Gold! That is what Hidilyn Diaz brought to the Philippines when she won the country’s historic first gold medal at the Olympics. A hefty sum of gold, or rather money, also gets paid to her for it as well. The National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act grants her P10 million, and this is before all the other pledges from the government and the private sector come in to show us a glimpse of how much value we can place in her superhuman efforts.
Her feat is a praiseworthy display of an individual’s capacity to prove oneself before humanity. That said, there are still naysayers and pessimistic trolls online that attempt to downplay her. A few arguments stand out for being economically unsound: Why pay athletes so much? Other important laborers, like teachers or farmers, deserve more than them! These represent an old conundrum in economics, and one we must talk about before making further assumptions.
Statements like those can be explained through the “water-diamond paradox.” Since we opened with talk of gold, we use food and gold, instead, as examples, although the principle is the same. Let us say you were offered a choice between a kilogram of healthy food or a kilogram of solid gold. Which would you select? Barring a dire situation where you might die of hunger, chances are, you would pick gold, as with most people. Why? In this scenario, gold is simply worth more in most instances.
In doing so, are we saying that gold is more valuable than food? We need food to live! True, and yet we are never put in the theoretical situation where we must choose between all the world’s food versus all the world’s gold. Given such an extreme hypothetical situation, we might say only a fool would select all the world’s gold. In reality, though, people always make decisions based on finite resources and time, and what is most important to them in the context of the moment.
This old paradox explains many things. It explains why teachers and farmers are deemed to earn less than athletes. Demigods in the making like Hidilyn Diaz offer a unique service, often at extreme personal cost, that millions of Filipinos are willing to value and pay for. Yes, teachers and farmers are vital to Philippine society, but as workers, they are far more abundant and less scarce. They are like food and water, whereas superstar athletes are like gold and diamonds.
Remember, however, that before Hidilyn Diaz became our first Olympic gold medalist, she had to ask for financial help to even stand a chance of participating. For many athletes, the story is the same: whether talented or just average, these people also need to make ends meet and get by. It is not a given that just because people are professional athletes, they would automatically be millionaires. The existence of a few well-rewarded outliers does not mean others earn as much.
It also means the reverse is true for other professions. Exceptionally productive and skilled teachers who are professors, consultants, researchers, and so on, provide valuable talents people deem useful and pay more for. These gold medalists of education thus earn a proportionate living in return for their efforts. In the case of farmers, we might wish to look at how much value we place on what they provide society. This, perhaps, is the most difficult issue that needs to be addressed.
At any rate, let Hidilyn Diaz have her win. She deserves it! While all that glitters is not gold, that does not mean we should devalue the talents of others because of a narrow view regarding the nature of their professions or calling in life. Rather, we should consider how we can, in our own ways, bring gold medals and value to our society, and learn to recognize and uplift others when they provide something special that enriches our lived experiences in return.
So, are food and water worth less than gold and diamonds? Are teachers or farmers worth less than athletes? These loaded questions, full of underlying moral value statements, are poorly nuanced. Things are seldom so severe. A better question might be: How much do we support, value, and pay for, the time and talents of our athletes, teachers, and farmers, each important in its own way?
It may be high time to reflect on what we, as a society, would like to develop and support. We can rethink what it means to truly value anything, whether we choose to see it as a rare and precious metal, a delicious dish, or, as most things are, something in-between.
Mr. Harald Eustachius A. Tomintz teaches at the Department of Economics of the Ateneo de Manila University.