Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve.
Interpretation
The influence of celebrities can undermine democratic principles by elevating certain individuals based on their status rather than their merit.
This quote by Maureen Dowd critiques the way celebrity culture can distort the ideal of democracy. It suggests that when wealth, beauty, and fame are prioritized over genuine capability and character, society may grant undue authority and influence to those who are more recognized for their appearance and social standing rather than their contributions or qualifications, thereby potentially compromising the values of equality and fair representation in a democratic system.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the impact of social media influencers on public opinion.
To think that only faultless people are worthwhile seems like an incredible exclusion of almost everything of deep value in the human saga. Sometimes I can't believe the narrowness that has been attributed to God in terms of what he would approve and disapprove.
Never had I understood that I command, with absolute authority, the ship of my life! I decide its mission and rules and discipline, at my word waits every tool and sail, every cannon, the strength of every soul on board. I'm master of a team of passionate skills to sail me through hell's own jaws the second I nod the direction to steer.
Living consciously is seeking to be aware of everything that bears on our interests, actions, values, purposes, and goals. It is the willingness to confront facts, pleasant or unpleasant. It is the desire to discover our mistakes and correct them . . . it is the quest to keep expanding our awareness and understanding, both of the world external to self and the world within.
Service is the rent we pay for living.
It takes no effort to love. The state has its own innate joy. Questions answer themselves if you are aware enough. Life is safe; flowing with the current of being is the simplest way to live. Resistance never really succeeds. Controlling the flow of life is impossible.
The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world.
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