a modern monarchy
‘Solberg sees both Marian devotion and popstar fandom as forms of goddess worship. “Beyoncé to me is the most Virgin Mary-like one, where everyone acknowledges, like, she is truly flawless.” Medieval people talked about Mary, Solberg said, in a similar way, describing her as “immaculate.” The sense, according to Solberg, is that “she is perfect, but I’m not jealous and I’m not mad, I just love it.”’
Politicians, monarchs, authors, and athletes were also celebrities. For decades, boxing was a huge sport and there were people who could name all the boxers but not the current president.
Jonny Ruzzo • The Long and Strange History of Celebrity
Understanding Social Hierarchies: The Neural and Psychological Foundations of Status Perception
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov authorspmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
No, the Rich Don’t Deserve Their Wealth
jacobin.com
Our Second Gilded Age Goes Supernova
robertsdavidn.substack.com
The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
amazon.com
If you want to hold people’s attention now, you have to understand how easily distracted people are and accommodate that.