The Rise and Fall of The Idolized Celebrity Businessman
A high-level profile of two celebrity businessmen strattling the ideal new and old economies.
A new network of communication distribution tends to give rise to a new type of magnate. Donald Trump was the greatest and last influential personality thrust into the spotlight by the declining age of television (think old economy). He represents the man you never got to be/work for because of the state of our country and globalization.
His male compliment, Elon Musk, comes along with considerable overlap from the internet revolution (think new economy), given way in part by the death of Steve Jobs (someone in between). He represents the man you aspire to be/work for one day if it weren't for all the impediments and the snail-like pace of innovation.
Both act as metacognitive mediators seemingly allowing their audience to realize their potential. Both are in the middle of observing the decline of the platforms that led to their fame and are determined not to lose their grip. Musk has more time than Trump of course.
If Trump and Musk decide to align their stances, I fear their influence will unduly shift the scales of our democracy. Perhaps this is an insurance policy. These two people certainly have far too much influence over your mind for the good of our nation. We must search out other guiding lights and naturally drift away from the gravitational well of these figures and their oversimplified views.
Perhaps increasing the cost of money, a course we’re already on, will be enough to do the trick. Musk is not as financially solvent as you may think after all (even worse for Trump).
We would do well to avoid endorsing Musk’s governance over Twitter. This happens to be the tool by which both of these celebrities have garnered an outsized portion of their influence. Why do you think Musk is so drawn towards Twitter oversight? Does he just want to see what’s under the hood? There could always be more to the story, but we’ll have to save that for another paradigm.
What can each of us do to subtract from the influence of these two individuals? Well for one, we can avoid clicking on any content pertaining to either of them. This will let the “algorithm market keepers” know that we’re simply sick and tired. Secondly, and my posting this online is somewhat a contradiction, we simply need to spend less time on our devices. It is mid-summer at the time of this writing, so detaching ourselves for a stroll outside is quite simple. Maybe even strike up a conversation with a neighbor.
We need to take back our attention and place it on things that make us more individual. The first front backed by the old economy has come and gone. Perhaps consider actual community involvement now. This would probably be enough to do the trick. By placing the TV and computer back under the label “Tool” while getting on with your life and family, you will undo the Idolized Celebrity Business Person. You will find this a much more pleasing world.