Well-known people and celebrities then and now - Poznate licnosti nekad i sad

Well-known people and celebrities then and now - how values have changed

Imagine a hypothetical situation that famous people of that time gathered at a feast in ancient Athens. Philosophers and historians, mathematicians, sculptors (say Aristotle and Socrates, Pythagoras, Phidias and Myron) and military leaders (like Miltiades, the winner of the Marathon, or Pericles, who defeated the Persians) would surely sit at the table. In Renaissance Europe, they would be versatile artists, thinkers and innovators, such as Leonardo da Vinci, astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus, researchers and sailors such as Christopher Columbus, and inevitably Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press, and the author of "Don Quixote". Miguel de Cervantes

Painters Picasso and Andy Warhol, astronauts Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong, physicist Albert Einstein, human rights activists Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and feminist Betty Friedan would surely be invited to a party for celebrities a few hundred years later. not to mention the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other legendary musicians, cult directors, actors, playwrights, composers, scientists, fashion designers, athletes.

What would that party look like today? Who are today's VIPs? Among others, the stars of various reality shows would be invited to such a party, the famous "lady" whose home videos of lascivious content "accidentally leaked to the public", and the former-current-future wife of the famous football player, with artistic and business pretensions, ready to he charms the audience by showing his naked knee to the church leader, various rising politicians and self-proclaimed artists at the end of their careers, then scandal-masters and "talent" hunters, various "perspective singers"…

What makes people today strive to become "famous" at all costs? In poor societies and difficult times, there are always many more pretenders to easy and fast earnings and fame. The greater the poverty, the lower the morale on the scale of values. That is why the ways to gain (a little) popularity and money are not chosen. The general crisis is leading to an increasingly competitive spirit in all spheres of life. Everyone is a competitor to everyone in the gladiatorial fight for work, fame, money… In such circumstances, the one who has the "strongest" stomach and Machiavellian character becomes famous mainly. Their audience has already proven that they have a steel stomach.

Poznati ljudi nekad i sad - kako su se vrednosti promenile

In societies that highly valued culture, morals, art, science, and even religion, for example, in the golden age of ancient Greece (around the fifth century BC) or during the European Renaissance, the role models were the best among them, appreciated for their merits. and with good reason. Today, at the end of Western civilization, when the hypertrophy of rationality has completely suppressed the imagination, emotions and myths so necessary to man, the role models are characters from "pseudo-romantic" television series, mediocre pop artists with a sense of scandal, and even complete anonymity. they make money on such people, and even promote them) suddenly become an unavoidable part of the public scene

Zamislite hipoteticku situaciju da su u drevnoj atini na neku gozbu pozvani svi poznati ljudi tog doba. Za stolom bi sigurno sedeli filozofi i istoričari, matematičari, vajari (recimo Aristotel i Sokrat, Pitagora, Fidija i Miron) i vojskovođe (kao Miltijad, pobednik na Maratonu, ili Perikle, koji je porazio Persijance). U renesansnoj Evropi bili bi to svestrani umetnici, mislioci i inovatori, poput Leonarda da Vinčija, astronomi poput Nikole Kopernika, istraživači i moreplovci poput Kristifora Kolumba, a nezaobilazni bi bili i Johanes Gutemberg koji je smislio štamparsku presu, i autor „Don Kihota”, Miguel de Servantes.

Na zabavu koju bi pravili za poznate licnosti par stotina godina kasnije sigurno bi bili pozvani slikari Pablo Pikaso i Endi Vorhol, astronauti Jurij Gagarin i Nil Armstrong, fizičar Albert Ajnštajn, aktivisti za ljudska prava Mahatma Gandi, Nelson Mandela i feministkinja Beti Fridan, da i ne pominjemo „Bitlse”, „Rolingstounse” i druge legendarne muzičare, kultne režisere, glumce, dramske pisce, kompozitore, naučnike, modne kreatore, sportiste.

Kako bi ta zurka izgledala danas? Ko su danasnje VIP licnosti? Na takvu zurku bi sigurno izmedju ostalih bile pozvane zvezde raznih rijaliti programa, poznata " dama" ciji su kucni video snimci lascivne sadrzine " slucajno procurili u javnost", pa bivša-sadašnja-buduća supruga čuvenog fudbalera, sa umetničkim i poslovnim pretenzijama, spremna da publiku šarmira pokazujući obnazeno koleno crkvenom poglavaru, razni političari u usponu i samoproklamovani umetnici na zalasku karijere, pa skandal-majstori i lovci na „talente”, razne " perspektivne pevačice"…

U društvima koja su visoko cenila kulturu, moral, umetnost, nauku, pa i religiju, na primer, u zlatno doba antičke Grčke (oko petog veka p. n. e) ili u vreme evropske Renesanse,uzori su bili oni najbolji među njima, cenjeni po zasluzi i s dobrim razlogom. Danas, na zalasku zapadne civilizacije, kad je hipertrofija racionalnosti sasvim potisnula maštu, emocije i mitove toliko neophodne čoveku, uzori postaju likovi iz „pseudoromantičnih” televizijskih serijala, osrednji estradni umetnici sa smislom za skandale, pa i potpuni anonimusi koji uz pomoć medija (jer oni na takvima zarađuju, pa ih i protežiraju) najednom postaju nezaobilazni deo javne scene

Sta to danas tera ljude da se trude da postanu "slavni" po svaku cenu? U siromašnim društvima i teškim vremenima uvek ima mnogo više pretendenata na laku i brzu zaradu i slavu. Što je siromaštvo veće, moral je sve niže na lestvici vrednosti. Zato se ne biraju načini da se dođe do (malo) popularnosti i novca. Opšta kriza dovodi do sve izraženijeg takmičarskog duha u svim sferama života. Svako je svakom konkurent u gladijatorskoj borbi za posao, slavu, novac…U takvim okolnostima, slavan postaje uglavnom onaj ko ima „najjači” želudac i makijavelistički karakter Njihova publika je već dokazala da ima želudac od čelika.