Happy New Year to you all.
Let’s hope for brighter things in 2013.
Amongst the New Year
messages on Twitter, I see that Rio Ferdinand has inadvertently upset a few
people with a jokey comment that has been taken the wrong way. I’m not a United
fan so it pains me to say it but I actually like Rio .
I think he’s one of the few footballers that does make an effort to interact
with fans and make a difference so I was disappointed to see the backlash.
I think his tweet did help
to once again highlight the huge void between the working class and the super
rich. Rio ’s one of the privileged few to do
something they enjoy and get paid ridiculous money to do it. Would I want it?
Certainly. Do I begrudge him? No.
I think that the majority of
footballers would still play football even if they earned less than the minimum
wage – just through a love of the game. Society, media and the endorsement
companies are to blame for the rise in salaries so why should the players be
penalised for doing what they enjoy?
You can’t ignore the reality
of life though. If I were lucky enough to receive a lump sum equal to that of a
Premiership footballer’s weekly wage, it would set my family and I up for life.
It would mean that I could finally put a deposit down and buy a house. It would
mean the kids could finally have a bedroom each in a house that we own and it
would give hope to a more promising future where we can provide for them completely and help towards their future.
I think that’s where the
general resentment comes from. There are those of us who work full time but
still struggle to provide the basic fundamentals that make a family secure. We’ve
effectively been priced out of the game, the Premiership mid-table teams who
are just happy for the lucky cup run. I’m not poor, but I’m not rich. We have
nice things but not the nicest of things but then I don’t have to worry about
feeding and clothing the kids so are a lot more fortunate than some in this
country.
Whilst provisions and help
are in place for those who don’t/can’t/don’t want to work, there’s nothing
there to help the inbetweeners like me. What’s to say that today’s inbetweeners
won’t be tomorrow’s poor? The sad truth is that most of us live in hope for
that lottery win that will never come so we can have the things that a
generation before took for granted.
Most people want to just get
on and work, buy a house and raise a family. A celebrity lifestyle, a mansion
and a Ferrari would be nice but I’d be just as happy with a 3 bedroom end of
terrace.
History has always shown
that there will be rich and poor. Today’s footballers are yesterday’s
industrialists, land owners and aristocrats. A minority will always begrudge
them. What makes me laugh is how all of a sudden people are saying Britain
