According to a recent article by Mitch Albom - (click here to read) the “Kardashians prove that the world is upside down.” The gist of his article is that today, in the American “New New Economy,” we specialize in getting people’s attention. The people that prosper the most are the ones that are shouting (tweeting, using Facebook, blogging, etc.) the loudest. I don’t understand the fascination with the Kardashians — why would I want to make them rich by following them or caring about anything that they do? But their attention getting technique has garnered them over 6 million Twitter fans. There are reality shows on TLC, MTV, and many other of your favorite three-letter TV networks. Today on NBC they were showing teenage girls fighting each other quite brutally. This is today’s entertainment. It is empty and there is collateral damage from it, such as the girl who was badly hurt in the fight. Or the teenager who has enemies in school, who have created a Facebook hate page that says the most demeaning things about him.
It’s all about the information. Find it now, find it fast, and it had better be entertaining. If it takes a little work to find it, the info is not worth finding. But all of this information and pointless entertainment is just cluttering up the Internet, the airwaves, and the smart phones of all the people using it. And only a select few are getting rich or making a living off it.
In Mitch Albom’s article, he mentions that the real “products” sold here are now being made mostly in Third World nations, and that the American specialty is “audience.” That sure seems to be more and more so every year. The world has changed so much in the past 10 years that I can’t imagine what it will be like 20 years from now. We aren’t manufacturing most things that are purchased by Americans today. Not everybody can hope to get a job sitting in front of a computer screen (or in the future, squinting at their small smart phone screen.) Not everyone wants to be part of the “New New Economy” that Mitch Albom writes about. In fact, there are many who would love to just go to work, make something of value, receive a paycheck for it, and live a simple life.
I hope that America wakes up soon, turns off the reality shows, quits squinting at the smart phones, and realizes that unless we start producing something of real value (not just mindless entertainment,) our way of life will go away forever. And the only way to build America back up to a solid producing nation is to take back our industries and build products here, producing income for Americans.
I fear for the future too. Maybe someday the next generation will wake up and see that a change in society is desperately needed. Even now young people have "No phone for 24 hours" challenges and camps where phones aren't allowed. Many young people who try these things out find it's not so bad being without a phone, or what used to be normal reality until after I graduated from high school.
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