fair?

i stumbled upon an article in which paula abdul is speaking out about salary issues for being on American Idol. apparently ryan seacrest got $45M for a 3 yr contract and she's crying foul. she's demanding $20M to return to the show, while the show wants to offer her a mere $10M. she says she'll only return if she can secure a "fair" deal.

unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard this spoiled attitude, from hollywood to wall street, maybe even your own co-workers. the numbers change, but the greedy heart stays the same.

the vast majority of the nation lives on an annual salary between $25,000 - $100,000. and you've seen the statistics that many people in the world live on about $2/day. you've heard about the obesity and depression issues in this nation, and you've heard the stories of residents in 3rd world countries being healthy and happy. therefore money does not equal happiness (nor does poverty)

this has been an issue with me for a while.

i've become pretty aware of the cost vs. worth of things and how much we really need. i've become aware of the fact that, with very few exceptions, items are made in sweatshops overseas with the people working in harsh conditions making minimal pay, just so we can buy more stuff at a cheaper price. i've searched out fair trade (where the people making the items receive a pay that enables them to afford an acceptable standard of living by their country's standards). after becoming aware, i can't ignore it. i'm happy to give more details on this, but let me say that fairly traded items aren't much (if any) more expensive than your typical "made in china" things. it does take a little bit of effort and there are exceptions, but it's easier than you would think.

i'll give a little disclaimer here. a few years ago i commented to friends on a girl's skimpy clothing. someone asked if her clothing really bothered me, or if i was jealous because i didn't have the body to pull it off. i don't know (though i'm pretty sure i'm modest regardless of my size) money has been tight for us, mostly by choice of going to a private college and then staying home with alena. so someone could ask me if i wouldn't be just as big a consumer as everyone else if i had the cash to do so. maybe so. but i doubt it. we only know what we know from our own perspective. take it for what it is.

but i know that we can get by on what we make, regardless of the amount. i know that no one requires millions of dollars each year to sustain a happy and healthy life. i know that the scriptures have much to say about money and greed and generosity and living humble lives.

this isn't advocating living a life of poverty or denying yourself a comfortable life. it is a call to constantly reassess whether you're life is making you happy, or you're equating your salary and things with happiness.

there's a group out there committed to "living below the average." i came across this in Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love." the average american household income is $45,000. that's comfortable for most parts of the country. these people have decided to live on no more than $45,000 and then anything they make over that, they give away. i'm sure they give responsibly and i'm sure they get out of debt before doing this. but if you had no debt, even at your current standard of living, $45k would go a long way for most of us.

so fair? is $45M, $20M or $10M fair? is minimum wage fair? is anywhere between $25,000 - $100,000 fair? what about living in horrid conditions working in horrid conditions for $2/day? is that fair? so much of this has to do with where you were born. is that fair? let's grow up, get over ourselves and turn our focus outward and upward.