Ottawa, Canada — The most popular professional sports league in North America, the National Football League (NFL), has the most “socialist” economic system of the four major leagues inNorth America, based on an assessment by The Conference Board of Canada – the latest in its series on the pro sports market.

“It is somewhat ironic that America, land of capitalism and free enterprise, is so fond of a league that has made sharing the wealth fundamental to its business model,” said Glen Hodgson , Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist.

In the National Football League, more than 80 per cent of league and club revenues are shared among the franchises. The NFL also has a “hard” salary cap that puts a ceiling on the amount of money franchises can pay players, one that applies equally to all teams. The one market-driven aspect is the NFL’s treatment of player talent- both in terms of the high salaries paid to top stars and the ease with which players can be discarded.

Moving from the economic “left” to “right”, the National Hockey League (NHL) is similar to the NFL in having a hard player salary cap. As part of the current collective bargaining agreement with its players – negotiated in 2005 and now expiring – the NHL has a salary floor and a complex revenue-sharing system. The NHL is willing to provide subsidies to its weaker clubs to protect the value of the stronger franchises, since bankruptcy of any team is not a good signal to prospective investors.

“The NHL model is a mixed economy which does try to equalize opportunity for all its franchises to be successful on the ice and profitable in the books,” said Hodgson. “The challenge for the NHL and its players in collective bargaining this year is to tweak this system without undue disruption to the business. Hopefully, both management and the players have learned from their experience in 2004-05 and they will not risk losing another season in these negotiations.”

Both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball operate much like a modern capitalist economy. In general, the financial playing field in these leagues is not level, and the largest, richest markets and teams tend to be the most successful. Top players command massive salaries, which leads them overwhelmingly to suit up for the wealthiest teams.

No league in North America, however, compares to European football (or soccer) for unconstrained capitalism. The presence of unbelievably wealthy owners, little sharing of revenue among teams and leagues, and eye-popping player salaries is reminiscent of the “robber baron” era of capitalism in the 19thcentury. Clubs are very much on their own. The current liquidation of the Scottish club Rangers FC – one of the most storied teams in Europe – shows there is little financial security or assistance to those that slip.

Image Courtesy of  Richard Paul Kane / Shutterstock.com

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The 21st century witnessed one of the most perilous and unethical alliances of mankind’s biggest foes: greed and capitalism. A system where the will or self interest emerges as a master of all human actions in the economic sphere.

There has been a change in the way organisations do businesses and there has been a change in the way businesses are being managed. With the passage of time, businesses have become more isolated from the basic idea of self-interest and more fascinated with profits, expanding their wealth based on what they see as most lucrative rather then on ethical foundations.

There is contamination of capitalism in every corner of the imagination, through the unscrupulous pursuit of profits, selfishness, and through an incorrect comprehension of the idea of economic freedom.

It is true that a farmer in the fertile English midland produces potatoes not to make consumers happy, but for his self-interest and survival. But it may also be true that if the farmer regularly exceeds his need, greed might lead to consumer concerns elsewhere, such as unjustified price movements or supply barriers.

Many illustrations, mathematically and not, can demonstrate how this system becomes contaminated. When capitalism was introduced it was hailed has a unique path to prosperity, opportunity, and more importantly, an end to inequality.

Over the years the urge to make money has killed morality. Now we are trapped in a net which was earlier believed to be a liberator from material discomfort. Greed became epidemic at all levels of commercial existence in the world.

We are living in a society where wealth commands, and those who posses wealth command the world — often in a way that only benefits themselves. The ideals of capitalism to provide opportunities that benefit everybody are contaminated by self interest, and this transition from self-interest to greed in recent years proved fatal. If the bottom line of business is profits, then it is cultivating greed and no benefit at all.

The outburst of protests across the world primarily addressed income inequality and unethical behaviour on part of entrepreneurs. Over the years, the divide between rich and poor deepened in the US, according to the Congressional budget office. Between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% grew by a whoping 275% average, and during the same time 60% of the American middle class income grew by just 40%.

Economist and Noble Laureate Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times that the ‘we’re the 99%’ slogan correctly defines the issue as “being the middle class versus the elite.” He also noted that the movement debunked the wrong notion that rising inequality is “mainly about the well-educated doing better than the less educated.” True enough, economic injustice is not just about education, but to fully comprehend the deep-rooted cause requires organizes and collective study.

Under an Islamic economic system we will not find any of these character-based problems or growing inequality. The Islamic economic system is primarily based on Islamic laws and principles, while capitalism is constructed upon morality. Ideally, if something is based on religion there is no danger of greed and malice, because no religion has ever preached greed. The Islamic economic system considers greed as a grave sin, so if the system tried to bring in something which is based on faith, people might refrain from evil deeds. But unfortunately Islamic economic system is hardly prevalent.

What we need is to find ways to resolve inefficiencies of the system through religious methodologies rather than criticism of capitalism.

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When looking at the statistics of steadily-growing numbers of drug and alcohol consumption at German and Austrian universities, one might start wondering what kind of places these institutions of higher education are where more and more students are taking addictive drugs.

According to some surveys conducted in Germany, every third student drinks too much alcohol. Nearly 30 percent drink more than five pints in every drinking occasion. Students tend to take more psychotropic drugs than other young people at their age who are not enrolled in higher education programs. Cannabis in particular seems to have undergone a renaissance– more than 60 percent of students have already tried cannabis once, and almost 40 percent consumed it last year. The same trend can more or less be seen in Austria.

It seems that study-time has become a special period of a student’s life where they try out all kinds of addictive substances, from alcohol to stimulants to psychotropic drugs. Why put their health at risk, despite knowing the serious consequences of taking these drugs? Is it all about a pleasure-seeking attitude? Finding inspiration? No risk, no fun?

The individual reasons for taking drugs might vary from person to person. Yet, there are common features in societies that lead to certain phenomenon. We are living in a world of permanent pressure to perform. The competitive sense has never been as it is in our time. When asking students’ reasons for taking Ritalin, a psychostimulant drug, they may tell you they NEED it for maintaining or improving their performance.

When Austrian and German universities started to change their education system based on the Bologna Accords, they had everything in mind, except the humanistic elements of education itself. Almost all European countries have already adopted the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree system, in order to make quality assurance standards more compatible within Europe, which was the goal of the Bologna process.

For the sake of the new system, subject matters have to be compressed and crammed into a shorter study time. Students have to study under extreme time pressure in order to comply with the strict requirements. Besides this, many German and Austrian students have to work part-time in order to make their lives affordable. Forty-to-sixty-hour work weeks are nothing unusual among students nowadays. Taking addictive substances seems to be the chosen way to let out frustration, keep performing, and work like a robot.

The majority of students seems to follow a common pattern of life: Finish the university degree as fast as possible, start a career, become someone, earn money, have a family, take out a loan, and so forth. It is important to have some certificates in hand. Education has become a product for the market.

It failed to maintain its original mission– to emancipate students in a humanistic approach, leave them time and space to reflect, help them to develop a great sense for being critical, instead of digesting everything like fast food.

One might blame the system of capitalism that makes us all run like a hamster in a wheel. Yet, it is up to the responsibility and courage of each individual to break down this system.

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On Wednesday, Michael Moore appeared on “The View” to promote his new book, “Here Comes Trouble.” Co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck wasted no time, pouncing on the Academy Award winning film-maker. In May, following the death of Osama bin Laden, Moore was outspoken about the death.

He criticized the way the United States handled the death, calling it an “execution” and saying that America had “lost something of our soul” by not trying him for his crimes. Hasselbeck interrupted Moore halfway through his first sentence. “I think that we did a very smart thing putting the Nazis on trial,” he began.

“That was after the war was over,” Hasselbeck cut in. The war is over,” Moore said. “Michael, we’re still at war!” she snapped. “No, we’re not, actually,” Moore snapped back. He said that the U.S. has spent countless time and money fighting things that have “nothing to do with the real threat,” and that the country should not be in Afghanistan.

“My point is that the way we show the world that we’re different is that we give even the most heinous person their day in court,” he said. “You’re telling me Osama bin Laden deserves a trial?” an outraged Hasselbeck replied. “Where? In New York City? Absolutely not! How dare — and why, because Casey Anthony’s trial went so well?”

“What are we afraid of?” Moore said. “We’re Americans, man!”

“Our rights are not afforded to him!” Hasselbeck shot back. The argument continued until a reluctant Whoopi Goldberg was forced to cut to a commercial. In other news, Moore is offering signed copies of his new book. If you order the book online through one of three independent bookstores in Northern Michigan, you will get a signed copy.

There is no additional fee for the signed book. This book contains two dozen short stories and is the most personal work Moore has done.

Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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