Star Culture and Competition in America – Quote by Charles Wright Mills

„The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.“

Charles Wright MillsQuote by Charles Wright Mills criticizing star culture and competitive society through the example of American celebrity.
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Charles Wright Mills was an American sociologist who examined modern societies and the role of intellectuals.

This statement by Charles Wright Mills criticizes the star culture and competitive society, illustrated by the example of American celebrity.


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Quote graphic featuring Charles Wright Mills on professional celebrity and competition in America

Charles Wright Mills (1916–1962) was an American sociologist. His work examined postwar societies and the interaction of political, military, and economic elites. His best-known works include “The Power Elite,” “White Collar: The American Middle Classes,” and “The Sociological Imagination.”

Robert A. Heinlein quote about rational thinking, celebrity, and public influenceCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth." Robert A. Heinlein
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Charles Wright Mills quote about power, wealth, celebrity, and access to major institutionsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"Power is not of a man. Wealth does not center in the person of the wealthy. Celebrity is not inherent in any personality. To be celebrated, to be wealthy, to have power requires access to major institutions." Charles Wright Mills
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Charles Wright Mills quote about the power elite and social responsibilityCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"The men of the higher circles are not representative men; their high position is not a result of moral virtue; their fabulous success is not firmly connected with meritorious ability. Those who sit in the seats of the high and the mighty are selected and formed by the means of power, the sources of wealth, the mechanics of celebrity, which prevail in their society. They are not men selected and formed by a civil service that is linked with the world of knowledge and sensibility. They are not men shaped by nationally responsible parties that debate openly and clearly the issues this nation now so unintelligently confronts. They are not men held in responsible check by a plurality of voluntary associations which connect debating publics with the pinnacles of decision. Commanders of power unequaled in human history, they have succeeded within the American system of organized irresponsibility." Charles Wright Mills
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