American Society is Becoming Defined By the Average

If you watch society closely you can see a cancer growing. As the years go on more and more public figures are getting taken through the mud. Now people are actively searching for figures to dismantle. On one hand, people don’t want to have their trust taken advantage of so it is best to know whom they’re dealing with. However, The more likely option is that the greatness of public figures hurts our egos because they have achieved what we have not or cannot. Their discipline and commitment to a goal puts us to shame. So when they have trouble in their lives we take that instance to destroy them so the average individual can feel better about their own lack of discipline and commitment to a goal.

You can always tell what is really important to a person by where they spend their money. It is the same for society. As a society boatloads of money are going to news outlets having an exclusive that brings massive shame to a person. So we can assume it is massively important that these people get taken through the mud. As detailed above there are two possible options for why we want this so much. The second one is much more likely. We revel in seeing a person dragged through the mud because it means that they must not have been that great in the first place. We like to see people brought back down to our level. However, this is a toxic belief for many reasons.

First, and most importantly, it encourages apathy. This apathy will create generations who no longer want to produce above the mean production. Under the mental framework society is working towards overproduction means ostricization. If a person can produce in the 95^th percentile they are now in a place where they could become vilified. After all, we have seen it happen to countless other individuals. How long will it take for people to pair success with public shaming? Pavlov would probably say, not long. This quest for apathy, and to produce at the mean will devolve society further. If nobody wants to produce at a higher level who will lead us into a bright future? Only those who love to lead and produce so much that the public shaming does not cause them more pain than the pleasure they derive from their work. Those individuals are exceedingly rare and even those individuals will disappear. They will find somewhere they are valued. The people left will be those who are too scared to work above the mean even though the apathy will send them to their doom. You eat what you kill and if a society doesn’t solve it’s problems in a timely and quick manner nobody in that society will eat. The departing of the driven will leave society in a squabbling heap, which can only produce again after it has been turned to ashes and those who can produce rise up.

(reasons 2 and 3 are forthcoming)