Celebrity culture is a cancer to the living soul. Not a day passes when we are not drenched in the lifestyles of the priveleged celebrity--where they vacation, what car(s) they drive, their palatial mansion(s), their position on Forbes Wealthiest or their latest multi-million scheme. The Celebrity has become a Demi-God. When they cry, we cry. When they die, we mourn. With some thought, one should question the utter bullshit of it all. .
Millions of dollars are spent on studying & altering human behavior towards controllable & profitable ends for a select few at the expense of the bamboozled many. From as early as the 1920s, it was evident that perceptions & opinions could be manipulated by using the subconscious.Hence, we have today the socially-engineered herd behaviour of 'preferring' certain brands, ideologies or the lastest flavor of the month (Lady Gaga, Vans clothing line, Kindle 3G eReader, etc). We blindly think that the choices are ours to make without recognizing the deeper forces at play.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, income inequality is at record levels, the poor citizens of this Earth getting poorer, sicker & more exploited every day and the ecosystem is under severe disress with the now prevailing opinion that we have reached an irreversible point putting us all in jeopardy. One can surmise that the powerful commercial interests (& the politicians they buy) are hell-bent on keeping us close-minded, depoliticized and indifferent to the chaos.It's good for business.
This is where the antics of the slavish artist comes in. Where the downfall of a politician or businessman grabs the spotlight. Where the latest curvacious model or entertainer steals the show. Where the latest infidelity of the deified entertainer/athlete/businessman takes center stage...and so it goes....This constant flow of decontextualized fluff filling the air and rendering us mute & defanged (well, that is the aim). Those who control the media know exactly what they are doing.
Governments notoriously misappropiate & squander money as the politicians have to pay off the rich donors who sponsored them in the first place, so nothing short of taking it to the streets will ever change this unsavory paradigm. It's funny how money becomes available for some bank bailout or how the US government can spend more than half a trillion dollars on military expenditures annually, but will get bent out of shape to invest more for education, environmental management/sustainability or unemployment benefits. What a racket! It's the biggest con in the world! The world can be teetering on the brink of destruction but the profiteers will still draw your blood.
This is why I find this celebrity culture so loathesome & dangerous--we are entertaining ourselves to death as Neil Postman wisely observed. Our minds have been hijacked & led away from what is real & vital . We have been primed to buy the latest gadget, fashion or vehicle while Rome burns. Jay-Z can make Forbes list & buy Beyonce an exclusive island for $20 million yet the folks in his hometown of Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York) suffer from the highest poverty rates, high school drop-outs, hunger & homicides in the region.That $20 million sure could have done a lot of good in Bedford-Stuyvesant instead of it being wasted on some over-rated diva. This is part of the the danger that besieges us.....
Be Guided.
:::MixMaster E::::
