Celebrity Shills

I’m staring at this slideshow that you can find at the bottom of many website pages these days.

I’m sure you’ve seen the one  showing how bad celebrities have aged.

As if we haven’t.

That’s not the one I’m watching though.  

No, I’m looking at the yachts and jets these fuckers buy and lease.

Leonardo di Caprio rents his yacht for 1.3 million a week.

Harrison Ford owns a jet that costs a cool eighteen million.

Jesus Christ, I ask, how much do these people make?

And who pays for all of this?

Well, as it turns out, you pay for it all and have for some time now. 

That’s right, you pay for it all, and not just through ticket sales at the box office.

You pay the sports and entertainment tax, and much of this is hidden from you.  In fact, you pay this tax whether or not you see or attend one movie or sporting event  in your lifetime.

You don’t even need to be a fan.

It’s done through advertising.

Advertising is the hidden tax that Corporate America imposes upon you and returns to the people it deigns to favor.

Every time a movie or sporting event is shown on cable television, you pay that tax.

The tax is passed on to you when you buy your products at the supermarket.

You pay whether it’s Doritos, Coke or Southwestern Bell.

The advertisers pay big bucks to the networks who pay big bucks to the leagues and studios that own the product.  This money is in turn distributed to the players and actors respectively. 

So the next time, you ogle Leo’s yacht, remember this and say, “Hey, I bought that.”

It’s these outrageous toys and salaries that keep the celebrities in line with Corporate America’s values.

As they say, God giveth, and God taketh away.

Who wants to give up a lavish lifestyle?

Who wants to give up a jet?

But give it up you will if you dare to defy Corporate America.

Oh, they can make you go away in a heartbeat.

Just ask the Dixie Chicks.

They had the audacity to speak out against a hasty war.

Corporate America controls just about everything in America today, and they own the celebrities lock, stock and barrel.

They control the venues, the book deals, the record deals, the movie studios, the radio stations, the endorsement agreements.  Did I forget cable television?

Say the right thing and survive.  Say the wrong thing and you’re outta there.

And just in case you think you’re above all that because you’re older, think again.  They’ll make your life miserable by spilling all the dirt they have on you.

You’ll obey.

It’s pretty rich, isn’t it?  You pay cash and make these celebrities rich.

They profit off a free market capitalist system and then turn around and support a socialist system that threatens your ability to make money the way they do.

In a sane world where celebrities have control of their lives, they could say as much.

But in the corporate world of today, they have no say and they know it.

So they shill.