The Wealthy, The Famous, The…
Privilege unavailable to most
Unlike all other species, humans have a particularly unique aspect of hierarchy. Whereas other animals have various repetitive behaviors to ensure status and reproduction for continuous survival, humans have an additional hierarchical level that emphasizes status. Being wealthy, famous, popular and/or revered creates hierarchies that represent privilege unavailable to most. This state of affairs is widely accepted.
But all things eventually come to an end. Even the privileged can’t avoid this. We all know about the end of life, although how we react to this reality varies considerably. Despite all of the varied beliefs about going to heaven, there isn’t a scintilla of viable evidence that dying can be avoided. No amount of fame or wealth will change this reality. The space between birth and death is a complex array of realities that will eventually end.
One aspect of this reality is how many who are famous grow older and quietly “disappear.” If we remember any of them, it’s mostly from the past. Regardless of what they were famous for and/or what we remember them for, we will inevitably find ourselves contemplating our own age, health and realities in life. Fame and fortune represent importance in modern life because technology drives most of our sociological lives. Entertainment — and all those involved in it — runs on what is new, whereas age is what was.
One of the most interesting — to me — aspects of this is how fame is tied to time. Many of the wealthy and famous from other eras can continue to matter as long as they still have fans — be it film or music. But fans also age, and only those still willing to attend cinemas or concert venues will help sustain their favorite now-aging actors and musicians. Those players/actors who retire can be replaced by “younger” players/actors, but this means remaining fans will have to accept players/actors who are from younger generations.
Keep in mind that every generation on modern earth is going to experience these changes. The “new” will come and then go, replaced by a newer “new” for a following generation. Wealth and fame will carry on, but will always remain less than ten to fifteen percent of the population. For myself and many others, music has always ranked far above cinema — probably because music is so portable and the last four decades of the twentieth century created a vast amount of readily available music.
When I started writing this piece, I contemplated a third category: wealthy, famous and… As the weeks have gone by I have been unable to think of a rational third one. This, mind you, is after more than 480 posts over more than a dozen years. I hesitate to even write about this unexpected dilemma. Wealth and fame, while legitimate categories, don’t seem to be the most worthy among a complex array of human achievements and accomplishments.
And then, as occasionally happens, I realized the problem wasn’t a problem at all but an opportunity. I suggest those readers who feel motivated create their own categories for any or even all of those noted in the opening title. This process is not unusual for writers, who find themselves rethinking this and that. Revising, in general, can result in meaningful improvements — or perhaps not.
