One thing really stands out from my time at high school. I can clearly recall a single period of economics. There were only a dozen or so people in the class and we were having a casual conversation about the income of professional athletes. Some of the students were sitting on desks or eating food, which wasn’t all that uncommon; out teacher was a bit of a stoner.
“Do you think it’s fair they get so much money?” he asked.
“It’s just supply and demand,” said one of the students. It wasn’t a bad response. You can use that answer for virtually any question in first year economics and you won’t be far off the mark.
“Good,” said the teacher, looking around for deeper responses.
“It makes sense,” said Vivian, the basketball captain. “As a sports person your career is quite limited. Most athletes can only compete at the top level for less than ten years.”
I was surprised at her intelligent response. It was the first time I’d heard her say a word in the classroom.
“Fuck athletes,” the professor snapped. “When they’re finished playing games all day why shouldn’t they have to get a job like everyone else? If I canned my career after a couple of years I’d still have to start another one.”
I guess if I was a high school economics teacher I’d be a little jaded too.
“Do you think it’s fair they get so much money?” he asked.
“It’s just supply and demand,” said one of the students. It wasn’t a bad response. You can use that answer for virtually any question in first year economics and you won’t be far off the mark.
“Good,” said the teacher, looking around for deeper responses.
“It makes sense,” said Vivian, the basketball captain. “As a sports person your career is quite limited. Most athletes can only compete at the top level for less than ten years.”
I was surprised at her intelligent response. It was the first time I’d heard her say a word in the classroom.
“Fuck athletes,” the professor snapped. “When they’re finished playing games all day why shouldn’t they have to get a job like everyone else? If I canned my career after a couple of years I’d still have to start another one.”
I guess if I was a high school economics teacher I’d be a little jaded too.