The century we put the idiots on pedestals

Ephemeral fame largely eliminates self-control. In many cases, the individual does not know what really awaits on the other side of the wall of anonymity. When he crosses that threshold, he discovers that the feedback capacity of popularity in the globalized world can become a nightmare. Thus, we often end up identifying faces or small clips that, turned into memes, travel around the world, without knowing hardly anything about their protagonists or their intentions. Often, ephemeral fame is unexpected and uncontrollable. Perhaps Snyder should review his old claims today…

In short, we must admit that, in one way or another, we are all poisoned by this narcissist thirst. It is part of the story of a great collective failure. Those of us in the media, who sell more or fewer books according to our good reputation, are more exposed to intoxication than most. I myself have made stupid promotions on social networks, which I would now disown every day of my life, in a vain effort to sell a few more copies. Someone might argue that these are the market rules of our trade. To the extent that I can’t exhibit musculature, let alone a pronounced cleavage, I have to find a way to compete with other authors of my time, often published by editors who, before even reading a line, visited their Instagram profiles to monitor their number of followers.

Be that as it may, beyond the media trade, we are failing as a society by feeding a narcissistic bug that drives us crazy and deteriorates our relationships with others. Far from shrugging our shoulders and thinking that this is just the way the world is, we should consider whether we are doing enough around us to curb this madness. I offer an unpopular opinion: If we don’t let our teenagers go out drinking until a certain age, perhaps we shouldn’t allow them to throw themselves into the universe of TikTok, Twitter, or Instagram either until we are confident that good judgment and common sense have nested in their little brains.