Celebrity-Culture Pandemic
Posted By Randy Jones on May 5, 2009
I’m sick of celebrity fever, especially as it seems to have infected the so-called legacy news outlets today. A quick survey of the morning news shows—and these days the evening news is almost as bad—makes it clear that celebrities are the news. This is why the near death of quality newspapers is such a travesty. In television news, it seems that the old journalistic truism “If it bleeds, it leads” has been supplanted by “Give the people what they want,” which, if what often runs as news is any indication, is underage starlets and their wardrobe malfunctions. Don’t get me wrong—I love movies, I happily flip through magazines like People and Us Weekly on occasion, and I’m addicted to Dancing with the Stars. But I’m beginning to think this obsessive coverage of celebrities and their misadventures is crowding out the real news that Hollywood was meant to provide an occasional entertaining escape from. We have totally lost sight of who and what really make this country the best place on earth to live and to pursue the American dream.
First, let’s be clear about who is not the bedrock of the American way of life: It isn’t Brangelina. Yes, American creativity, or at least our popular culture, is a powerful force in the global economy. Movies are a great U.S. export, as are some of our TV shows; but Hollywood didn’t build America. Neither did Wall Street. In its most basic form, the Street is just a bunch of well dressed, nicely pressed salespeople—selling the stuff that other people make and taking a commission for doing so—only they’re paper pushers instead of pushcart vendors, with little real regulation. That’s not to say that many Wall Streeters don’t provide value—they finance and sell companies, merge them when it makes sense, take them public when the markets allow. But they don’t make stuff; they aren’t manufacturers; they aren’t building companies and adding real value to our capitalist society.
No, the real creative force in America is the entrepreneurs who live and die by the companies they build and run. They, not the Fortune 500, are the ones who employ over 90 percent of Americans. During this economic crisis, hundreds of small and medium-size businesses were forced to file for bankruptcy protection, but the government didn’t bail them out—not one. And the broadcast media didn’t cover the plight of these business owners; they’re not famous.
And here’s a news flash: Many of these entrepreneurs have grown really tired of hearing the “too big to fail” rationale from Wall Street and Washington, which has handed out billions to far more irresponsible businesses. Nevertheless, the vast majority of privately held companies have buckled down, controlled their spending, and begun taking innovative measures to reinvigorate their companies. They have accepted responsibility for their futures. These are the stalwarts who build America. They may not be famous; they are definitely not celebrities; but they are the responsible self-made rich. Long may they reign, even if not in the shallow world of broadcast media.
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