ymu
Niall Ferguson's deep-cover sock-puppet
That assumes the footballer (or anyone else on high wages) is worth those wages. As for the footballer example, I'd say it was idiots like me that buy season tickets (or fake fans with subscriptions to Sky Sports) that are the ones exploited by the footballer earning those high wages (which would be the same for anyone else earning high wages - they are exploiting those on lower wages below them to supplement their worth)
Exactly what I said originally. But he can only extract that via an employer. He's useless on his own.
It's the same model as dealing. People who are hooked will pay you anything they have to. If you have enough money/power to invest in cornering a route from Columbia all for yourself, your investment will pay back a million times over.
Which is why rich oligarchs are 'losing' money on football. They're not. They're trying to buy up so much talent that no one else can compete. Stitch up the market for trophies, and they'll get it back with interest. The reason some of them aren't doing as well at this game as they'd expected, is that team games aren't about buying up the talent. Hoist by their own inability to see anything except in the simplest capitalist terms - this costs the most so this is the best. Fuck team spirit, demoralisingly different rewards within a single team, pre-existing talent being bought in when you have (had) a superb youth team that now has very little reason to think they have a chance on the main squad.
I cannot understand football fans. I saw Milan play Parma in the San Siro towards the end of a very exciting season, with a lot to play for for both teams, in the late 1990s. We paid £8 each for tickets a few rows back behind one of the goals (into which they obediently scored all three goals). I couldn't recognise any of the players from a distance, but my boss was giving a running commentary, clearly in awe at what he was watching.
Fuck's sake. A one year home-games-only boycott of any clubs that price out someone on minimum wage would solve the problem forever more. Is the drug that fucking addicting that you'll just keep paying what they ask and do fuck all about it? Even when it means that it cripples the England team. for lack of British left-footers in the Premiership. That is beyond dumb.