A coworker was telling me about his experience meeting Fergie (who--thanks to The Girlfriend--I recently learned is a musician and not an English aristocrat). He talked about her bodyguards, fancy cars, and massive, obviously expensive jewelry. "That girl is rolling in cash," he said.

I'm tired of making other people rich. Actors, singers, sports stars, CEOs--all of them are getting rich on our dime. Every movie we see and every CD we buy makes the rich richer. We don't think about it when we go shopping--we just buy stuff because as Americans we love buying stuff. But the entertainers we make rich are already loaded. They have more money than they could every possibly spend (well, except MC Hammer). Imagine what it's like being Fergie. She doesn't hafta worry about $4-a-gallon gas. She doesn't complain about rising food costs or worry about whether or not her boss will give her a raise. That girl is rolling in cash.

Must be nice.

Meanwhile the rest of us--people who live in the real world--struggle to make ends meet. I don't wanna get all communist here, but it's a load of garbage. At some point is there ever enough? No one needs that much money. She's already set for life...and yet gets richer with every song we download off iTunes.

I don't mean to pick on Fergie--it's not her I have a problem with. It's just the idea of people make more money in a month than I'll make in a lifetime. I suppose one should be entitled to make as much as they want and we're the ones who keep making them money. But it's really something to think about. I was willingly drop seven bucks to see "Indy" because I like the franchise. But didja ever stop to think where that money goes? How many millions to Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg? George Lucas already has more money than most third world countries and yet I'm sure he received a nice chunk of the $300 million "Indy" made. It might've only been $7 to me; it's a windfall to millionaires behind it.

I don't have any answers--this is just a thought that passed through my head today. We keep making the rich richer and probably don't realize it. It's shame because many celebrities out there are no better than you or I but will die with unimaginable amounts of money. We can't afford decent healthcare and my insurance doesn't cover a good chunk of prescription medicine; Magic Johnson has thrived for 16 years with an HIV "death sentence." It just doesn't seem fair...but then again, life isn't fair.

Alex Rodriguez will make close to $500 million dollars by the time he retires (a $250 million contract and a $300 million contract will do that). Think about that: one individual will make a half a billion dollars. We're paying that by going to ball games, watching TV, and buying the products he endorses. Granted, Arod isn't the norm--but guys making more than $10 million a season isn't uncommon.

If teams can afford to pay players that much, you know they're making much more than that. I read somewhere that baseball's revenue has grown from $1.3 billion to $6 billion over the past 15 years. The owners are happy because they're making a ton of money; the players are happy because they're making a ton of money...and we're the ones paying it.

Same is true for the movie studios. For Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, and Adam Sandler to make $20 million a movie (yes, that Adam Sandler), you know the studios are profiting quite handsomely. Just look at the box office figures. "The Dark Knight" is on pace to make $500 million dollars--half a billon! For a friggin' movie! Where'd it come from? Suckers like you and me.

I'm tied of making people rich. It shouldn't be this way. Our celebrities shouldn't be as rich as they are. Their talents in no way correlate to the salaries they earn. I know there's nothing I can do about it--this is just the world we live in...and it makes me sick.

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