Baseline outrage
Two items in today's "news" are supposed to generate outrage. In fact the items aren't outrageous in themselves. Both represent the top end of a spectrum, and in both cases the top end is permanent and normal. What's outrageous is that the BOTTOM end of the spectrum no longer exists. The top end was supposed to be meaningful as a GOAL or PURPOSE. Now that the starting point of the spectrum, the baseline, is gone, the top-end phenomenon continues running wild, absorbing more and more resources for no PURPOSE.

= = = = =

1. We're supposed to be outraged by a single parking spot in Hong Kong selling for $400K and then reselling for $760K a few months later.

2. We're supposed to be outraged because the Miss America pageant has given up on being a beauty pageant.

= = = = =

In both cases the specific action is not outrageous.

1. Rich fuckheads have always traded in artificial scarcity. Diamonds, collector cars, exclusive real estate. Items that have value because they're defined as having value. This activity doesn't really bother or interfere with normal people.

The problem is at the other end of the scale. Before 2008, interest on savings provided an on-ramp for young folks or poor folks to get into the game. You could put away a few dollars per week and end up with 400K later in life. Now that compound interest is extinct, there's no way for poor folks to build up wealth. The entrance gate is closed.

= = = = =

2. Pageants have been losing their importance for 30 years, for reasons that have nothing to do with feminist fuckheads. Just like exclusive parking, pageants are a game for top-level thoroughbreds. It's a hereditary aristocracy that can't be entered by an outsider. Like pro athletes, each Miss pretends to represent a location, but none of them are really from their "hometowns".

In the early years of the Miss, any girl who thought she might have a chance could jump in and give it a try. The pageants provided an on-ramp into acting and modeling for outsiders. Because the system was truly modular, there were local off-ramps as well. Miss Spokane or Miss Topeka could move into local TV journalism.

Labels: Metrology

  ¶ 4:25 AM