Mega-Success, Downfall and Sentimentalism

Libertarian columnist Robert Ringer writes,

Seems like we’ve been here before … many, many times. Whitney Houston’s tragic death is the latest in a long string of drug- and alcohol-related celebrity deaths, going back to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin in 1970, Jim Morrison in 1971, Elvis in 1977, Andy Gibb and John Belushi in the eighties, and, of course, Michael Jackson in 2009. And these are just a few of the names that come quickly to mind.

When a show-business icon dies prematurely, we tend to focus on his/her death rather than the life that led to that death. In the case of Whitney Houston, her travails were in the news so much over the years that even I — not a frequent showbiz reader — was aware of them. Anyone who watched the evening news couldn’t help but know about her bouts with drugs and alcohol, and, perhaps even worse, her fifteen-year marriage to a man who physically abused her.

Mr. Ringer says that immaturity (from youth) compounded by loneliness, rather than mega-success brings about the typical downfall of many celebrities.

In my view, mega-success and too much expectations of one’s value to the world can exacerbate ‘immaturity’, aside from inability to adjust to realities. In the average person, wisdom usually supersedes immaturity as people age. So if age doesn’t usher in maturity, then there must be something else wrong.

And possibly intractable egotism bloated by mega-success can be a factor in one’s downfall (not necessarily limited to celebrities). Again the inability to adjust with changing times could bring about loneliness and frustrations.

Of course, all the above depends on the individual’s value scales. This means that while some celebrities fall for the above traps, many others don’t.

But there is another factor I would like to point out. While I lament the loss of many artists of my generation, I usually get miffed at the excessive sentimentality expressed by many to recently deceased celebrities.

For me, this represents an action inconsistent compared to when the celebrity lived. Then, nobody seems to given a whit to what the celebrity did (most especially when they were down). Somewhat like schadenfraude, death becomes an opportunity for credit grabbing, promotion of shows and for social signaling.

Yet this seems part of how public opinion gets molded.

The US Energy Consumption Story: Americans Are Better Off Today

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports, (emphasis mine)

While most home appliances have become more efficient over the past 30 years, the average U.S. household uses many more consumer electronics —in particular, personal computers, televisions and related devices, according to data released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the latest update to its Residential Energy Consumption Survey.

EIA on Household Devices

US households have increasingly been using more luxury items and convenience related devices than in the past.

Appliances and Electronic devices accounted for 31% of energy use in 2005 than in 1978 where energy use accounted for 17%. Moreover, air conditioning and water heating likewise reveal of the same story where energy use has materially increased today (8% for aircon and 20% for water heating), than in the past (3% and 14%).

EIA on Energy Intensity

And since energy intensity has been materially declining, this translates to even more intensive use of these devises.

This also is a great example of the Jevon’s paradox at work, which according to Wikipedia.org is the proposition that technological progress that increases the efficiency with which a resource is used tends to increase (rather than decrease) the rate of consumption of that resource.

Wikipedia.org on Jevon’s Paradox

Bottom line: Compared to the views of the permabears, gains from increased fuel efficiency and technological progress (brought about by capitalism) highlight the fact that American living standards have vastly improved over the past years, despite the stagflation, recessions and financial crisis.

How Innovation Have Improved Our Lives

In "100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About" Nathan Barry enumerates the casualties of rapid technological innovation.

From wired magazine, ``There are some things in this world that will never be forgotten, this week’s 40th anniversary of the moon landing for one. But Moore’s Law and our ever-increasing quest for simpler, smaller, faster and better widgets and thingamabobs will always ensure that some of the technology we grew up with will not be passed down the line to the next generation of geeks.

``That is, of course, unless we tell them all about the good old days of modems and typewriters, slide rules and encyclopedias …"

The 100 list...

Audio-Visual Entertainment

1. Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something.
2. Super-8 movies and cine film of all kinds.
3. Playing music on an audio tape using a personal stereo. See what happens when you give a Walkman to today’s teenager.
4. The number of TV channels being a single digit. I remember it being a massive event when Britain got its fourth channel.
5. Standard-definition, CRT TVs filling up half your living room.
6. Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
7. High-speed dubbing.
8. 8-track cartridges.
9. Vinyl records. Even today’s DJs are going laptop or CD.
10. Betamax tapes.
11. MiniDisc.
12. Laserdisc: the LP of DVD.
13. Scanning the radio dial and hearing static between stations. (Digital tuners + HD radio b0rk this concept.)
14. Shortwave radio.
15. 3-D movies meaning red-and-green glasses.
16. Watching TV when the networks say you should. Tivo and Sky+ are slowing killing this one.
17. That there was a time before ‘reality TV.’

Read the rest here

The lists simply shows how our quality of life have vastly been improved by market based innovation.