As IF Times

Source: Taiwan’s ‘Bikini Climber’ social media star Gigi Wu dies after ravine fall in Yushan national park | Outdoor & Extreme | South China Morning Post

Though tragic, Gigi Wu’s 15 minutes of fame are over.  Unfortunately, her story is not that unusual since we regularly read about some ‘adventurer’ whose exploits went horribly wrong.  For some reason, the media generally mourns the passing of these individuals as if their exploits were the leading edge of human existence.  We can think of many people whose personal pursuits wound up as unfortunate misadventures:

Recently, a young missionary, John Allen Chau went to North Sentinel Island, an isolated place in the Indian Ocean populated by savage cannibals.  Despite warnings from his fellow religious friends that he would be killed by cannibals,  he went…and he was.  There have been various BASE jumpers and flying suit daredevils who have plunged to their deaths while leaping off high structures.  Numerous people over the years have tried to climb Mt. Everest but froze to death in their pursuit of the summit.

It can be debated as to whether smart decisions were made in many of these cases, but we can all appreciate that all individuals have some kind of inner conviction that they needed to address.  We could never denigrate exploring the boundaries of the human spirit.  The death of Miss Wu is tragic, but especially so because there were no boundaries of human existence being pushed.  She was a victim of the rampant cult of narcissism that has taken hold of people the world over.

Younger people, but especially a disproportionate number of girls, have fallen prey to the cult of narcissism gripping (mainly) Western society.  A half dozen years ago, the now ubiquitous device known as a selfie stick didn’t even exist, whereas these days, they are as common as smudges on smart phones.  With the inexplicable popularity of the Kardashians, the need to have coquettish images of oneself is like an out of control virus in society.  Girls of course are not alone in their self preening.  Boys do it as well, but it’s preening nonetheless, only in a different way.  Some may recall the “Jackass” movie phenomenon from a few years ago when boys were publicizing stunts that conspicuously threatened life, limb and often the octave of their voices.   The ultimate exponent of narcissism must be Oprah Winfrey, whose eponymously labelled magazine, “O” is all Oprah, every issue, every magazine cover.   You couldn’t make this up.

The mainstreaming of You-Tube videos,  Facebook and Twitter have only encouraged the fame seeking narcissism that has exploded over the past decade.  Technology has unleashed into society, both exhibitionists and voyeurs on a scale never seen in history. Unfortunately, the very large majority of this is hardly time capsule stuff.  It’s mostly ephemeral drivel that fuels the smart phone business.  If rampant vacuity were the only consequence of this phase of culture, we could probably accept that.  Unfortunately it is not.

Narcissism (and its closely related cousin, tribalism) is at the root of much of the malaise that has affected the functioning of modern society. We can blame some of this on Fred Rogers, late of the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood childrens’ show fame.  Some may recall that his most poignant message repeated at the end of  every episode was that ‘you are special, there’s no one else like you’. A powerful and compelling message of self esteem for children at an impressionable age to be sure, but it seems to have  morphed into a grotesque manifestation of ‘me me me-ism’ as the kids became adults.  Now that message has been taken to heart by an entire generation resulting in people supporting narratives that are not well thought out, are grossly erroneous, or of no use at all, other than that they like them.

This narcissism has become its own justification for imposing these views upon others, compelling them to have the same held views or be otherwise ostracized.  Given enough exposure, popularity takes the place of fact. We see this expressed in politics with increasing frequency.  Without the guardrails of logic or sanity as barriers,  all kinds of obtuse views are given validation because to oppose them would be parochial fuddy-duddyness and  a denial of individualism.  The consequence is what you see today; utterances by people at all levels of influence unrestrained from voicing even the most naked stupidity.  There’s even a label now for this disorder, Absent Occipital Cortex syndrome or AOC, coincidently the initials of the new congresswoman from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

We see people championing views held by an inconsequential minority as if they were the interests of the majority. We see views expressed, without reservation or shame, that are diametrically at odds to an established stable society or even to logic and common sense.   I can tell you that these people aren’t the oracles of society…they are the barnacles.

link [VIDEO] Oprah Winfrey tells BBC many Americans hate Obama because he’s BLACK » The Right Scoop –.

Let’s investigate Oprah’s claim.  If there was that much hatred towards Obama because he’s black, how did he get elected not once, but twice?  Casting aside conspiracy theories of vote rigging on the last election,  the United States is still statistically a white nation though that is changing rapidly.  Even though as a bloc, Blacks voted overwhelmingly in the neighborhood of 90% for Obama, the president could not have won without the support of the larger community.  Of course the possibility exists that the general population voted for the white half of Obama.  In that case, I suppose it could be racism.

It’s a pretty tired and suspect argument to use racism as the rationale for someone’s unpopularity.  In fact, to do so is in itself racist.  It’s like an automatic get out of jail free card for any shortcomings in personal character.  If the United States were a racist nation, how is it possible that some of the most culturally influential and successful people in entertainment and music (even those of truly dubious talent) and sports as well as the top rungs of the political system including the President and Attorney General are of  black heritage?

The most recent ‘shocking’ headlines involving race centered around the locker room activities of the Miami Dolphins.  Apparently, Jonathan Martin, a  player whom is half black, was ‘harassed’ by the white player, Richie Incognito.  When it was revealed that the harassment included racial slurs, it became national news as the plain folk were apparently aghast at the rawness of the exchanges between the two players.  Mr. Martin could withstand the physical punishment of gangs of 300 pound men beating him up on the football field, but name calling was too much to bear, especially racially tinged name calling.  Well I guess that dispels the old ‘sticks and stones’ theory.

There seems to be a common theme here.  If you are black, your character is unassailable.  As the old M.C. Hammer lyrics state, “you can’t touch that”.  If you are not completely black, like Obama, like Jonathan Martin, you are fair game for ridicule and scorn, because you are essentially half white.  It wasn’t too long ago that the previous White House incumbent, George W. Bush was the target of merciless and vile attacks on his character, his appearance, his intelligence and even his laugh.

Oprah “Whine-frey” has it wrong.  People likely disparage the President because he’s half white, not because he’s black.  The lying, incompetence and lack of any real talent outside of reading must be from his white side.  No real black person would have to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as the old verse goes.  They would never dare to disparage a black person.