It seems as if Martha Stewart is getting 5 months in prison and 5 months in home confinement. No doubt, during her confinement, she will start a photoblog with pictures and homemaking tips rallying old fans and new fans to make homemade pinecone bird feeders and she will make a fortune. I just want Martha Stewart to know I was there first. Sure, no tips on making pinecone bird feeders, but nevertheless there.

Actually, it all amuses me a little bit. Probably Martha Stewart is a real person with real feelings, or if not probably, at least possibly, but I’m not talking about that. The US, perhaps more than any other country, is built on the firm foundation of life, liberty, happiness, and the pursuit of as much as possible as fast as possible. And if no other country glorifies capitalism so much, there also seems to be, particularly in recent years, this new and forceful backlash to success.

Look at the money. Bill Gates has his anti-trust troubles. I’ve never really determined why. It isn’t really his fault, is it, that he doesn’t have any strident competition? Perhaps I’ve missed the point. But whatever the point, he earned his money, a lot of money, an unimaginable amount of money, doing exactly what Americans are taught to do only to be assailed by anti-trust laws. And there’s Martha Stewart, from what I can see, the poster child for the rags to riches lifestyle. Also maligned for her success. Perhaps she’s guilty. Perhaps she’s not. I don’t think it ever really mattered. It was the appearance of impropriety more than anything that sunk her. Americans don’t really like that much success. Disney’s Michael Eisner, too. Much beloved until recently.

For some reason, despite the boundless limits of her success and influence, Oprah remains sancrosanct. I think that’s appearance, too. She smiles. And she appears to be humble and charitable and caring. Perhaps she is. It doesn’t really matter. I think when it comes to the dream of gaining as much success and wealth as possible it’s all about appearance. If you appear to blaze too far above the mass of proletariat dreamers, America will burn your capitalist wings.

What’s the lesson here? Dream the American dream. But if you dare to try to live it, live it with the appearance of humility. Of course that doesn’t explain Donald Trump.

Of course if you’re well on your way to living that slippery dream and you need to appear more charitable, I invite you to support the struggling arts, like SnappedShots, for example. I’m still saving up for my camera.

SS