We Are All in This Together! NOT! From Madonna to Gadot: Coronavirus Exposes the Ugly Truth About The Rich and Famous
Society and Culture Blog, Kodoom.com Editorial:
We are all in this together! This is the "feel good" message repeated by politicians, movie, music and sports stars, billionaires and millionaires alike. Pop music star Madonna decided to show her humanity from a bathtub full of rose petals. Covid-19 “doesn’t care about how rich you are” she informed us. “It’s the great equaliser.”
Yet an image of the homeless in Las Vegas forced to sleep apart in city's parking lots (with 150,000 vacant hotel rooms in the city), contrasted with the rich and famous' self quarantines in mansions, yachts, mountain and ocean side resorts (as seen in video by Gal Gadot and others below) reminds us "talk is cheap!" Nothing is changed by the virus and as before, money and fame buy access, resources and safety.
The Governor of New York, the state that houses world's largest and wealthiest stock exchange, thanks medical staff and volunteers on a daily basis because of their sacrifices in the "war against viruses!" The rich and famous cannot stop thanking doctors, nurses and medical volunteers either. Yet many nurses infected with coronavirus are now using their own time off from work to be in isolation because obviously unlike the rich and famous they do not have resources or lobbyists working on their behalf. Unlike the wealthy and famous, families of these nurses cannot get test kits or personal protection equipment to protect themselves. One wonders if after this "war against viruses" would these nurses on the front line, or their families if they die, are handed keys to the oceanside resorts by the same profusely thankful rich and famous they saved?
Elsewhere, in California, the rich and famous hub of the world, a teenager died last week of coronavirus because he was turned away from urgent care due to lack of insurance. Other Americans infected with the virus need to cough up $35000 for medical bills if uninsured, because unlike Insurance companies the uninsured have no lobbyists working for them. State-level census data show that in states like Florida and California, where the spread of contagion has been severe, the number of residents aged 19 to 54 who are uninsured number around 2.7 million and 2.8 million respectively.
It is time for ordinary people to get a clue and stop worshipping fame and fortune. A timely article by Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian points out to the hypocritical celebrity culture in capitalism:
Gal Gadot was the first victim of the great celebrity backlash of 2020. “We’re all in this together,” the Wonder Woman star assured us in a video on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, before launching into a star-studded rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine. Can you imagine how little self-awareness you must have to enlist a bunch of multimillionaires to sing about a world with “no possessions” while huge numbers of people are losing their jobs?
... Then there is the billionaire David Geffen, who deleted Instagram after the incensed reaction to him posting pictures of his $590m (£480m) superyacht, on which he is self-isolating, with the caption “hope everyone is staying safe”. Faring slightly better on the social media front is Ivanka Trump, who has not yet sequestered herself on a superyacht. Instead she is selflessly educating the great unwashed by posting a video of her kids cleaning their hands with $39 Aesop soap. A real woman of the people.
Now it seems that Pharrell Williams has become the latest celebrity who is stuck inside but can’t read the room. Last week, the musician called on his Twitter followers to donate to hospitals. A representative reply: “You’re worth over $150 million, donate your own money.” Williams later clarified that he had already donated; nevertheless, it feels as if an awful lot of celebrities are more keen on soliciting money from us plebs than reaching into their own purses. The chef and TV star Bobby Flay, for example, who is said to be worth about $30 million, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help him pay his restaurant employees. That is capitalism for you: eventually you have to rely on other people’s money.
Celebrities being clueless is nothing new, but it feels as if there has never been such anger levelled at the jet set. Far from being a “great equaliser”, coronavirus has made inequality impossible to ignore. That is not just wealth inequality, but inequality of access to healthcare. A new famous person seems to test positive for coronavirus every day while exhibiting mild symptoms at best. Meanwhile, our friends and family can be coughing up their lungs and still not get access to a test or a hospital bed.
Celebrity culture and capitalism are inextricably entwined. Both elevate the individual over the collective good. They rely on the lie of “meritocracy”: work hard and you can achieve whatever you want. But it has become uncomfortably clear how little we value our hardest workers – the healthcare professionals, supermarket staff, bus drivers and delivery drivers who are keeping the world running while the rich run to their second homes. And it has never been so clear how little the people who earn the most contribute to society. “We’re all in this together,” the rich and famous keep telling us. Sorry, but it is obvious that we are not!
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