For those Hypnotized by $!

We watched Beyonce's halftime show in Texas last night. Our reaction?! $$$$$$$$$$$! This was a display of $ performing for big $, for the folks swimming in $, and for folks with dreams of swimming in endless rivers of $. It was an impressive spectacle. The Land of the Holy Bling. It was a Christmas (!?!) show, an overstuffed extravaganza, a homecoming for Beyonce on a football field in Texas. One couldn't help shouting out at the TV screen: "What The Holy Fuck is This?"  We grappled with trying to parse the signs, wonders and ultimate meanings of this grand spectacle. Hundreds of nubile and very flexible humans jumped around all dressed in white. Mainly Black people dressed in dazzling, sort of silly, improbably pure-white costumes; white cowboys and cowgirls, singing and dancing and playing instruments, frolicking around in Bling Heaven. Seems they were mainly singing about how they were all joyously jumping around, singing and dancing in Bling Heaven. A very self-referential Festival of Bling. "Why can't we all be billionaires?" My friend and I concluded this impressive display was not really intended for us, this was a show for those hypnotized by $. You know for the folks whose only One True God is the Almighty Buck. American Oligarchy Lives. Funny, and blindingly appropriate, that it was a beautiful, multi-talented, supremely-wealthy, fully-empowered, self-possessed, black woman who was the center of attention, and the ultimate messenger. It was like a surreal, big-budget Minstrel-show in Reverse. Black Woman and her friends playing at being white cowboys & cowgirls. Wild. Of course, my friend and I are seriously out of step with the present times, we still value humility, love, grace, generosity, heart & soul. You know, we are just the little people, the common ones, the working stiffs, those interested in other things besides $, those left gaping in awe at the grand, exuberant, audaciously-unholy soulessness of it all. Bling, Baby, Bling! Xmas 2024, the Apotheosis of the Holy, Holy Buck...