Living in the World
Trickle Down Decadence

The poor reflect the lack of virtue of the rich in the USA. The rich and famous can “buy” out of their problems going to expensive re-habilitation facilities or hiring high powered and priced lawyers. The poor who reflect the behavior of the rich and famous pay the price now. They become thugs, criminals, drug addicts and an assortment of miscreants that society looks down upon. Yet, the Anna Nicole’s of this world, who glamorize the very lifestyles we condemn, are fawned over in the popular culture. And, when lifestyle choices finally catch up to them, as it always does, they are looked upon as victims.
Some of the well to do privileged and celebrity class chose religion or a nostalgic tradition of the past as a nod to virtue. But, that does not cover their lack of virtue or destructive life styles they represent. The poor and downtrodden do not look at their half-measures of character…they see right through them. They go the whole way and demonstrate the ultimate out working of a virtue less life. The young gangsters in the inner city are an honest representation of what the rich and famous really are…self-centered nihilists. But, for the urban poor, this is worked out in daily violence. As the saying goes: Gunshots in the street are the sounds of people worshipping themselves.
The cultural elite use PETA, global warming, the Iraq war as platforms to espouse public positions they masquerade as their private piety. No one convinces another by what they say or believe. What has impact is how they live. Popular culture is all about what you have…cars, clothes, looks, power, money, position. The young, poor, under appreciated in our midst are impressed by possessions not positions. President Reagan argued that his supply side economics produced “trickle down prosperity”. Today, we have a similar situation. The poor see how the rich and powerful live, and they want to share in it. However, their gain of all that celebs have is by strong armed violence. It is “trickle down decadence”. And, it reflects where we are as a culture of self-centered nihilists.