Let me start column by asking you some questions. How much do you HATE rich people? How many think they hold poor people down? How many feel they are disadvantaged and put out by them? How many feel they don’t pay their “fair share”?
Let me introduce you to person X. They have a net worth of over $450 million and earned a massive $88 million in the last calendar. Their “day-job” pays them around $26 million a year. You hate them already, right? Damned millionaires and billionaires!!! Right?
Well it gets worse so trigger warning. They are just the third person in history to sign a life-time contract with an un-named company worth $14 million a year and have other contracts that pay handsomely over the course of the year. Lastly they have hotels in four different cities.
How sad is the world we live in, that a chunk of the population including our friends on the left would read the above paragraph’s and hate them and seek to tear them down. I bet some of you have already messaged some of your friends wanting to start a protest, right?
Cristiano Ronaldo
Well the person in question is a footballer names Cristiano Ronaldo. He earned $21.5 million playing football for Real Madrid last year and signed a life-long contract with Nike. Lastly he has endorsements with companies y’all know very well including Herbalife, Castrol, Samsung, and KFC and he also has his own brand of clothing, shoe line.
Do you still want to protest? Do you still hate him? Do you still think he is holding you down? It will never cease to amaze me had people’s reaction when they see rich people. Had I said he was a politician, a Wall Street Banker or a lawyer, people would have said bad things and start a protest. Yet a sports personality or an actor can earn millions and everyone seems silent.
Well I recently saw an article on what Cristiano spends his money on and it is a real list of goodies. I want to take that list and share some simple economics with anyone who thinks the wealthy living a wealthy lifestyle does not create huge amounts of economic benefits for EVERYONE! So let’s start with the most “grotesque” spending shall we?
Housing
He has a $7.1 million villa in La Finca which is an exclusive community in Madrid built by architect Joaquin Torres. Naturally his place has state of art tech, sofa and an indoor swimming pool. Now the line from our liberal friends is always the same, does someone really need that type of villa? Well firstly America has a founding document called the Bill of Rights and not the bill of needs. Secondly if we truly believe all men are created equal, then what gives one person the right to tell another what they really need?
But let’s move onto economics. Our liberal friends only see a villa worth $7.1 million and excessive wealth. I see an amazing pipeline of jobs directly and directly supplied by someone buying that Villa. The direct jobs are clear – all the builders, site supervisors, brickies, electricians, plumbers, roofers, painters, glazers and gardeners.
I also see the jobs created by the products needed to build this house including bricks, mortar, wires, water, tiles, doors, windows, sofas, tables and chairs among countless other items.
I also see the countless indirect jobs created by this purchase as every company involved needs products like insurance, property rates, gas, electric and stationary.
Lastly what is the difference between the creators of products? Is it somehow noble to create a brick or a door for a house worth $150k and wrong to create a brick or door for a $7.1 million villa, or is a job a job?
Cars
If the Ronaldo’s villa did not trigger you, his amazing car collection might. He drives a $300,000 Lamborghini Aventador, a Bentley, a Porsche, a Mercedes and also has a bigger car collection. Well that’s not fair that one person has all those cars, after all how many cars can someone drive at once?
Well once again all our liberal friends see is a $300k price tag and a fancy car. I once again see a lot of economic wealth and jobs being created by one purchase. Every car needs metal, an engine, an exhaust, wheels, brakes, doors, windows, seats and all the extras like stereos and sat navs that are the norm today.
In fact I did a search online looking for how many individual items are in a car. I could not find a number for the above cars but an average Toyota has around 30,000 individual items. Now think of all jobs created indirectly by him buying that one car as he helps pay the salary and commission of the sales rep and the sales manager. He paid a part of the salaries of mechanics and service department and administration departments.
Other Products
Ronaldo lives the wealthy lifestyle others can only dream of. He has an $18.5 million apartment in Trump Towers, a $160k Jacob & Co watch, eats at all the fancy restaurants, wear only the finest clothes. He once liked a wax statue of himself so much that he reportedly spent $31,000 on it and hires a hair stylist to make sure the statues has his current hair style.
Job Creation
However Ronaldo does more with his money than live a fancy lifestyle. He does more than create jobs with his purchase. Why? Well because like most rich folks and especially sport stars as they start looking for wealth creation opportunities after their playing days are over. He recently created a gorgeous, football-themed hotel in his hometown of Madeira, Portugal to go along with three other hotels around the world.
Now I cannot find the correct number of employees at each hotel but a think a minimum would be at least one hundred people is not unrealistic.
Charity
Lastly there is his charity work which includes a donation of $165,000 to a Portuguese cancer centre and $83,000 to fund a 10-year-oldfan’s brain surgery.
Conclusion
Sadly there are people who will read this and will still seek to tear Ronaldo down, be convinced him being rich is somehow holding them down and will focus on the price tags. I can only hope that others will read this and see Ronaldo as an individual, but also have a greater appreciate for economics and how jobs are really created.
Lastly, the next time you hear a politician speak out in favour of increasing taxes on the top 1%, remember Ronaldo and ask which job would you not like him to create. After all that tax increase might stop him eating out as much, buying an extra appliance around the house or stop him investing in yet another hotel which will have an impact on other people depending on his business.
This is an article based on a recent monologue and if you would prefer to listen, you can do so for free by clicking directly on the links for SoundCloud, ITunes or Google Play.
Jonathon Dunne is an Irishman who dreams of one day living becoming an American. He has a weekly podcast featured on the Blaze which you can find by searching for Freedoms Disciple on Soundcloud, ITunes & Google Play. He is also a writer, public speaker and the CCO of Lanterns Buzz Radio Network.