Chait's savage and very good takedown: Do Liberals Want to Kill Iron Man?

[AnnieBW]

2. Actors actually WORK for a living

Yes, actors such as Robert Downey Jr. make lots of money per film. If they have a good agent, they make even more on residuals, merchandising, etc. But they WORK for a living. What other profession has only 10% of their active membership working at any given time? And, in the grand scheme of things, they don't make as much as people like Greg Mankiw do. Actors, while no longer tied to the studio system, are working for "the man" every bit as much as you and I. The real money is with the studio heads - Sumner Redstone, Rupert Murdoch, etc. Even George Lucas is only the 109th richest person in America (source: Forbes Magazine, 2013). The richest entertainer in America (not counting Donald Trump), is Oprah Winfrey - and she ranks 184th. No actor or actress shows up in the Forbes 400.

So yeah, some actors make a lot of money. But not a LOT of money.