Botond173
27d ago
Such incidents are bound to happen in any country where the police force as well has been indoctrinated for decades with the idea that white racism is the worst evil to ever exist in the universe.
Botond173
27d ago
Chris envied adult rock stars, as it was made clear in one segment of Rock School I saw on YT, and wanted to become one of them. Obviously neither Simmons nor the producers, nor anyone in his social circle was enough of an asshole to point out to him that, as far as I know, not one rock icon started out at age 15 as a reality TV contestant, and in general they never start out as kids, so it was not like his chosen path offered real chances of making his dream true. It also seems obvious to me that both Simmons and the producers were more or less aware that he had no real staying power because there was no originality to whatever talents he had (I suppose). The novelty aspect of it all was bound to peter out eventually, and he was going to fade away. I doubt anyone explained all this to him.
It was also clear as day by this time that fame can be a heavy burden that not all people are mentally equipped to handle. If you’re convinced that fame is what you want and you end up getting it, you also lose what you had i.e. an ordinary life, which will not seem like a loss at first, but you’ll likely end up feeling lost later. Your entire social circle, everything and everyone you’ve known, will dissolve, and you’ll no longer know whom to trust. And if you also lose the limelight in the end because the audience becomes bored with you, you end up with nothing, staring into an empty abyss. Again, probably none of this was explained to Chris.
Botond173
27d ago
Are you convinced that the US used to have such a culture in the past indeed? In a nation that rejects the idea of nobility?
Botond173
27d ago
The ruling class in modern society has no Noblese Oblige because they are extremely mercenary.
I’d argue the real reason they lack it is their belief that they climbed up to their current status due to their own abilities and not class privilege, as opposed to the aristocracy of bygone monarchical systems whose status was ‘unearned’. Stemming from this belief is their notion that any average citizen can become one of the ruling class through ambition, hard work, merit etc. They don’t believe they have obligations to common folk because they don’t believe they are fundamentally different from them.
Botond173
27d ago
I’d take this post as an opportunity to bring up the suicide victim and late British celeb Lil’ Chris, although strictly speaking he was not a child actor but a reality TV star, someone I never heard of until coming across his story in one of those ‘ list of people who could not get over it that their 15 minutes of fame was over’ Youtube compilations. I think it was kind of a shitty move on the part of Gene Simmons and the TV producers involved to take a teenage boy from an English prole family with obvious unresolved psychological tendencies of attention-seeking and other mental health issues, sell him the fake fantasy that he’ll become some huge rock star and then throw him on the scrap heap when no more money could be milked from him.
Botond173
28d ago
Before tattoos have become completely commercialized and gentrified (so to speak), i.e. not a staple of white trash status anymore, there was a time when tattoos were only worn by prostitutes, soldiers, sailors and criminals (the latter group obviously also having included some former soldiers and sailors). Platner's tattoos are pretty much just a throwback to those days.
Botond173
28d ago
I recall reading that the 2016 election was rather close in New Hampshire and Vermont(?).
Botond173
28d ago
'noblesse oblige' only worked in societies which adhered to the concept of 'noblesse'. Modern society, on the other hand, does not believe that the ruling class assumed its status through hereditary privilege, consequently it does not believe either that the ruling class is obligated to anything by its status.
Botond173
28d ago
Trump is a weird exception in a lot of ways, but he’s also done unusually poorly in New England
In which election?
Botond173
28d ago
I wonder if part of the dislike is that he has the wrong sort of tattoos; too much 'white trash' and not enough 'progressive rainbow hair septum piercing sleeve art' style.
You're not telling me that there's anyone out there sincerely accusing a soldier of this, are you?
Botond173
29d ago
I see. I'm also guessing that Gingrich was concerned about the DC cocktail party circuit influencing the Congressmen's children and wives. Then again, maybe he wasn't thinking that ahead.
I think the main reason is the same reason why the US Christian Right is averse to Rod Dreher's concept of the Benedict Option, namely that they've been generally convinced for a long time that they are the mainstream, or at least part of it, and thus it naturally follows that legislation and law enforcement will serve their interests.
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