We are at the point in this country where people grow up wanting to be famous as opposed to wanting to be something. Fame itself has become a talisman that people laud. I am shocked to live in a world where Kim Kardashian appears in a split screen photo with Kate Middleton. I am even more shocked to recognize that there is a since of royal parity there. In Great Britain they turn to those of royal blood as exemplars of what we are supposed to want to be or at least follow. I suppose a core difference is that we can simultaneously praise and dismiss the Kardashians, which is the American way, while such a thing seems very un-British to do towards the royal family.
When did fame itself become the driving factor for so many Americans? Was it the rise of reality TV and shows like Minute to Win It that require no useful skillset in order to be successful, or was it earlier in the days of the western gold rush and the get rich quick schemes? At some point a switch flipped and our social consciousness was locked into the upper class mode. Suddenly we decided that there were jobs we were too good for and relegated that work to a ‘lower class’ of people. We filled our need for recognition with stuff and in that stuff we found meaning and purpose and value. We needed to know what stuff to buy, so we turned to the TV and those on it as exemplars of what to buy, wear, eat, do, even think.
We used to turn to books. I miss those times.
Some Thoughts:
1. When things aren’t right at work it sticks in your mind like gum under a desk. It feels worse when you can’t do anything about it.