Salaries like that sum up a lot about what's happening in our country. I understand that a city manager is much more important than I am, and should earn more than I do. 

But once upon a time, earning two or three times as much as someone else was a sign of status and success. Now the important people don't feel properly compensated unless they earn ten, or twenty, or a hundred times as much as I do. The upper class can't have that much unless there is also a permanent underclass.