By: Matthew Balsinger

For months now our country has been struggling with the question of how to best fix our budgetary problems.  Suggestions range from raising the tax rate on America’s wealthiest to cutting government programs that benefit the middle class.

Through this intense discussion, an interesting parallel is taking place in the world of celebrities and ‘reality’ television:  Kim Kardashian cries over losing a $75,000 earring in a pool, while her husband thinks she is overreacting.

Normally, we should probably pay no attention to celebrities and their antics, but hearing this story while most college students are struggling to stay afloat financially is quite infuriating.  Celebrities are seemingly disconnected from reality, so far that they don’t even realize the implications of their actions. This simple headline raises a question: are celebrities paid too much?

There are, of course, different kinds of celebrities who perform different jobs at varying levels of difficulty.  Professional football players endanger their physical health for our entertainment and movie stars are somewhat entitled to reap the benefits of their performances.  Celebrities such as the Kardashian sisters, however, are simply celebrities for the sake of being celebrities.  They perform no actual, tangible benefit to society and yet make gross amounts of money.

It’s sort of sad that a college student can find a better use of $75,000 than non-college graduate Kim Kardashian, whose only claim to fame is that her lawyer father represented OJ Simpson.  What’s even sadder is the attitude of Kardashian’s new husband:  “Don’t worry, we’ll just get another one.”

There is something terribly wrong with our society and our government when we favor the pocketbooks of people who make ungodly sums of money while yielding little actual societal benefit.  Higher education, and education in general, has continued to suffer from cuts. Teachers are being fired, classrooms are being filled, schools are being closed, student grants are being cut and scholarships are being lessened, all the while rich celebrities have time to cry over losing earrings that are worth over the average salary of the middle class in the Cleveland area.

During this recession about ninety percent of Americans have been affected by losing income while the top ten percent have either gained or been unaffected.  Yet, despite this disturbing statistic, our politics and reality television networks tediously work to legitimize these grotesque and absurd lifestyles.

There is this disconnect in America where the lives of celebrities are favored over education, and it’s frankly a terrible direction for our country to head.  Education must always be the forefront of our priorities; education is our future. We are all in college to get an education for that very reason, and to have celebrities acting so disconnected from reality is upsetting, disgusting and unacceptable.  Absolutely, the super rich in this country can afford to pay their fair share in taxes, which includes celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and pseudo celebrity sisters.  Celebrities may not be able to get their own acts together, but we as a society and a country must get our act together.

The next time you tune into a celebrity reality show that follows the utterly uselessness that is celebrity lifestyles, just remember what it means for our society;  they don’t care about us or our problems, and they flaunt our adoration and their finances.