No, this quotation is not from one of my many groupies fanning me with accolades, it is from an article in today’s Washington Post…It’s time for my bi-weekly reaction to The Washington Post! (I love this newspaper, by the way, because it is so opposite of me!) Today’s article comes at us from the Style section. It is a thoroughly ridiculous article about a thoroughly ridiculous person, Fabian Basabe.
Fabian who? EXACTLY! But apparently he is much more googleable than me, which explains why I never heard of him…apparently he is “a thoroughly polished 27-year-old known in gossip columns and New York’s upper-tier social scrum as Manhattan’s It’ boy” and he’s a “a smiling and faddishly coiffed perennial on Manhattan’s good-life circuit, popping up at one charity event after another, high-fiving doormen in the city’s exclusive nightspots, hanging out with a pack of young trust-funders and Wall Street millionaires”, which explains another reason why I never heard of him!
So why is this young stud so popular and sought after by charities, clubs, shows, and parties? Why is he so popular? Because: 1) he is rich, or rather the son of a Papa who “fully bankroles his life”; 2) he’s “good looking” (not my observation, just quoting the darn article!); 3) he has status, and he wants his R-E-S-P-E-C-T because he’s the son of an Ecuadorian mogul; 4) hmm, not much else!
I really hate the American culture, sometimes! Admitingly, this disgust is very novus for me; I used to be very image-conscious and materialistic, and only recently have begun a journey to contentment in simplicity. What amazes me is that this person is hovered over like the night-life that’s attracted to a lone porch light bulb, simply because he has money, good looks, the status of a rich fathers son, is likable, and knows how to party-hardy! Umm, OK, well whoopee! As the Post article says, “Basabe is trying to turn himself into a one-man brand using nothing more than his looks, status and likability.” And upper-tier New Yorkians and social establishments are buying this “brand” up faster than Tickle-Me-Elmo in the 90’s! Let’s break this down here: his popularity, fame, paycheck, and “career” are the result of his looks, status, and likability. Apparently, he’s the next “Paris Hilton, but the male version and with his clothes on.” What an accomplishment, Fabian!
I suppose I am being a bit rude to Mr. Basabe, and the point of this post isn’t to rip him up and down, but rather to use this example as being indicative of a broader pandemic of Amerisumerism. This microcosmic abomination is reflective of similar culture-wide phenomenons: J. Lo, Paris Hilton, Ashlee Simpson, 50 Cent, Nelly, Ashton Kutcher, etc…Why do we (yes, you and I and the rest of America) raise such people up as worthy of our attention? Why do we flock to these people? Why do we want to mirror them? Why do we want to buy their brand? What have they done to merit such attention, flocking, mirroring, and buying? They’ve sung songs, played themselves on TV, made-out with hamburgers while practically nude, made their bling, pimped their rides, and bought big expensive houses. There’s your answer, let’s pray for an alternative!
Father, restore this culture
to the way you intended it to be;
restore our giving habits
our tasting habits
our seeing habits
our hearing habits
our smelling habits
our spending habits
our enjoying habits
our flocking habits
our following habitsHelp us dwell in contentment,
feeding off of Bread and Water alone,
a contentment with your Way:
the Way to giving Life
the Way to tasting Life
the Way to seeing Life
the Way to hearing Life
the Way to smelling Life
the Way to spending Life
the Way to enjoy Life
the Way of Life to flock
and follow Amen.
be His,
