Now that the primary election season has finally begun, I feel the need to say something about the political situation this year. Honestly, some of the trends I've been noticing are...disconcerting, to say the least. I fear that if these things were to continue, it could...Let's just cut to the chase: It's Donald Trump. But not for the obvious reasons.

Honestly, I don't follow politics very closely; I just work off of what I read in Time magazine or glean off of NPR and the news. To be fair, not many of my peers do so as well. One thing they are likely to follow with devotion is celebrity culture. You probably know what I'm talking about: the material covered by those loud, flashy shows after the news or on gossip sites; the lives and times of Hollywood actors, pop singers, and every single person that has ever been on television, in absurd and disturbingly close detail. I personally don't care about that stuff at all, but somebody is reading those magazines in waiting rooms and keeping up with the Kardashians.

Now to Trump. I knew about Donald Trump before this election through one thing, mainly: his reality show, "The Celebrity Apprentice." Apparently this show used to run with "normal" people, but at some point transitioned to people who had become "famous" somehow. On this show, he judged the results of the business-related challenges using the knowledge and wisdom that comes from making a fortune on top of your family fortune. If this was other people's introduction to Trump, if they heard he was running for president, this connection probably would make them think he'd be a good judge of decisions regarding how to run the country. That is probably one of the reasons Trump has such a large supporter base. (Another is that he's tapping into a sea of populist vitriol, but that's another topic entirely.)

I certainly do not support Trump (dear God, just look at his immigration policies), and fear the worst if he wins the primaries, let alone the national election. But the glorious fallout of even the idea of Trump being president overshadows a deeper paradigm shift that frightens me just as much. Remember when Kanye West said he was going to run for President in 2020? That'd be absurd, right? Well, Donald Trump's running; if a casino mogul with a reality show can run, why can't one of the most famous rap stars of all time who is married to Kim Kardashian, the epitome of reality-TV celebrity? It doesn't matter if Trump wins the presidency. Heck, it doesn't matter if even wins the Republican primary. There is now precedent that celebrities can play politics just as well, if not better than dedicated politicians. It may not be this election. It may not be the next. But now, someday, a celebrity has every chance of making it to the White House. When that happens, the media culture that our nation practically revolves around, and everything that it stands for, will become one with the national government. And then everyone will just have to watch what happens.