There is a specter haunting America, the specter of Socialism. All the pundits seem to be able to talk about of late, besides the low rent circus that is our government, is how the youth of the country have become trapped in the grip of that most nefarious of ideologies, Socialism. Every day in articles, columns, and on TV screens across the country, commentators, analysts and the like go on and on speculating about what is driving the youth of this country to the Red Menace. Some says it's the sluggish economy and poor job prospects for young people, others say it's the crushing burdens of student debt and expensive housing, and still others say it's because they never grew up under the fearsome shadow of the Soviet Union. I believe that all of these reasons are just elaborate ways of saying that those pundits have no clue why the left is on the rise. However, I believe the reason is an exceedingly simple one, reality TV.
How reality TV manages to accomplish such a huge task is by undermining the basic logic of capitalism. Capitalism has numerous component ideological parts that maintain it and allow it to function as an idea, but one of its most critical, the one that allows even the poorest person to defend it, is that capitalism rewards merit; if you have the talent or skill, then you get the reward. Socialists and other critics of capitalism have long attacked this piece of thinking pointing out all the ways in which the rich act in irresponsible and downright stupid ways through cartoons, tabloids, and even films. But all these mediums lacked the intimacy and continuity that television can provide, and once some TV executive figured out that people would love to tune in and watch the lives of the rich and powerful, the stage was set.
A person can only watch a bunch of rich bored housewives fight and complain about their lives while having access to almost every luxury imaginable before they see the bourgeoisie as a parasite upon the labor of the worker. Someone can only wonder at what talent or skill the Kardashians possess that gives them license to their wealth before they become devotees of "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need." And it goes without saying that the average person can only watch so many child beauty pageants before they see the necessity of violent revolution to smash the capitalist classes and seize the means of production. Ok, this last one might be somewhat of an exaggeration.
Its frankly is just as Marx predicted, the capitalist classes would create the tools of their downfall. Granted he thought that the tools would be the creation of a class conscious proletariat rather than a form of mass media entertainment specializing in highly scripted interactions between egotistical players to produce maximum drama, but hey who cares about little things like that.
And now when the socialist revolution blankets the earth we will know who to properly thank for leading the way, it wasn't intellectual giants or courageous activists or even visionary artists, but humbler figures like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and the many Real Housewives of this nation. We thank you for showing us the evil ways of capitalism and guiding us into a better and brighter future.
