It’s a fact that there is a great deal of unevenness in this world. We hear about the “haves” and the “have nots.” Much of that is due to things like effort, timing, who you know, and even luck.
Yet it is the extremes that catch my attention.
In May 2024, Forbes magazine published a list of highest paid athletes in various sports. Number 1 was a soccer player by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo who pulled in a cool $260 million. Golfer Jon Rahm scored next with $218 million. LeBron James came in fourth at $128.2 million. Lamar Jackson was the highest paid football player. He ranked 10th by earning $100.5 million. Baseball player Shohei Ohtani was ranked 13th at $85.3 million. Boxer Canelo Alvarez was ranked 14th with $85 million.
Forbes also put out an updated list in late 2023 concerning musicians and entertainers. The band known as Genesis was ranked number 1 that year, mainly due to the sale of their music catalog. They pulled in $230 million. Sting, at number 2, pulled in $210 million, as he had also sold his own music catalog that year. The Rolling Stones, ranked 7th, earned $98 million. Taylor Swift earning $92 million had her ranked at #9.
The highest paid CEOs in 2024 didn’t do too badly, although their top dogs were a bit behind their athlete and rock star counterparts. Jon Winkelried was number 1. He’s the CEO of TPG, Inc. He earned $198.6 million. Carlyle Group CEO Harvey Schwartz, ranked #2, was paid $186.9 million. Tim Cook from Apple was only ranked 14th but he probably wasn’t too upset at that, given that he earned $63 million. Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, and a personal friend of mine, was ranked 58th, as he only earned a measly $32 million. (You know, I’ve been neglectful of that friendship. I need to start working on strengthening it.)
The folks above are the elite of the elite of the elite. They have impressive skill sets and enormous vision and energy. And they are paid accordingly.
The middle-class is paid far less. And the lower-class, far less still.
I am not complaining about these disparities. But I am mindful of them. Just as our parents told us that life isn’t fair, nowhere is that more manifest than in the disparities experienced by the human population.
Yet, I wonder what God thinks about such disparities. . .
In my faith tradition, I have learned that there have been rare occasions in human history where a given society had all things in common – by which I mean their material possessions, their monetary reality, met their needs. I am neither referring to socialism nor communism, both of which I stand staunchly opposed to. In the communities I am referring to, individuals had what they truly needed. Families likewise. Such people did not experience great financial wealth, but neither were there any poor among them. And they are said to have lived after the manner of happiness. We call such societies a Zion-society, and the order under which they lived involved the notion of consecration. Evidently such societies have been rare, but they have also been unusually harmonies and enlightened.
Might just such a society come about again?
