Feb

7

Much Ado About NASCAR and Pensions

February 7, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
2 Comments

Suddenly everyone seems to have an opinion about NASCAR and pension plans, or the lack thereof:

Call me cold-hearted and callous, but I end up feeling pretty conflicted after reading stories such as the ones detailed above. I know that I should have my heart strings appropriately tugged upon, and should be shaking my fist at greedy FranceCar hogging all the money, but I can’t quite get there, in the end.

Life is hard sometimes. Business is cut-throat. Fate can be mighty cruel. Fortune and misfortune fall into our laps in equal measure. Each and every one of us faces those cold, hard facts every day we roll out of bed.

It sucks mightily that former drivers who laid the groundwork for the mega-millions being made today were only paid peanuts and have no pension plan to fall back on, with many facing desperate times. Is that any different, though, than pretty much any other business that exists in the world?

Plenty of peons toiled in the trenches for years to create the current technological environment that has allowed many Google employees to suddenly be worth many millions. Should we shake our fist at Google and require them to go back and compensate all of the people who slaved away in computer labs around the world, cobbling together the first crude workings of the Internet?

Name any product, service, or sport that has translated into many millions of dollars in profit and you’ll almost always find the same scenario, where the ultimate haves get fat and rich in the end, piggybacking on the work of earlier pioneers, who more often than not are have-nots when the real money gets doled out.

Yes, indeed, there are examples of pension plans being successfully implemented in sports such as MLB, the NFL, and the NBA. But that’s more a testament to the ability of players in those sports to successfully unionize, something that NASCAR drivers have tried over the years but failed to pull off, each time. In the current day and age, pension plans simply aren’t some certain inalienable right that we’re all entitled to.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’d be awesome if NASCAR, the Frances, drivers, and tracks (or any combination thereof) at the very least contributed a certain percentage of profits to go into a pension fund for past drivers and/or disabled drivers. It’s the right thing to do, from any angle.

It’d be a very generous thing to do. Not necessary, by any stretch of the imagination, nor ever required, but a noble gesture. Those needy folks (unlike current drivers) don’t have the clout to negotiate on their own, and have no choice but to hold their hand out, whether they ask for the handout or not.

What I can’t agree with, though, is the tone of some of the current drivers’ complaints, as far as feeling aggrieved and victimized, pointing to other sports and saying “Waah, why don’t we have a pension plan?” Players in those other sports had to unionize and fight tooth and nail for those pension plans.

If it’s that important to you, make it happen, but don’t sit there and cry and expect the France’s to willingly offer to give away many millions of dollars. Don’t cave the instant that someone mentions hiring replacement drivers when you threaten to unionize and hold out for benefits such as a pension plan.

If you want to help out drivers of old who are in need, do it like Tony is apparently doing. Give them money out of your own pockeyt, quietly, with no fanfare. But it’s more than a little self-serving to hijack their plight in order to further your own cause, in the here and now. Most of us workaday folks would love to be faced with the horrible plight of having an insurance bill upwards of $100K a year, that was necessary to properly insure our expected annual income that is in the millions of dollars.



Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Gvav1 on February 7, 2007 4:06 pm

    Cheers to you for today’s opine! Lest we all belly up to the bar and remember the cry…”personal responsibility!

  2. Tiredawg on February 7, 2007 6:47 pm

    I agree with you. One thing about today’s drivers complaining, they are messed up in da head. The money they get paid, they should be able to set themselves up for their own futures. Give me a break, can’t plan for the future with how many millions a year in income (between salaries, endorsements, not to mention prize money)??? Boo Hoo f-n Hoo. Gr8 post. Peace, Dawg

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