Monday morning musings

What are the similarities between rock and movie stars and politicians, at least the ones in the US? What is the common threat of American celebrity.

Last night, I discussed this, and several other things, with a good friend I've known since high school who has lived in Florida for many years.

Among other common threads: celebrities, and politicians, do not actually have to do anything of real consequence, but simply continue to entertain us. Depending on your personal or political inclinations, you can cast a celebrity or politician as a good guy or a bad guy. When your good guys look good, you cheer. When your bad guys do things you don't like, you boo.

There are, of course, exceptions to this, but the exceptions tend to be few and far between.

Unfortunately, although elected politicians may not do anything of consequence, they have access to (our) tax money and one degree or another of power, hence they have the potential to do us great harm. Rock and movie stars typically can only harm themselves, unless you take seriously what they say off mic and camera.

The prevalent fascination with celebrities and politicians - more the former than the latter - is fanned outrageously by the media. This is cut from the same cloth, I believe, as the old Roman "bread and circuses" strategy of the Caesars. They believed that keeping the Roman people hynotized with various public entertainments, such as gladitorial battles in the arena, and providing them free bread, would keep their minds off what was going on with the government. It worked fairly well for a number of centuries, at least from the ruling elite's point of view.

Although the Caesars used "bread and circuses" by design, today it is no longer necessary that a small cabal of venal people meet secretly to plan this out. The culture we have in place - the "memes," as Eric Drexler dubbed them twenty years ago, that circulate militate for a bread and circuses culture.

However, as freedoms are being stripped away, and the US and other large governments growing more and more to resemble the Caesarian Roman empire, the concern must be raised about what lies ahead? We do not seem, in the vast majority, to be paying much attention, and what attention there is seems focused on expanding the pattern, not changing it.

At the same time, we have an incredible opportunity in this century to change that pattern, perhaps once and for all, with a new paradigm about culture, society and governance. That paradigm is not a collectivist one - that's been tried and did not work - nor any kind of authoritarian one - that only works for a small elite. The paradigm contains a spirtual component, but not one which places responsibility outside the human being, and certainly not one which fails to recognize the dignity and sanctity of human life as a fundamental principle.

The change that must come about can only be made by individuals, and from the change in their lives, radiating out to affect their families, places of work, and all other aspects of society they touch. This squarely places responsibility on each of us. To the extent we embrace this with our minds and hearts, and work to carry it out in our lives, is the extent to which we will avoid repeating the failures of ancient Rome and the really awful, dark centuries that followed in Europe.