Well, let's see, I haven't nearly as many homemade sex videos as Hilton has- come to think of it, I haven't made any. So, no, I'm NOT Paris Hilton...and y'all have no idea how grateful I am for that fact. It's hard enough being me. Apparently, though, while we weren't paying attention we became a very intensely acquisitive society. Damn the bad luck...
just as the season of peak acquisitive madness grips the nation, we're being treated to a glut of TV programs about some of America's most revoltingly excessive consumers, our hyperwealthy kids. Rich Girls (MTV) follows a couple of heiresses who embark on buying orgies with the immortal cry "Let's do some damage." In Born Rich (HBO), we meet 21-year-olds who know they need never work a day in their life, and we learn of the wrenching conflicts they face, such as what one girl might have done with the $800 that she dropped in a bar the other night ("I could have bought a dress!"). The Simple Life (Fox) places Paris Hilton (hotel money) and Nicole Richie (daughter of former pop star Lionel Richie) in a tiny Arkansas town so that we can marvel at their cluelessness about real life; Richie, for example, had never pumped gas "because my guard usually does that."
What's your reaction? Laughing? Loathing? Fine—but be careful. Because the truth is, if average Americans of even 30 to 40 years ago could see us today, they'd think we were all spoiled just as rotten as any young Trump, Newhouse, or Bloomberg.
You know it's true. How many televisions do you have? Do you even know? How many channels do you get? Do your kids refuse to watch black-and-white programs? No one had a VCR in 1970. Now 240 million of us do, but VCRs are history now that Wal-Mart is selling DVD players for $29.
If anyone had told you in 1980 that today you'd use a cellphone the size of a cigarette pack to call someone else's cellphone in Sao Paulo—and would complain about the connection—would you have believed him?
And still we want more. Hey, I'm as bad as anyone else. I've had six cell phones over the past five years. No sooner do I get a new one than I fall out of love with it and I'm looking for my next conquest- never mind the fact that the one I have is perfectly serviceable. Smaller, sexier, more bells and whistles...how much is enough? Is it EVER enough?
The consumer culture has achieved total victory. We spend more and save less than ever before. We are richer, fatter, and more obsessed by consumption than any people have ever been.
So let's enjoy gawking at the rich kids on television. It really is fun. But let's also confront the new reality: With precious few exceptions (and home videos aside), we are all Paris Hilton.
We're an acquisitive, restless, ever looking for the Next Big Thing kind of society. I'm not going to debate the relative merits of this national quality, but it does make me wonder. What IF we were less conscious of satiating our own desires and more conscious of the needs of the around us? What IF we spent as much time, effort, and money on making our world a better place as we do on buying pet toys? What IF we were less self-absorbed and more community-oriented? Would the world be a better place? Perhaps. Our economy would sure as hell be one terrific mess, though.
