From the BBC…

“Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by “guerrilla artist” Banksy.

Banksy has replaced Hilton’s CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?â€?

I suppose it should come as no real surprise that Paris Hilton’s recent release is doing poorly, though debuting at #29 in the United Kingdom is far better than I’d ever do, so who am I to talk? Then again, Nick Drake did only sell a handful of records during his lifetime and he was utterly brilliant, so.

I was once quite close to someone that thought Paris Hilton an absolute genius, if only for being able to remain so globally popular for being and doing absolutely nothing of import. In response I said that it’s a sad comment on our times when individuals applaud the success of millionaire debutants turned unwitting (or perhaps calculating) porn stars, among other things, and it’s a view that I still hold.

The majority of those that spend their time buying into the vacuous nothingness that Paris Hilton so resounding represents often attempt to justify it by passing it off as a frivolous indulgence, one that is by no means serious. Yet it’s the very same people that often either emulate her or grant individuals like her the attention and support required to allow them continued exposure and success, not to mention the apparatuses that support and promote them. Like it or not, there is simply no way to justify the support of such an empty and idiotic sector of society without, at some point, admitting that without the support of the public, people like Paris Hilton wouldn’t be worth mention.

There are entire magazines, websites, and television programs dedicated to nothing. The question you need to ask yourself is why are they vastly more popular than magazines, websites, and television programs dedicated to something?

There are those that might claim such views uptight. To that I would reply that while we overwhelmingly indulge people like Paris Hilton, and the entire infrastructure that supports people like her, supposedly free and participatory societies are lied to without rebuke, the next Nick Drake is probably being overlooked in favour of television talent show competitors, and the intellect and respectability of our society as a whole is diminished.

Now, if that’s something that you can dismiss by saying that it’s all in fun, I guess we know where you stand. Ultimately, that’s the choice we make in this life. Either we stand up and are counted or we perpetually talk about getting around to it while spending our lives trying to justify our cowardice by pointing to convenient scapegoats.

You don’t have to be rich, famous, or powerful to be a success in life. You just have to be something other than a convenient nothing.