She may have money

but she's still a barbarian.

Today I went to St. Ignatius Church (for reasons that will become apparent in the next post), and the sentimental music was just too much--talk about manipulating the feelings in order to create a fake religious experience. Anyway, a middle aged woman came in with her soccer-playing daughter--they're probably Newton residents. She slipped her hand inside her pants, adjusted them, her undershirt, and who knows what else twice, paying no attention to the fact that there were people standing behind her, like me. Unbelievable. I won't say anything about her religious education, except that some evidence of that can be found in the behavior of her daughter during Mass. (Who, btw, was an early teen wearing shorts in church--she probably just had soccer practice.)

The description of the new moneyed class could easily apply to American celebrities these days, especially those are famous for no reason at all, besides having a lifestyle we envy. There are plenty of examples among the 20-something crowd, and I won't name names. At least when the "elites" (those holding power and wealth) of the past took pretty young thing from "humble" origins in order to have them serve at court in whatever capacity, they took the trouble to introduce them to court etiquette. Our entertainment industry instead fosters and panders to our disordered imaginations and appetities, putting forth pretty young faces, and stoking our desire for beauty, without providing anything of substance with respect to character. With an industry churning out "entertainment" for the masses and the destruction of local culture, one should not be surprised that this is the result--after all, the purpose of the industry is to make money, not to foster an appreciation of the fine arts.

When those who state their aspiration to make a living by becoming a singer or actor, or to become a celebrity, how can one not laugh and have pity on them? In traditional village life, a singer or musician wouldn't be making a living from their talents, but instead offer it for the pleasure of the whole community when it came together to be festive or to enjoy some leisure.

Which reminds me, the Oscars are tonight.

Also, I note the loss of life smarts by the youth, who have a consumer mentality with nothing else to guide it. Just look at young people, even 20-something professionals--many will be wearing jeans with frayed edges at the bottom, not thinking that their jeans should be altered so that they don't trail on the floor and chafe. Unthinking robots.