What Does This Suggest About the Current Morality Surrounding Economics in the U.S/UK

[Thalassa]

I'm a little baffled by the Mail Online suggesting that Taylor Swift is somehow uber-generous for buying her own parents a mansion that costs $2.5 million dollars. Big whoop...they're her PARENTS...not some random homeless strangers. 2.5 million isn't even that much money to an extremely wealthy person, anyway, and it certainly shouldn't be where family is concerned in my opinion.

In some cultures people are expected to take care of their parents as they age, in fact it goes without saying in most cultures.

Has our culture become so disgustingly narcissistic and selfish that it's considered GENEROUS for an extremely wealthy and famous young woman to buy her parents a nice house that she can reasonably afford?

Or is this just stupid journalism?

I think it's relevant because political attitudes in the U.S. have become so strange and our culture has become over-individualized to the point of promoting narcissism.

Taylor Swift Buys Her Own Parents A House: Big Fucking Deal

 

[Dr Mobius]

I have always wondered if the problem isn’t that this new fangled narcissistic attitude was really the problem or if it was a lot older than that. What I mean is that the Industrial Revolution drastically reduced the life span average of Europe and America and the basic layout of western society hasn’t significantly changed since then, people died long before old age, or they were rich enough to support themselves comfortably, it simply wasn’t an issue. Now of course were stuck with a system that has until now never really had to accommodate them. A situation soon to be exacerbated by the baby boomers.

Maybe the media is impressed that upon turning 21(I’m assuming that you have to be 21 to gain access to a trust fund?) she didn’t go on a self absorbed spending spree and did something useful and helpful with it instead of designer drugs?

 

[Thalassa]

No, I don't think that's it. Traditional Asian culture would have people caring for their parents in a very strict compulsory way, and far East Asians can live to be pretty damn old. Not only that, but people take care of their elderly in places like Mexico, which is a developing country, it's not even some big flashy first world nation with all kinds of excellent medical care and nutrition giving people longer lives. My math professor had lived in the U.S. for 14 years when I took his class several years ago and he STILL sent his mother money in Russia. My ENTJ friend from Russia expressed to me the same desire to be sure his parents were well taken care of, how this was on the top of his list of priorities in life.

So..um...yeah...plus you know, all those nations in Western Europe that aren't the U.K. that have better social programs and less grasping, mercenary attitudes toward money.

Yes, I do think there's a newness to it, because even in the U.S. you see traces of this devotion to taking care of each other in the South still, very much so. My family is very much like that, I watched my relatives take care of my older relatives, and my mother and uncle care for my grandfather.

It's a bunch of crap. More people live alone than they ever have before, there's more loneliness, isolation, and divorce...it's not just about parents and old people. It's a fucking cultural disease.

And the pinnacle of it seems to be anarcho-capitalism, which in my estimation nothing less than a nightmare which will take this country even further into decline. I think it would cause this country to FALL.

 

[Eckhart]

I think it is just stupid journalism in that case (does there exist nowadays even decent journalism?). That is usually the case when they talk about the celebrities though I would say, every bit of information is presented in a way which does not fit to the actual dimensions.

I don't deny that there is indeed a worrysome development (or already beyond that) in society towards selfishness, but I don't think this here counts as an ideal example where you can say that this is directly related. It seems more like a typical example for how unreasonable big the gap between rich and average / poor people is right now (and which is growing and growing). An average person might probably quickly loose the overview on the actual dimensions. Although in that article it is mentioned:

But given her hefty earning power the mansion certainly wont make a dent in her bank balance as Forbes listed her as 2011’s 7th most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45million.

I think some people are not totally aware of that fact in the first sight, they are just blinded by the unbelieveable amount of money in comparison to their own property situation. But really, in the first place I think it is just stupid journalism as you say, they just need something to write about to fill their (electric) paper.

 

[Xenon]

I think it is just stupid journalism in that case (does there exist nowadays even decent journalism?). That is usually the case when they talk about the celebrities though I would say, every bit of information is presented in a way which does not fit to the actual dimensions.

Yeah, it seems like the typical gushing over celebrities. That "most generous daughter in the world" line was silly, but the article didn't go on and on about her generosity; the theme was more like, "Look how nice it is to be Taylor or her family! Look how good they have it!" It showed endless pictures of the house, talked about her spending time on the beach and on a yacht, even had to get in a mention of her "long, lean" figure. A lot of this celebrity journalism just seems set up to inspire envy, painting pictures of perfect people with perfect lives. Yawn.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm a little baffled by the Mail Online suggesting that Taylor Swift is somehow uber-generous for buying her own parents a mansion that costs $2.5 million dollars. Big whoop...they're her PARENTS...not some random homeless strangers. 2.5 million isn't even that much money to an extremely wealthy person, anyway, and it certainly shouldn't be where family is concerned in my opinion.

In some cultures people are expected to take care of their parents as they age, in fact it goes without saying in most cultures.

Has our culture become so disgustingly narcissistic and selfish that it's considered GENEROUS for an extremely wealthy and famous young woman to buy her parents a nice house that she can reasonably afford?

Or is this just stupid journalism?

I think it's relevant because political attitudes in the U.S. have become so strange and our culture has become over-individualized to the point of promoting narcissism.

While the title might be sarcastic, in my skim of the article I didn't really notice anything obnoxious, it seemed to be all quotes and/or details of her holdings and career.

So you're complaining about what seems to be a British rag, where the public media is considered to be pretty tabloid-ish in nature, and I agree that they likely see our political views and culture as extremely narcissistic to start with. But this article didn't bother me at all.

Yeah, it seems like the typical gushing over celebrities. That "most generous daughter in the world" line was silly, but the article didn't go on and on about her generosity; the theme was more like, "Look how nice it is to be Taylor or her family! Look how good they have it!" It showed endless pictures of the house, talked about her spending time on the beach and on a yacht, even had to get in a mention of her "long, lean" figure. A lot of this celebrity journalism just seems set up to inspire envy, painting pictures of perfect people with perfect lives. Yawn.

Yeah. That was my feeling. It was a pretty tame, non-negative article.

 

[You]

Business Ethics is an oxymoron.

 

[chickpea]

i think it says that our culture likes reading about little inoffensive blonde christian girls and going aww isn't that sweet.

 

[jcloudz]

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aiieldihphpjggpihpgggmmkjgigjnpd celebrity silence app. I love it. no more hearing about jersey shore, the situation, Britney spears, and now Taylor swift. its awesome

it came automatically with charlie sheen on the list ^.^

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I was sure by the title that this would be one of Lark's threads.

Yeah, it seems like the typical gushing over celebrities. That "most generous daughter in the world" line was silly, but the article didn't go on and on about her generosity; the theme was more like, "Look how nice it is to be Taylor or her family! Look how good they have it!" It showed endless pictures of the house, talked about her spending time on the beach and on a yacht, even had to get in a mention of her "long, lean" figure. A lot of this celebrity journalism just seems set up to inspire envy, painting pictures of perfect people with perfect lives. Yawn.

Marketing, marketing, marketing.

 

[Dr Mobius]

Ah there seems to be a bit of miscommunication here, I meant the initial industrial revolution, not the industrial age that followed the act and the social implications of that. While the Far East did obviously have its own industrial revolution its sort of like western countries were beta testers and had to deal with all the impact and fallout that follows. The rest of the world had a far more refined product to deal with. Stretching my generalisations to encompass the whole world would of course like most generalisations render them inert.

No, I don't think that's it. Traditional Asian culture would have people caring for their parents in a very strict compulsory way, and far East Asians can live to be pretty damn old. Not only that, but people take care of their elderly in places like Mexico, which is a developing country, it's not even some big flashy first world nation with all kinds of excellent medical care and nutrition giving people longer lives. My math professor had lived in the U.S. for 14 years when I took his class several years ago and he STILL sent his mother money in Russia. My ENTJ friend from Russia expressed to me the same desire to be sure his parents were well taken care of, how this was on the top of his list of priorities in life.

Culturally México is the product of Spain and Aztec correct? Spain wasn’t really a part of the revolution mainly due to the inquisition destroying the merchant/banking class in Spain and setting into play a domino effect that would lead to Spain losing most of its power in the next hundred years or so, which in turn lead to the South American colonies gaining their independence.

So..um...yeah...plus you know, all those nations in Western Europe that aren't the U.K. that have better social programs and less grasping, mercenary attitudes toward money.

My comments were observations of past events and there possible implications on the society since then, not opinions on the state of either the UK or USA governments.

Yes, I do think there's a newness to it, because even in the U.S. you see traces of this devotion to taking care of each other in the South still, very much so. My family is very much like that, I watched my relatives take care of my older relatives, and my mother and uncle care for my grandfather.

Okay, but I say this as a non American, isn’t the South an agrarian based society, the very image conjures up fields of corn and cotton? Whereas the North, has the manufacturing and industry capitals in your country? I believe it was one of the reasons for your Civil War?

It's a bunch of crap. More people live alone than they ever have before, there's more loneliness, isolation, and divorce...it's not just about parents and old people. It's a fucking cultural disease.

And the pinnacle of it seems to be anarcho-capitalism, which in my estimation nothing less than a nightmare which will take this country even further into decline. I think it would cause this country to FALL.

Hmmm I think I have missed the point of this thread I sort of jumped to the points that interested me an ran with it, I apologise for the decidedly off topicness of my responses and leave you to it.

 

[FDG]

Yeah, if they don't have a house and you have an excess of money then I don't see it as such a big thing. Especially because really if I want to be purely selfish...it's a house so when they will unfortunately pass out, you might give it to your children (for example).
Still I'm not completely sure that a culture where you're *forced* to care about your elders is optimal. It depends on the economic situation. When it's improving then yes, it's optimal, because children will generally have excess resources compared to their parents. When it's worsening, it seems suboptimal, since you need to deal with lower income and supporting your parents on top of that.
Italian society is kind of like that, even though not as extreme as China, and oftentimes I see some social and family dynamics which are suboptimal. OTOH when I lived in Denmark - which is the complete opposite - I was kind of scared by how uncaring could both parents and children be towards their close relatives, it seemed as if they treated each other as complete strangers.

 

[Giggly]

I don't foresee the U.S. economy recovering any time soon so we are being encouraged by the media to take care of our ageing population, which each person is at least needed to take care of their own parents.

What else are you supposed to do with an ageing parent who can not care for themselves and neither can the government? Let them die alone on the street?

 

[amerellis]

I think it's mostly just stupid journalism, making small actions of celbrities seem like a big deal to attract readers.