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“[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The
United States had become a place where entertainers and professional
athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and
treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they
took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a
million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of
foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even
though he proves himself to be ignorant and sub-literate every time
he/she opens his/her mouth.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“... if an athlete is paid a
million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of
foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even
though he proves himself to be ignorant and sub-literate every time
he/she opens his/her mouth.” — Robert A. Heinlein

~~~

Atheletes and celebrities have always felt they were important. People treat them like they can do no wrong. They are shielded and given the royal treatment wherever they go.

I don’t think this is a new phenomenon at all.

What is new is not just that they can get their opinions out there instantly on platforms like twitter, whereas they used to have to be in public and find a microphone somewhere, but now you have thousands of websites competing to push the most sensational or controversial “information”. It’s the click-bait era. Back in the day, if it was sensationalist enough, you might just get a blurb on “entertainment tonight” or you’ve really hit the big time if you make the nightly news or the forward pages of the news rag.

Controversial comments and little tiffs between celebrities never used to get mainlined into the media.