Why Entities Like E! and MTV are Bad for Society
I don't have a problem with television per se. Its a sort of roundabout democracy that works but also bespeaks of the shallow and rather stupid majority of America. How else can garbage shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Dharma and Greg stay on the air? They are patently awful and for more reasons than I have fingers and toes.
And sure, there are shows I'm sure I watch that others would call bullshit on as well but I'm only human and the flickering images mesmerize me as well.

Anyway, why are E! and MTV so awful and really quite poisonous to society at large?

They foster a shortcut mentality. That, if you get one moment in the sun, a national spotlight, then you'll be set for life so why work hard? Why go to college for any other reason except to party like a rock star and tap a lot of ass?
The show Cribs is a prime example. I've only seen a few episodes but nearly every one is some rap star I've never heard of or another who dresses like he was hit by a fashion disaster tornado, hat turned off forty degrees, over sized shorts drooping down to show off his baggy boxers, shoes unlaced and always, always, always, the godawful stupid looking huge oversized gold chain that screams I'm-compensating-for-being-poor-my-whole-life.
And this star lives in a thirty room mansion with three pools, a hot chicks room, two indoor hot tubs, marble entryways, ten car garage with Bentley's, Escalade's, Ferrari's and Porsche's alongside maybe six or seven motorcycles or other toys of various kinds.

This guy who's got about a fifth grade education and, while being a rapper must have some effort involved, can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. And people watching the show see this and think, Hey, I can do that, fuck this homework or fuck my shitty job down at Assholes R' Us.

E! is far worse because they show true opulence. Vacations of the stars where they drop ten years of an average wage monkey's earnings in two weeks. Where they think nothing of spending a million bucks or fifteen million on a new house in the hills above Buenos Aires or Cancun or on the coast or wherever. These are people sitting on truly astounding sums of money, I heard that George Foreman was valued at $350 million the other day. Think about that for a second. That's ten thousand years of income for someone making $35,000 a year!

That embittering crap Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous show was among the worst. Its not enough that people get to live like kings and really get to do whatever they want. But now they get to gloat about it on television too? That's just rude. And it undermines the concepts of hard work, diligence and industriousness. It replaces them with the fast buck, the moment in the spotlight, that one big score that'll set someone up for life.

Its the fuel that feeds the Lottery, the single hit. Its the fuel that feeds trips to Vegas with retirement dreams in one's head. Heck, it could even be part of the reason why people drive recklessly, so that they can get hit, sue for a million or ten and be done with effort altogether. I'm sure that there are people out there right now, actively looking for ways to get hurt so they can sue someone, anyone but preferably a big company that has deep pockets and can't afford bad PR right now.

I know that everytime I see a celeb vacation show, I get jealous as hell. Who wouldn't? They're living the life that we all wish we could and now they get to flaunt it. How joyous for them, how uplifting that they get to feel themselves as the cream of the crop. But the effect of their bouyancy is to depress so many more who will never taste a $500 bottle of champagne. Who will never spend a weekend in a private villa in France or Italy. Who will never be helicoptered in to someone's ranch for the weekend. Maybe its not a conscious thing so much but it has its effect anyway. It makes the grey morning that much greyer and bleaker as you head to work again, making as much in a week as someone else earns in ten minutes. How can your self esteem not suffer?

The same thing can happen in baseball if the pay side of the business isn't kept out of the limelight. But at least in baseball you can look at someone, check his salary and say, well yeah, he's the best player in the game, he should be getting a huge paycheck. But it still galls the hell out of me to think that Alex Rodriguez is making an unbelievable $154,320.98 per game. If he hits 50 home runs this season then he'll have made a half a million dollars per long ball. Compare that to the bottom of the scale, I think the league minimum is either $250,000 or $300,000 which is still pretty excellent money for playing a game but is nowhere near the incredible money that ARod is making.

Now, personally I think baseball salaries are so far out of hand that its choking the sport. I also think the profiteering of the owners is despicable and they should be forced to return a substantial portion of their profits to the cities they live in for education and improvements.

E! and MTV are the vanguard of the bleeding of people's drive to work hard for their reward. Major league sports don't help. And sure, it is totally arguable that the stars worked their asses off to get to where they are. And I'm sure they did. But just because they can do it certainly doesn't mean that you can. It also doesn't mean that you can't but the odds are well stacked against you.

And I'm just as guilty of the train of the thought. That, hey this lottery ticket could be the end of my years of working. That, hey, if I can finish this book and get it published I'll be on easy street. That, hey, if that asshole in the FedEx truck does end up hitting me then I can sue the company and make a few million. That, hey, if this cup of coffee from McJackmeoff's spills in my lap, then I can sue them.

I try not to think that way because I wholly recognize that its poisonous to motivation. But sometimes catching just a few minutes of those shows will set me off on a tangent (no way, I never go off on tangents) into Wishland where everything you want is yours for the wishing.

But I suppose I could also try to turn it around to my favor and allow it to motivate me to work harder on my private projects. Yeah, that's the ticket. Use the shows against themselves and say, hell yeah, I will get there, I will attain the level of comfort I think I am entitled to. I will get to the point where I am effectively retired soon. I will do what I need to do to finish my career race alot earlier and retire to a life of leisure.

Which means I better dust off my book, get to writing my business plans, map out the future and get to it.
Maybe I'll do that after work though, eh?