We do have a values problem in this country. (The illustration is from a Mormon-oriented marketing outfit.)
Too many of us have short-term values.
I could go off on our leaders over this, but leaders need followers, so I'm going after you instead.
- Why can't businesses see past the current quarter?
- Why is the environment so easily dismissed?
- Why does the news care more about the idiot on the Buckhead crane than what is happening in Iraq?
- Why are religious leaders so anxious to take the state's money?
We see this on the Internet all the time. I think this new XXX TLD is a perfect example. It doesn't answer the question -- what's sexual and what should we do about it? Just build a ghetto and toss Jenna Jameson in there -- oh and Planned Parenthood too. Then what, Adolf?
Americans won't move toward IPv6 because we got a ton of addresses back in the day. Besides, NATs work fine, right?
It is so easy to outsource our software production, to let Taiwan and China make our chips, to do everything we can to discourage kids from getting into tech. Our kids want to win American Idol. India, meanwhile, has a reality show called "the search for India's smartest kid."
Which country do you think is going to win the future, hmmm?
I think Paris Hilton is a great summation of what's wrong with this country. And before her fans get on me it's not her fault. I blame the parents.
You can't be like her, can't even hope to be like her, kid. She's got money to burn. And while you'll feel lucky to pay 30 cents on the dollar from your earnings, if you make it big, she's going to pay nothing, nada. She's what the government is encouraging.
If I were Paris Hilton's dad, frankly, I'd be ashamed of her. There's a good little entrepreneurial mind in there, a clever marketer. If she went off and got her MBA she might make something of her.
But she won't. It's all live for today with little Paris. (I had to go through several pages of porn before I found a PG picture I could put here, by the way. From EW.Com.)
Well I got news for you girl. In 20 years you're going to be ugly as sin. All those lip jobs and tummy tucks do is give you deer-in-the-headlight eyes, faces that can't frown and a superficial gloss hiding the rot underneath.
You're a waste of our media's time. But you're a star. I don't blame you for any of it. I blame us.
Your stardom is what is wrong with America. Where's our smartest kid, by the way, and why are we not celebrating him or her? (No, not the winner of the National Spelling Bee -- that's a stunt.)
Until we start celebrating the poor-but-bright, and stop celebrating the rich-but-dumb, America will keep driving toward its destiny as the world's biggest trailer park.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for over 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the "Interactive Age Daily" for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, and dozens of other publications over the years.
1. Thuktun on June 2, 2005 04:14 PM writes...
Amen.
Permalink to Comment2. Brad Hutchings on June 3, 2005 03:47 AM writes...
Geez Dana, You could have titled this post "Why doesn't everyone agree with me [Dana]?" and just filled it with "Nuff said". Do you really care why the dominant culture doesn't agree with you? I bet if you took 5 seconds to think, you could figure out why nobody wants to see the Spelling Bee winner in a bikini washing a Bentley.
Permalink to Comment3. Kevin Sevcik on June 7, 2005 12:17 PM writes...
A very good point. Dean Kamen, mad scientist of Segway fame, has a similar opinion on the country's focus on sports heroes, etc. His solution is the FIRST organization. It's a nationwide non-profit with the goal of getting students interested in engineering, science, and learning in general through crazy robotics competitions. The high school competition is the FIRST Robotics Competition, often called a superbowl of smarts. This year, over 1000 teams, about 25,000 students, competed this year. Nationals were held in the Georgia dome. Since it was founded in 1994, I'd estimate it's reached atleast 100,000 students. Most of them come out rather zany and committed to turning the country around and getting even more people interesting in smarts vs. sports. So all hope isn't lost and depsite Brad's post, there are people out there that think we should care about more important things.
For more about the FIRST program, see:
Permalink to Commentwww.usfirst.org
4. Michael Murray on June 10, 2005 07:27 AM writes...
The dumbing down of America has been going on for years. People no longer read much of anything and have almost completely lost the capability for critical thought. Our blockhead in the White House pays people to read to him, rather than being an example for the youth of America to emulate.
A dumb electorate is good for the politicians. The people are easily fooled and question nothing. Our last Presidential election is proof positive of that.
The fall of ancient Rome was preceded by an era of bread and circuses. Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson's trial and reality TV are examples of our bread and circuses.
It's not about the people anymore, it's about power, and keeping it. As a result, we'll probably end up as the world's largest Third World country.
Uncle Sam will be replaced as a symbol by Dopey The Dwarf.
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