It feels so weird to be writing my thoughts online knowing that people could read them. I confess, I’m a little worried people are going to hate me. Although if no one’s reading your blog, that’s kind of difficult. It’s nice to just write about what I want to write about and not worry about people reading it and getting angry with me. I do hope I’ll get enough readers to eventually make a living out of this, of course, but I do like the idea that even if I don’t get enough views to make money, I still accomplished something.
I confess, I almost feel sorry for the famous creators, the ones with millions of followers on whatever social media platform they use. They do make a lot of money, but every move they make is being scrutinized by millions of people. Not only that, but at that level of fame, they can’t just say whatever they want to say anymore. One wrong move and they could lose everything, and they have a lot to lose.
I suppose you could argue that you don’t get that famous without choosing to be, and in a way I think it’s true. If you want to be famous you have to learn how to be famous, and you have to constantly do things that increase the chances of people noticing and remembering you. But how much power do you have over how famous you become? Many child actors didn’t choose to become actors, they were pushed into it by their parents. More than a few adults created something they hoped would flop, only for it be a smash hit. That’s to say nothing of those who want to be celebrities and influencers but have no way of getting the money to get in the door.
In a way, I’m very lucky. I don’t really want to be famous, and I don’t have the skills or charisma to be famous. Well, I don’t know that it’s entirely accurate to say that I don’t want to be famous. I want to be posthumously famous. Nothing about me can change, and I won’t be around to hear what people say about me, good or ill.
But as much as I don’t want to be famous, I do still want to help change things. I don’t think you need to be famous to change things; I don’t think you even need to be wealthy. I’m not talking about recycling more, or not buying things from evil companies (not that many people in the great US of A have a choice). I’m talking about knowing what you believe in and sticking by your beliefs. I’m grateful to be alive during a time where that’s easier than ever.
Power doesn’t belong to the wealthy or famous, no matter what they want to believe. They have the most, but they also have the most to lose. Power, real power, belongs in those they oppress. They are the ones building society, believing in it, keeping it as real as they can. If they didn’t, the things that make those who have value valuable would fall apart in an instant. But I acknowledge, getting people to give up on the wealthy isn’t easy. We’re born to believe that wealth is special, that if you have wealth than you did something to earn it. But if we don’t think that those in charge are proving themselves worthy, I think we owe it to say something.
Personally, my biggest issue is that in our current system, it’s become easy for someone to have too much power, more than they could ever hope to use effectively. One of society’s biggest problems is that we keep searching for a system where everyone will be happy. That system doesn’t exist. That problem is compounded by the fact that if someone can make multiple billions of dollars, they have power of a lot of society. And since they are human, they’re going to assume that whatever works for them would work for everyone else. Be honest, would you really be different in their position? The only way to make things fair for everyone is to make sure that everyone has someone that they feel represents them. As of this moment, that isn’t true.
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