The Great Man Syndrome in the Modern Age

I just read this excellent article by Mark Steyn. He talks about how almost all of the "elites" are completely out of touch with what is really going on in the non-elite world that we know as reality. I then sent him the following letter:

I just read your Western Standard article, "The Last Youth Standing". Interesting, though not surprising. The Great Man Syndrome you spoke of (ie. big shots being completely out of touch with the reality of the masses) is certainly true but needs to be examined in conjunction with what one might call "The Merging of the Elite Classes Phenomenon".

In the past decade, us poor, ignorant sods have observed something very strange unfolding in the public spotlight. Much like the polygamous commune of Bountiful in southeast British Columbia, The Political Class appears to have gotten hitched to two wives:

• Wife #1: The talking heads of the News Media
  
• Wife #2: The often prettier talking heads of the Entertainment Industry
  

All three are cohabitating in one household now, vying for time & space in that illuminated rectangular window through which we see the world. Sometimes we see a Husband talking with Wife #1, having allegedly serious, informative discussions. Other times we see 2 Husbands blethering on. Many words are always said but rarely is anything of value ever expressed. As such, most people never watch such discussions, regardless of who's talking.

Some Husbands have clued into this fact so they've started appearing more often with the sexier, funnier Wife #2. We thus see scads of politicians on the late night shows of Jay Leno and David Letterman, prefaced, of course, by an appearance from the latest Paris Hilton wannabe and followed by the new rap sensation from Uzbekistan.

But focus groups have shown that even this is boring the majority of audience members, so the Wives have realized that they don't even need the Husbands whatsoever. We thus have George Clooney and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and Madonna appearing on the "news", explaining to us all that is truly important in the world and precisely how they know we should solve it. The piece-de-resistance though had to be on the Nov. 19th CBC Evening News when Celine Dion appeared from Las Vegas explaining that once her current gig is up that she is definitely going to "save the world". She admits that she's not quite sure how yet, but is convinced she can't do a worse job than the guys who are running things now.

I wonder what Marshall McLuhan would say about all of this. Something tells me he wouldn't be surprised.