Gary Lineker Quotes
You can never really justify wages in the entertainment business, but it is what it is.
Lineker, Gary. Interview by Simon Hattenstone. The Guardian, Guardian News & Media, 19 Nov. 2011.
This is not a common quotation from Thoreau. The great man for whom the establishment had so much respect had a very anti-capitalist streak. His view is that the employer will generally never pay his laborers a fair wage. Instead he will pay the laborer the lowest rate for which he can obtain the laborers services. If the laborer generates added value for his wage, the employer is in a zero sum game with the laborer. If part of the added value—the profit is paid to the laborer, the employer does not have it for himself (or his stockholders). In most cases, the laborer is forced to work for his and his family’s subsistence. This theory argues that they only way the laborer will get a fair wage is if there is a labor shortage (assuming no government laws or union pressure is in the picture. Many capitalists argue that a “fair” wage is what a free man is willing to work for and a free employer is willing to pay. So economics is like politics in general with respect to fairness—there is no universally accepted definition of what is fair.
Gary Winston Lineker OBE is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has presented the flagship football programme Match of the Day since the late 1990s. Lineker is also the BBC's lead presenter for live football matches, including its coverage of international tournaments. He has also worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live and NBC Sports Network, and currently hosts BT Sport's coverage of the UEFA Champions League.
