Sad, Really

Occasionally, the news programs here will pick up a piece from ABC news or one of the other US news outlets. Yesterday I caught the end of a piece about Hannah Montana concert tickets and a man who was trying to give his 2 away, since his daughter was sick and unable to attend. The piece talked about how getting tickets for a family of four would set you back $5,000 on E-bay. It showed a clip of several young girls (8 or 10 years old, I'd guess) arriving to the concert in a stretch Hummer limo.

The man finally found someone to give his tickets to: a couple of young girls whose mother was out of work on disability. Happy ending.

As this was during the morning show, the two talking heads on the couch did their usual banter about how sweet this was. Then they turned to the news anchor, who had a different take:

"No, that's a single good deed in an otherwise sick culture."

I wonder about the degree to which the American lifestyle has ceased to be the envy of the world and is now despised by the world. What must the rest of the world think when it sees the excesses of $5,000 tickets for a children's concert or shows like 'The Simple Life,' or 'My Super Sweet Sixteen,' or 'The Real Housewives of Orange County'? Even more importantly, what does it think about the American audiences for these shows?