Someone on Facebook posted a meme with a quote from Mark Walburg. It basically said that celevrities shouldn't talk politics because they live in a bubble and are out of touch with the common citizen. I saw a few things wrong with what he said, so I came up with a three-pronged attack to deconstructing this statement.
First, there is a hypocrisy, which the Right is never short on.
"What do celebrities know about life? Let's ask Mark Walburg." I'm smelling a whiff of bullshit here. When a celebrity talks about social justice, the Right dismisses it, citing they're "just a celebrity", then seek celebrity endorsements for their own views.
In another example, Fox News often asks "Why are we paying attention to what celebrities think?" Then they turn around and ask for Hank Williams Jr.'s take on things. The bullshit is strong with this one.
The Right always asks "What do celebrities know about life?" Then they turn around and elect as president of the only superpower a reality show star, who refers to his dad's million-dollar start-up as a "small loan", who married a mail-order bride, who shits in a golden toilet, who sold steaks at an appliance store, who's popped up in many movies, and who slaps his name on every one of his failed business ventures. The bullshit is so immense, it has its own gravitational pull; the day the electoral college confirmed him as president, we crossed the event horizon of bullshit; if it keeps getting worse, America will be crushed in the singularity of bullshit.
So, why should we ask celebrities their opinion? Why not? From the standpoint of anthropology, celebrities serve a purpose.
Their purpose traces back to a time in our species' tribal past. Celebrities are the modern tribe's storytellers and lorekeepers. They sing the songs that speak to the hearts of individuals and become the anthems of movements. They convey onstage mankind's greatest achievements and our worst tragedies. This has always been a vital purpose in the survival of the tribe.
Why else should we listen to celebrities? They come from every place - from bustling metropolises to backwater towns. They each have a diverse story to share. They have life experiences that overlap and form a bond, but also diversity that creates a dynamic synergy. Hollywood, for all its silly flaws and sometimes shameful excesses, is a cultural force that is not just American, but human. The arts dare to speak truth to power, which tends to be a liberal thing.
Who's really in a bubble? It's the plutocrats. Pure and simple. They created the military-industrial complex that makes the lives of troops expendable in the name of freedom, but really for oil. They created a prison-industrial complex that shuffles minorities from shitty schools to shitty modern slavery. They tell you you don't need civil representation in running the tribe, robbing us of our modern tribal elders, then turn around and install their own representatives.
And in the end, most damning, there is nothing analogous in our tribal past that equals the modern plutocrat. They serve little purpose, but in fact threaten the tribe. They are an anomaly thriving in a bubble.
All in all, what does the Right know, other than hypocrisy?
