Ethics

The life that is worth living has surpassed mere survival and rewritten the definition of success; meaning that although most people in Western civilization are not struggling for food and water in the natural sense, modern humanity is faced with the new challenge of higher-stakes living. Evolving pressures in the home and workplace give our current lives a hectic atmosphere, and during our downtime we don’t want more real-world anxiety—we want to relax, and switch our tired minds away from our problems. This means scrutinizing the lives of others, mainly the rich and famous, and relishing in their falls from grace. “Hot stuff” journalism is about distraction, not morals; and tabloid publications are the furthest thing from ethical reading as one can get.

Culture also plays a role in our fame fascination. North America has been a cultural melting pot for centuries, and many average white mutts do not have a history or background of their own. While the Chinese have their traditions and the Scandinavians have their folklore, the mixed-ancestry youth of the U.S. and Canada have adopted a celebrity culture in lieu of ancient ceremonies—shallow roots will grasp at anything to stabilize themselves, and modern man has chosen simplicity and scandal to worship. When someone reads Perez Hilton, it is not to “test their own standards of morals and principals”—it is to get dirt, plain and simple.