college athletes should be paid a higher stipend, but that is on the NCAA, not the colleges themselves. When I was tutoring athletes at ASU even the tutors were restricted as to what they could or could not do with the athletes. For one thing, we could not date them. 😉
In the semester of their sport, the athlete will take at least 12 semester hours of classes (many of them blow this semester off) and then have 40 hours of sports practices and competitions. Any class they failed is their sport semester they will retake in the summer. They are required to maintain a C average and complete 24 semester hours each year.
For that, they get 3 meals a day, housing and an education. Plus, if they go to a bowl game they get swag. 😉
Do the math. Add the cost of tuition, room and board for a student at a public university, multiply it by the number of players who get that benefit. Then subtract the sum from the school’s football or basketball revenue. There’ a lot of play between the two numbers as shown in the pay of the top coaches.
Linda – football revenues actually support all the women’s sports. Women’s sports are financial losers, but football picks up the bill. It also pays for some of the men’s sports like golf.
Paul,
Would you like to meet for a drink?
Linda – I don’t drink. 😉
Wise decision. The “Linda” who replied may be a catfish.
Good article in National Review about that very issue you raise re the NCAA…
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/ncaa-college-athletics-corrupt-student-athlete-model-must-reform/
i think your premise that a cartel of unelected reactionary billionaires that have, LITERALLY, outlawed any civic participation beyond subsidized profits as somehow “socialist” is fatally flawed. the behaviors described actually correspond to capitalism (more specifically crony capitalism).
But not market capitalism which is what started to take effect in reduced participation and not the fettered capitalism of state economics.
CaptainObvious- thanks for correcting the blog host with truth.
Crony capitalism is not capitalism. So your point is what? That the NFL is more like capitalism as long as it is fake capitalism.
LOL! I believe this terminology problem is evidence of Economic Dysphoria Syndrome. CC and Linda would like to self-identify socialism today as crony capitalism. The intent would be to bamboozle an unwary public into believing capitalism is the enemy of a free society.
I agree. It kills me every time I have a discussion with a liberal and they tell me how bad capitalism is and all I have to do is ask them, “Show me where we are using pure capitalism”. In just about every case you can point to where the govt. has stuck their nose into the capitalistic system and screwed it up and then they act like that is an example of how bad capitalism is.
A government of the people, by the people and for the people is vastly different than the Koch’s American oligarchy.
Good point. That act includes demonstrating how the Koch brothers have set up shop in their head.
Jim22, I don’t think the Liberals on this blog know what capitalism is. They seem to know a bit about communism or socialism, but they still can’t equate the results of that type of system to the failures that abound such as Venezuela.
I think you are most unobservant.
“I think you are most unobservant.”
David, read the comment starting this thread. If you believe that reflects what capitalism is then perhaps you don’t think.
But I do think, refuting the antecedent of your conditional.
“But I do think”
So you say, but that conclusion is based on the conclusion that you think.
HOW ‘BOUT DEM COWBOYS?!
I wish my hair and beard would grow as full as Karl’s.
The so-called socialist states in the Americas have to survive despite the actions of the USA Deep State. The three in Asia, China, Vietnam and Laos, offer a better understanding of what happens under that form of authoritarian rule.
But none of the five are Marxist, as the idealism of Karl Marx does not work in the real world.
99% or the Earths population is still waiting for the idealism of:Rand, Von Mises, Hayek, & Friedman to start trickling down into the real world.
That too.
David, The problem is that your socialized world has existed and left us with all sorts of Venezuela’s. No such nation has ever been founded based on the principles of Mises, Hayek or Friedman, but those countries that came closest did the best economically when countries were compared. The US used to have greater economic freedom and had more growth.
1. Not my socialized world. Learn to read.
2. You fail economic history, not to mention macro economic principles. Try keeping up by reading Paul Krugman.
David Benson – you have been retired too long. No one really follows Krugman anymore,
“No one really follows Krugman anymore,”
“Paul Krugman Verified Account
@ paulkrugman
New York City
Nobel laureate. Op-Ed columnist, @nytopinion. Author, “The Return of Depression Economics,” “The Great Unraveling,” “The Age of Diminished Expectations” + more.
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com
4,337,003
FOLLOWERS”
anonymous – let me restate that. No one “with any sense” follows Krugman anymore.
Let me correct that. No one who has lost his mind.
David, Krugman won a Nobel Prize in economics on a singular subject. Since then his predictions have been almost total failures and he makes little economic sense. He is a talking head and for years has contradicted the book on economics that he (and I think his wife) wrote.
Your world is very narrow and obviously you are not well read on classical economics.
Enough to know that “classical economics” does not reflect 20th century reality, much less 21st century.
David, 20th-century economics of the communists and socialists led to the death of over 100 million people outside of war. 21st century’s best example is Venezuela.
The reality is that top-down government fails even though the dream is very attractive to those that can be persuaded to become religious fanatics in promoting their socialist beliefs. This doesn’t mean government doesn’t have a place, it does. You want too much of it.
1. You don’t read what I wrote with any comprehension.
2. Karl Marx wrote in the 19th century.
Some thought he had answers.
David, I read what you say, but I don’t add to what is unsaid. You have to project your ideas. Don’t expect anyone to do that for you. My comment stands.
David, let me add, you should listen to the problems Krugman has when debating anyone with a modicum of intelligence. He frequently is left looking the fool and I think he tries to stay away from such debates.
Allan,..
-Let us know when you’ve completed all of the reading assignments that David has assigned here. 😉
I leave out the quantum physics and most of the geology. 🙂
Tom, David sounds like the card catalog, all titles, no substance.
Nobody here to discuss the substance. Just mostly the ignoranti.
There are some pretty intelligent people here so if you choose to discuss matters rather than act like a card catalog I think you could find some intelligent debate.
Well, somehow I keep trying…
😐
“Well, somehow I keep trying…😐”
I appreciate that, but it is up to you to expand on the terse non-reply and say what you mean.
This is why I only watch college football.
#Metoo