Dear Editor:
Bette Midler, Academy Award Nominee, whose talent has spanned two generations, gave an evaluation of the current state of entertainment by stating that “Now the talent element is mostly gone and the fame element has taken over. We are in a very bleak time”.
This assessment is true in many areas of life as we watch sports figures greedily demanding astronomical salaries while the avaricious owners raise prices which make it impossible for the average fan to buy a seat and the Wall Street profiteers enjoying their huge salaries with bonus after having been rescued by the taxpayers. Congress continues to employ subterfuge as the country slowly sinks and the corporations, under the guise of progress, persist in manufacturing products which do little but amuse a gullible segment of the public. In addition, conventional medicine and nutritional groups seem unable to combine their efforts for the good of the patient while steadfastly criticizing each other.
As obnoxious as this situation is, the real villain of this scenario is the average citizen who enjoys the greatest weapon of all, the pocketbook, the wallet, the purse. We complain at the poor quality of services but we pay at the box office while voting for inept politicians and purchasing products at exorbitant prices. Yes, we have the force and the power in the form of our money, our purchasing muscle and we will triumph if we compel those who have been giving us what we do not want to now give us what we do want. If the controllers who have been dominating our lives want our money, they will have to satisfy our needs.
This admonition has usually fallen on the deaf ears of the citizenry but perhaps this time the people will assert themselves rather than allowing themselves to be governed by exploiters and demagogues.
Howard Lawson