EXTRACT
I understand the urge to yell. The whole story seemed to be a distillation of everything that is vile about the attention economy and the chest-thumping triumph of materialism and superficiality.
But here’s the thing. Neither the Kardashians nor Forbes have done anything other than be themselves.
The criticism aimed at Forbes, especially, had a faintly disappointed tone, as if a publication based on Enlightenment thought and humanist ideals had suddenly overstepped some sort of journalistic mark. Which is weird, because Forbes is and always has been Forbes. It is the Pravda of modern capitalism, a tireless preacher of the gospel of wealth for its own sake, and should therefore be trusted as much as we trust any major propaganda outlet.