Thursday, October 21, 2010

Why Reality Shows Suck

Honestly, I can't fully document all of the reasons why reality shows suck, so I'll stick to just one.

The producers of reality shows profit from human misery and humiliation. 

Yeah, you can argue that the misery and humiliation are the participants' own fault for seeking their 15 seconds of fame (sorry, but that's inflation), but that doesn't wash with me.  The system has been tilted to encourage fools to be fools (and sociopaths to be sociopaths), so I can't blame them for embracing their natural roles.  Leaders, on the other hand, are supposed to lead, which means caring for your followers and helping them to avoid harming themselves and your mutual endeavor.

Leaders exist to serve their followers, not the other way around.  At least that is how I played the game when I was a leader.

Unfortunately, we live in a world shaped by neoliberal ideology where the elite believe it is their duty to exploit the masses instead of serving them.  Perhaps it was always this way.  I don't know.  All I know is that there is right, and there is wrong, and it is wrong to take advantage of people who aren't equipped, for whatever reason, to compete with you.  Dial it down several notches and appreciate the beauty of real people, most of whom live paycheck to paycheck.  Your false wealth is built on the backs of these people, who can just as easily take it away.

Reaping what you sow can be a bitch.