“The Sunday Morning Bray”, by Bray!
‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ Matt 20:12
If Hollywood was so eager to be communist why do so many of them need to be filthy rich? Shouldn’t Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin insist that they make no more than what a cameraman makes? It’s easy to be a commie lib when you have more money than you could ever spend in 10 lifetimes, it’s a lot harder if you are wondering how you are going to pay your taxes, fill the tank and make your house payment. The only people who can truly afford communism are the extremely wealthy and the dirt poor, everyone else pays.
The truth about SoddomWood is it is a nearly perfect capitalist economy. People, are for the most part paid what they are worth by that economy and is an open market for their individual talents. Every skill has a corresponding value which is paid accordingly. The investors invest in an actor such as Alec Baldwin on what they believe he can bring to the project monetarily and he is prepaid or if he wants to gamble will take a portion of the gate. No matter how he wants to prattle on about the 1% vs the 99, he is paid the outrageous rates he is paid due to making himself a small fraction of a percent who can generate an audience willing to either watch his comedy, go to his movies or buy his credit card.
The capitalist economy will pay anyone exactly what they are worth. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with his ability to act or how he markets himself as an agent for the little guy; he is one of the rarest of commodities on the planet, a decent looking guy who is believable when speaking his lines. Likewise the cameraman is paid union scale not by how he differentiates himself from other cameramen, but he had enough skill or nepotism to get him in the union and then takes advantage of whatever opportunities presents themselves. A skilled cameraman is also a valuable commodity and will get better jobs and pay but will never be judged economically by audience generated like those on the other side of the lens.
Hollywood is one of the enclaves of pure capitalism yet has no idea that it is what it is. It generates massive amounts of revenue from absolutely nothing of value. People are rewarded by how rare they can make their skills and the ability to market those skills to an eager marketplace. They are rare diamonds whose facets are attractive features and practiced acting skills for sell to capitalism. Unfortunately the people there are either ignorant of the fact, pandering to the audience or so self centered they are glad for their own success but really don’t want the lower classes polluting their caste. Some of it is fear of going against the status quo of commie sympathy but a certain part of it is pure evil and class protection. People like Alec Baldwin likely thinks he is superior to the general public so he makes his liberal proclamations speaking to his audience in Beverly Hills while he keeps himself completely removed from the general public he so outwardly claims to embrace.
This is what makes no sense. These people who have succeeded in a very capitalistic society with little or no public money and all private yet reject that very formula which made them successful beyond their dreams. Until one of them has the courage to take a major cut in pay to help the 99% they work with, you simply have to shake your head and chalk it up to being Lear Jet Libs. You would hope Sean Penn would at least give an honest look at capitalism and realize he would be some dope head lying in a ditch if not for an economic system that gave him a chance to win Megabucks. No, he would rather fly down to Cuba and give Castro a virtual casting couch bragging about what a great Country it is compared to America. Course the chances of a Soviet country making a movie glorifying drugs and making him a star is about the same as one of Castro’s dissidents swimming to Miami.
No, the HollyWhacked self indulgent would rather go the intellectually lazy route and give the same old America is a racist, sexist, homophobic Country that is unfair. What about the fairness of making these people wealthy beyond their dreams, what unfairness do they have to complain about. Doesn’t it make more sense for them to get up and say how fair it was for pure capitalism to spot their talent and pay for it accordingly? Shouldn’t they give back to the people telling them there is hope for their future in a purely Capitalistic economy rather than one that is predetermined by a centralized expansive gummit? Of course they should but they are inside their own dictatorial commiecratic world which expects their stars to act and make statements which tear down America and capitalism to supposedly connect with Joe average as well as gain favor with the Hollywierd elite.
For many even their tearing down the economic system which brings them untold wealth is an economic decision. They have to make stupid statements like Bill Maher and Sean Penn to stay on the A list and turn the dollars they need to turn to make those multi-million salaries. The irony of that dance escapes these paid organ grinder monkeys although they have to understand it on some level as they complain and make fun of the 1% while they take a Gulfstream to Cannes while they pronounce it with a silent S and sipping their ’95 Krug. Yes, it’s those evil one-percenters are who are destroying our precious earth and oppressing the 99.
What they should be preaching is if everyone had the same opportunities they had for upward mobility and a chance to market your talents in a free economy this would be the system to strive for. Most can see why John Wayne and Clint Eastwood were paid more than some of the lesser actors due to their talents and presence. At the same time many never make it and are thrown into the underworld of SoddomWood making porn or being toys for the stars which is the way pure Capitalism actually works. Is it fair for them? Yes, because they are allowed to make bad choices as well as good, it is what character is all about. These people know the risk they are taking to become the mili-fraction of a percent to make the big time and failing is a likely possibility.
What Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin should be professing is that they make no more than the cameraman and any excess due to market forces should go into a fund to eliminate risk for struggling stars. This fund run by the District of Corruption will make sure any of the failed actors and actresses don’t end up on the street but will have a cameraman’s wage to survive and continue their training or trained into another career. They should be eager to actually do what they continually preach on everyone else and turn SoddomWood into the utopian paradise they want for the rest of America. So from now on we expect that movie actors, directors and agents who promote ObamaCare for America will insist on no more than the Cameraman’s pay and they will let the rest of their wealth go to ObamaStarCare for budding stars who want to someday earn the Cameraman’s pay they are already getting. In a few short years they would no longer have to fly their Gulfstream’s to Cuba to visit a workers paradise, they would be living in it. Perhaps Pelosi can write ObamaStarCare, something even the Tea Party will support?
Pray for America
Note: The above opinion is not necessarily mine, but FReeper Bray’s. If you wish to discuss this, please ping Bray.
It is more than a little amusing so many of the Liberal rich adore the money but hate the rich yet on the other hand despise the "little" people as well.
I think a lot of the problem is that both greed and envy are vying for their souls and both are winning. Hate and pride seem to be the end result instead of a grateful heart for their God-given talents and the fantastic opportunity to use them. For them, it's all about themselves despite their protestations to the contrary. Sad.
SHeer brilliance as usual.
Getting into the minds of Hollywood's elite is challenging at best.
About the only parallel I can make as to why those who benefit more from capitalism than most are the most ardent socialists is the same reason why so many otherwise rational individuals voted for the Dear Leader in 2008.
It's white guilt in a contorted fashion.
The Hollywood rich share a near universal guilt that they have taken away gold/wealth from others and should now be self enforced to give it back to the poor using government channels.
This differs from true capitalists who use charities rather than the worst use of funds ever devised; the US government. Its probably not too much more complicated that that.
Spot on ... as usual.