Fete the Rich

However long ago from when this posts, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was indicted for going to some sleazy massage parlor to get a “happy ending” from sex workers.  What the incident showed more than anything is our love affair with the rich and famous that makes us give them the benefit of the doubt even when they don’t deserve it.

Of course Trump said it was all a lie and blah blah blah birds of a feather flock together so of course one sex offender will defend another.  More disturbing was the mainstream media response, or lack thereof in many cases.  A Boston Globe article talked about how this might tarnish his image.  Because clearly his image is what’s important here, not the fact that he was using essentially sex slaves.  This is the paper that broke the Catholic priest scandal as depicted in Spotlight and now they’re glossing over sex abuse accusations just because it’s a rich guy in their backyard.  Things really changed in about 20 years.

There was a sports site article with a headline saying the sex workers probably weren’t trafficked.  Oh, well, that makes it OK then.  It’s fine and dandy to utilize sex workers so long as they weren’t human trafficked.  So it’s OK if I go down to Detroit and pick up a couple of hookers then, right?  So long as they weren’t human trafficked into the country it’s totally cool!

On social media there were people saying, What’s the big deal, it’s a misdemeanor?!  Oh, sure, getting a happy ending from a sex worker and jaywalking, same deal.  And since he owns a football team you get those who worry more about what will happen to their team now.

It’s not just Kraft.  We saw plenty of this in the 2016 election.  Especially Evangelical “Christians” for Trump.  Sure he lies constantly, curses, cheated on his wives, and sexually harassed women but so what?  If he gets elected women won’t be able to have abortions and gays won’t be able to exist!  That’s way more important than morality, right?  Republicans, phony Christians, and Russian bots came up with one excuse after another.  It’s “locker room talk.”  It’s “alternative facts.”  “He was just joking.”  And of course the favorite, “What about [Hillary, Bill, Obama, my neighbor’s dog’s uncle’s roommate…]?”

There were actually people on Facebook (Russian bots probably) who’d say if you complained about Trump, “Well he’s rich and you’re not so he must be smarter than you.”  That’s the core of the issue.  If someone is rich, we assume they’re smarter and better than us poor slobs.  I mean they must be or they wouldn’t be rich!  Never mind the dumb things they say and do; they’re rich so they must be good.  And of course if you’re famous to boot that’s even better.

We’ve seen it before where if a celebrity commits a crime like a DUI they get a slap on the wrist.  Where you or I would get thrown in jail for 3-5 years (or probation for that long at best), they get 60 days of rehab.  In Kraft’s case if you or I got a happy ending from a sleazy massage parlor we’d be labeled sex offenders and spend the rest of our days having to state that to neighbors and not being allowed to live near schools and so forth.  But he’s rich and famous so he’ll get a slap on the wrist, probably a fine that for your or I would be the equivalent of $5.  Maybe the judge will tell him he’s been a naughty boy and he shouldn’t do it again.  But then if the judge is up for re-election, maybe not even that.

Not just the “justice” system but our whole society is geared to favor the rich and famous.  If you see someone in ragged clothes with dirty skin, you’d think that person is bad news.  They’re probably a criminal or crazy or a crazy criminal!  They’re probably lazy and dumb, because why else would they be in dirty rags?  Whereas if you see someone in an expensive suit stepping out of a limo, you assume that person is smart and successful.

Our infatuation with the rich can be seen on all those reality shows like the Kardashians and whatnot.  It can be read in books like the collected works of Bret Easton Ellis.  And think about it, who are some of our favorite superheroes?  Batman and Iron Man, whose secret identities are rich guys. 

It’s almost feudal the way we worship those who have more money.  Make way, make way, it’s the lord of the manor come to bless us with his presence!  But when you don’t hold these “elites” to the same standards, it invites massive corruption.  Eventually, though, people get enough of it like in France and Russia and a lesser extent America when it broke away from the British.  Or like in Rome someone from outside takes down the system.

Will we finally reach the point where we stop fawning over rich scumbags and making excuses for them?  Only time will tell.