At what cost?

[chasea]

I am a fan of the artfully crass. It is a highly honed skill, and can be quite effective in certain situations. But the trick is to only use this ability when it is absolutely most advantageous. Today's "news" seems to be dominated with people of note, albeit nominal importance, behaving badly and gaining great amounts of attention for it. It is, among other things, distracting. There are people in this world who really can do as they please. These are the people we should be hearing about. They are however, too smart to allow this dirty laundry to be aired. They have other, REAL things going on that are too important to them to be ruined by publicity.

We live in a society in which anyone can become "famous." Some famous people are famous for nothing else other than being famous; meaning no one can actually say what it is that they do. The word itself has almost lost all meaning. Others are known initially for their work, but their poor behavior gains more attention. Of course we care, but should we?

Sure, Britney is a bad mom. But does it occur to anyone that she hasn't had a real hit to speak of since- oh, I dunno- 'Nam? It is more lucrative for her to stay in the news by any means necessary. Notoriety, leads to publicity, which leads to endorsements. Mr. Sheen doesn't really need the money. He was, until last week, the highest paid television actor ever. And since he's been passing drug tests of late, we can chalk this one up to genuinely crazy. But what about the people around him?

We live in a world of "fake" celebrity. It can now happen to anyone. And without really thinking about it, it is coveted by almost everyone. "It can happen to you." People are so caught up in gossip, so certain that they know these people, that they have a thirst for more dirt. They actually believe they have the right to know everyones' most intimate details. In turn, people are willing to sell these secrets. A website or magazine will actually pay you for something you know about someone else. In many cases, people know this and give it up themselves, in hopes of making the money someone else would have made. You don't think Mr. Sheen is giving away all of these "exclusive" interviews for free, do you?

What about the satellites? The people who latch on to these people in hope of gaining money and notoriety for themselves? Mr. Sheen has a taste for drugs and pornstars. But with the advent of the internet, it seems that anyone can become a pornstar. So what's a real pornstar to do? Latch onto to someone, spill their dirt. If there is no dirt, make it up. Rumors pay too. It seems the public is just that hungry.

Remember the hotel incident that started this whole thing a few months ago? What if I told you that I have intimate knowledge of every room in that building, and that the bathroom doors don't lock. The story was fabricated. The girl got a little press. The guy got a little press. Everyone made money. Should the public feel cheated? No. the public wanted a story and that is what they got, even if it was fabricated. Should they feel stupid? Probably.

There is a website for the emo/scene/hardocre crowd (those descriptors aren't ironic, are they?) in which people are "leaking" nude photos of themselves. When I say "people," I don't mean celebrities. I mean normal, regular, everyday people. It is presented in a manner of "look who we just got" and the 22-25 year olds are clicking away. It has become many peoples' homepage on their computers. We just got "Billy" from the band xxxxxxxx texting nude photos of himself. Never heard of Billy or his band xxxxxxx? You have now. Sally, from "your town" just had her picture sent in. Sally is now stopped on the street, or in bars. "Hey, didn't I see you naked online?" Sally's stock is climbing. These kids, after "getting busted," turn to FaceBook and Twitter and come up with a reaction. They feign embarrassment. They pretend that people are out to get them. They say that their lives are being ruined and their families are being hurt. This of course drives even more people to the site to see what all the fuss is about. The site makes money. the "marks" gain popularity.

I've stated in my introduction thread that I will not entertain a political discussion here. So I'll leave it at this. There is real news out there. There are more important things to focus on. There is a great disparity between what we want to know and what we need to know. Not just on foreign soil; but right here at home.

I am of the opinion that the people younger than me are taking this world in a bad direction. I know that this feeling gets more common as you age, but the feeling seems to be occurring in people at a younger and younger age. I'm only 30. Is 30 the new "old and in the way?" Have I missed my window to make any real impact? Is it too late for me to do any real good? I hope not.

Kids aren't entirely to blame anyway. Housewives buy the gossip rags too. So who is responsible? We are so focused on bullshit that we are turning a blind eye to the things that really matter. Did you know it costs 2M dollars to park a jet at JFK for 7 months? Did you know it costs twice that amount to park two jets, in case you need one to occasionally fly to Egypt, Spain, or Portugal to pick up a few crates of oranges so you can have juice in the morning? Did you know these people pay for everything in cash? Did you know these people print their own money? Why is this not a matter of public record? What else is it indicative of?

So I leave you with this; not an answer, but a question. How far can this go? If something really matters will we, as a whole, perk up and pay attention. Do we have it in us to change; or to at least TCB? Or are we just dancing our way into hell?

EDIT: I'd like to request that any discussion not get politically specific. Society as a whole= okay. Politics= not okay. I know it can be hard to separate the two, but please try. Get abstract!

[Archibald]

So much for not political. What you have there is a very political statement but I, for one, am with you.

So, what's the difference between a large pizza and bike mechanic?

[chasea]

So much for not political. What you have there is a very political statement but I, for one, am with you.

I didn't name any names and I've tried to not take sides. My political views don't really matter. Paying attention is what matters. I intended this to be less of a political debate, and more of a discourse on where we, as a society, are heading. May be toeing the line. If it crosses it, I'll take it down.

So, what's the difference between a large pizza and bike mechanic?

I don't know. You pay for the pizza?

[Archibald]

I didn't name any names and I've tried to not take sides. My political views don't really matter. Paying attention is what matters. I intended this to be less of a political debate, and more of a discourse on where we, as a society, are heading. May be toeing the line. If it crosses it, I'll take it down.



I don't know. You pay for the pizza?

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

[dave1215]

The United States is falling behind in news because our television programming is pandering to the lowest common denominator:

Even our Secretary of State sees it ---> Clinton media criticism buoys Al-Jazeera - Yahoo! News

"Al-Jazeera has been a leader in changing people's minds and attitudes," Clinton told lawmakers Wednesday. "Like it or hate it, it is really effective," Clinton said. "In fact, viewership of Al-Jazeera is going up in the United States because it is real news."

"You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads and the kind of stuff that we do on our news that is not providing information to us, let alone foreigners."

[caleb]

The United States is falling behind in news because our television programming is pandering to the lowest common denominator:

Even our Secretary of State sees it ---> Clinton media criticism buoys Al-Jazeera - Yahoo! News

"Al-Jazeera has been a leader in changing people's minds and attitudes," Clinton told lawmakers Wednesday. "Like it or hate it, it is really effective," Clinton said. "In fact, viewership of Al-Jazeera is going up in the United States because it is real news."

"You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads and the kind of stuff that we do on our news that is not providing information to us, let alone foreigners."

Just a note, most of the commentary and analysis on Al Jazeera these days is written by academics based in American universities. Mark Levine and Peter Singer are two prime examples, but there are many others. I think calling it non-American is a bit of a stretch.

[robin3mj]

Kill your television.
Ride your bike, and read more books.

You can get bogged down in the mire or you can take the extra half-second and walk around it.

[caleb]

I am of the opinion that the people younger than me are taking this world in a bad direction. I know that this feeling gets more common as you age, but the feeling seems to be occurring in people at a younger and younger age. I'm only 30. Is 30 the new "old and in the way?" Have I missed my window to make any real impact? Is it too late for me to do any real good? I hope not.

I work with 18-22 year olds every day, and I'm not at all convinced that they're to blame.

The under-30 set was perhaps more than any other generation of Americans raised with materialist values: stuff equals success. They didn't choose those values; their parents taught them those values. Young people now find themselves in an environment where their possibilities for accumulating material wealth (success) are significantly curtailed by the present economic climate and perhaps will continue to be lower than their parents had because of structural economic shifts.

To put it baldly and perhaps provocatively, the baby boom generation (the parents of the under-30s) consumed until the economy broke and now they're resistant to making changes to the entitlement system that would limit the financial obligations of the younger generation, thus limiting the possibility of long term economic growth and health. Also, in response to a depressed stock market older highly paid workers have remained in the labor force, further limiting the job openings for young workers.

When I see the under-30 crowd act out in stupid ways I blame their parents. I don't blame them for raising bad kids, I blame them for putting their kids in an impossible position: it's simply not fair to tell kids they need to earn money to be successful while at exactly the same time taking actions that perpetuate the economic conditions that prevent their children from being financially successful.

If I were working some dead end meaningless job at 27 and playing in a band at night to keep myself sane only to go home every holiday and be made to feel worthless while my parents milked their seniority for all it was worth, I'd probably want to send the world a picture of my crotch too.

(That the response involves reproductive organs is not, in my mind, happenstance at all. I read it as a sign that at some level young people grasp that the relation between reproducer (parent) and reproduced (child) is presently perverse. Traditionally, parents have sacrificed for children in America. Now, the children are sacrificing for the parents. The pictures are only a symptom of that perverse inversion.)

[chasea]

I think that anyone raised just after WWII was raised in an equally materialist environment. So much so that, by the 1950s, we had the blueprint for the American dream; a house with two cars in the driveway. These same people who bought in later did all they could to protect that dream for themselves, often at all costs.

I'm not 22, but I was born in 80 and raised during that decade. My father always had two Benz's and lived near a golf course, even if he couldn't pay child support. Rather than adhere to those values (full disclosure: yes, I like nice things) I try to focus on what things I have, not who has more than me. So, seeing as I am a member of this demographic, why am I different than most? I'm not alone. There are plenty like me. But it seems so many young people are focused on the trappings of success (fame and the baggage that comes with it) that they've opted to skip the success part and go straight for the trappings.

People want celebrity so bad that they're now just living out their fantasies; but to the detriment of their real lives.

Too Tall subtitled this forum "Do you think fabulous just happens?" Yes, apparently that's how it works.

[BobbyJones]

Pot, meet Kettle.

[davids]

Nice rant, dude. I remember my growing disillusionment with pop culture when I was around your age.

There are always those who think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I tend to be more sanguine and think that the ratio of bullshit to quality has been relatively consistent since humans first got themselves sufficiently organized to domesticate the flora and fauna.

Some care about others, some care only about themselves. Like the old man said, "There's nothing new under the sun". Except, of course, Columbus aluminum tubing shapes.

[GrantM]

I tend to be more sanguine and think that the ratio of bullshit to quality has been relatively consistent since humans first got themselves sufficiently organized to domesticate the flora and fauna.

I think you make the important distinction - some get it, some don't. But while some things change, and some things stay the same, time moves on.
We have our time here, until it's time to go, and some people embrace that fact, others are afraid of it, perhaps conduct themselves as if this fact we not so.
How much time have we got? Do we need to make every day "count" or it there time for some fooling around?

-g

[bking]

"I think that anyone raised just after WWII was raised in an equally materialist environment"--quote

I disagree. That was perhaps the last generation that got the concept of sacrifice, even if it wasnt' part of their daily agenda.

Adams once penned, and i paraphrase: I am a soldier, so that my son may be an engineer (didn't make that though, did he?), so that his son may be an artist.
During the depression there was a march on Washington. What did they want, food stamps, extended unemployment benefits, free healthcare? Hardly, they brought shovels, and demanded a job.
We are today cut from a different cloth...it ain't blue jean. And, sacrifice is out of our lexicon.
Blame it on the parents? Sure. Blame it on the kids? You bet.

[Disturbed]

Rarely have I seen someone younger doing something that wasn't influenced by someone older.

IMO things aren't going to get "better".

[chasea]

More celebrity for celebrity's sake from the 80s.

V MAGAZINE / ANGEL IN AMERICA