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Jewish World Review
June 10, 2011 / 8 Sivan, 5771
An Exhibitionist in an Exhibitionist Age
By
Arnold Ahlert
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A paradigm shift is defined as a new way of thinking, driven by an agent of change. The Anthony Weiner scandal is the latest evidence that America has experienced two paradigm shifts, brought about by the same agent of change. The agent of change is the internet and, by extension, the explosion of technological devices which facilitate its access. The paradigm shifts? An unprecedented level of exhibitionism demonstrated by a society which used to prize privacy; and the rise of an alternate media that can successfully counter the established one.
If one imagines the efforts Anthony Weiner had to undertake to get to this point in time, it only serves to underscore paradigm shift number one. Before Weiner could post lewd photos of himself on the internet, it was necessary to take the pictures in the first place. The most infamous one (so far), that of an erect member hidden by gray underwear, necessitated arousing himself in some manner, pointing a camera at his crotch and snapping away. The picture then had to be uploaded to the internet, and the address of a recipient (or several recipients) had to be added to the mix. At that point, a conscious decision had to be made to execute the send command of whatever device was being used to disseminate the information.
Why is this incident considered a scandal? It certainly isn't due to the fact that what the Congressman did was a societal anomaly. In fact this type of self-perpetrated exhibitionism is now such an integral part of the American ethos, it has spawned a vocabulary word to describe it. "Sexting" has become so prevalent that, in 2009, approximately 20 percent of teenagers admitted they engaged in the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves over the internet, according to the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
And where do a lot of those photos end up? On the website that is a monument to America's shift away from privacy towards exhibitionism: Facebook. How culturally influential is Facebook? As of the beginning of this year, the site had 600 million-plus monthly active users, a number that is twice the entire population of the United States. Twitter, the website site that Mr. Weiner used to send his photos, as well as sexually suggestive messages, boasts a user baseof 200 million, although there is some dispute about what constitutes "active" users. And then there is YouTube, the site where one can post original video content, which has more than 400 million unique visitors per month.
Facebook was created in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. (MySpace, which has largely declined in popularity, was created in 2003). Thus, the phenomenon which allows for cultural exhibitionism is relatively new. More importantly, and perhaps the primary reason such sites are expanding exponentially, is that they are egalitarian. Anyone with a modicum of technological knowhow can now reach unprecedented numbers of people with little or no expense involved. If one considers the fact that most people desire, at the very least, to be recognized — and far more likely to be famous — the attraction of social networking websites becomes irresistible.
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A 2009 study reveals a seismic shift within the space of a generation. The top three career aspirations of pre-teens 25 years ago were teaching, banking/finance and medicine. Today they are athlete, pop star and actor. Each of the current top three involves a level of exhibitionism either as a by-product (athlete) or by design (pop star, actor).
Yet the choices also reveal a rising level of unrealism as well. If one studies hard and applies oneself, careers in teaching, banking/finance and medicine are quite possible to attain. Becoming a professional athlete, pop star or actor requires enormous reservoirs of talent and/or luck. Since most people eventually have to deal with the fact that they're not going to be famous in the traditional sense, it is likely that social networking sites are seen as the next best thing.
Yet there is downside to such exhibitionism. While many social network users would like to think their tweets or other postings will remain private, simply because they have installed some sort of protection on their personal sites, they remain vulnerable to hacking. A leading online security firm reported that more than 40 percent of social network users have fallen victims to scams or had been sent malware. Such hacking can lead to serious problems, such as the dissemination of previously private material to millions of users, the creation of false information, or identity theft. Furthermore, each of these sites have been vulnerable to sexual predators, and thousands of these predators have been purged from each site over the years. New York state led the way in formally addressing the issue, passing the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act in 2008 (e-STOP) which has led to the removal of 24,000 social networking accounts and profiles linked to registered sex offenders.
Which brings us to the thorny aspect of Anthony Weiner's current situation. During his press conference on Tuesday, in which he finally admitted that he was behind the sexting messages sent from his account, he was unable to say with certainty how old the recipients were, contending that "to the best of my knowledge....I didn't have the sense that they were complete strangers...they are people I have developed relationships with online."
What if they're not of age? Will Mr. Weiner be forced to register as a sex offender? It is worth remembering he has said he will not resign because he contends that government resources were not used to sends the messages, nor did he break any House of Representatives rules or laws. "My home computer is usually where I did these things, said Weiner. "Nothing about this should reflect on my official duties or my time in office."
Will an investigation be forthcoming? The answer to that question is a convenient segue into the second paradigm shift which has occurred in the last few years: the rise of the alternative media. Perhaps nothing illuminates the contrast better than this exchange between mainstream media correspondent Matt Lauer, who co-hosts NBC's Today Show, and Andrew Breitbart who runs several new media websites, including BigGovernment.com and BigJournalism.com. Lauer questioned whether Breitbart's breaking of the story, which had earned him considerable scorn from the traditional media, violated conservative values which Lauer posited as not wanting "government in people's bedrooms." Breitbart demonstrated the inanity of such a question. "I'm not the government. You know, he tweeted to, you know, 45,000 people that image. A person sent it to me. I can't think of a world in which that isn't news," he responded.
Yet other than at Beitbart's BigGovernment.com website, it wasn't news. In ten days worth of interviews, every other media outlet was willing to buy Weiner's story that his account was "hacked," even as some were speculating that Breibart himself was the hacker. Nor is this first time Breitbart has scooped a mainstream media more than willing to ignore a big story. It was Breitbart who exposed the ACORN scandal, NPR's willingness to take funds from a Muslim front group, and the scam perpetrated by racial racketeers with respect to the Pigford Farmer scandal. Perhaps it is nothing more than a coincidence that each of these stories reveals corruption by reliably progressive constituencies.
Or perhaps not.
The next logical step for those who consider themselves investigative journalists would be to ascertain the ages of the women Mr. Weiner sexted. If even one of them turns out to be underage, Anthony's progressive apologists — along with addled Beltway conservatives such as Charles Krauthammer, who think Republicans should "lay off" — might be forced to re-consider. It is worth remembering six-term Florida Congressman Mark Foley resigned after sexting an underage former male page.
Weiner? Even if the scandal is just what it is now which, since I began writing this column, has been updated to include coaching at least of one the recipients to lie, Anthony has indicated he's determined to brazen it out and remain in Congress. Maybe so, but I'm betting that once Mr. Weiner realizes how this affects him going forward, the former high-profile, stand-before-the-cameras-and-pontificate point man for the Democrats will eventually be done in by the one thing that people like him can't stomach:
Democrat Party-enforced obscurity.
In the age of exhibitionism, it's a fate worse than death.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on JWR Contributor Arnold Ahlert's column, by clicking here.
Previously:
06/07/11: NAACP Betrays Black American Schoolchildren
06/02/11: For the First Time in My Adult Life . . .
05/31/11: If I Were President
05/25/11: California Dreamin'
05/23/11: On Wisconsin!
05/20/11: Obama's Farewell to Israel Speech
05/16/11: ‘Krauthammering’ Amnesty
05/11/11: Bounce, My Backside
05/09/11: The Epicenter of Progressive Contempt for the Rule of Law
05/03/11: SEALing Osama's Fate
05/02/11: The Education plantation
04/24/11: The Bell May Toll for Jersey Toll Collectors
04/19/11: From Medical Dependency to Dependency on the Welfare State
04/14/11: Trumping the Debate
04/06/11: It Takes a Bigot to Expose a Death Cult
04/04/11: Charlie and Snookie --- and Barack
03/30/11: ‘Disabling’ America, One Lawsuit at a Time
03/28/11: The MSM Kills the ‘Kill Team’ Story
03/23/11: Another Military Scandal
03/21/11: Barry, Joe, Helen and Wisconsin Teachers
03/16/11: The Inevitable Viability of Conservatism
03/14/11: Progressives in Their Own Words
03/09/11: $61 Billion in Cuts --- Vs. $223 Billion in One Month of Spending
03/07/11: Bean Bag B.S.
03/02/11: A ‘Green’ Catastrophe in the Making
02/28/11: Ain't Noting Like the Real Thing
02/23/11: Progressive Rot vs. the ROTC
02/21/11: Wisconsin: Progressivism in All its Ugly Glory
02/18/11: News reporters --- or Narrative Shapers?
02/16/11: The Presidents Budget Proposal: An Obamination of Progressive Profligacy
02/14/11: Only Another 9/11 Will Alter the Illegal Immigration Status Quo
02/10/11: Is O'Reilly losing his touch or is he just irresponsible?
02/07/11: Tossing Britain Under the Bus
02/03/11: Starving the World In Order to Save It
01/31/11: Walking the Middle East Tightrope
01/27/11: Small-scale Terrorist Attacks: Big Strategy?
01/24/11: Jeffery Immelt: A Crony Capitalist In Charge of Job Creation
01/20/11: An ‘Intimate’ Prime-time Interview
01/17/11: Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate
01/12/11: Twain vs. the Totalitarians
01/10/11: Politically Correct Passports?
01/05/11: Showdown at the Fiscal Corral
01/03/11: Reading the Constitution Aloud is a Good Start
12/30/10: Getting Our Moral Mojo Back
12/27/10: PC Airport Safety is an Oxymoron
12/23/10: Getting America Back On Track
12/20/10: A Collectivist Coalition of Convenience
12/15/10: The President Who Wasn't There
12/13/10: Tech-No!
12/08/10: A Lethal Military, Inclusive or Not
12/06/10: The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of Progressivism
12/01/10: Leakers and Losers
11/29/10: ‘We Won’, Part One
11/22/10: Keep Your Hands Off My Constitution
11/17/10: Grope and Change
11/14/10: Taking Back Our Country, One School At a Time
11/11/10: Checks (and Balances), Please
11/08/10: Curtain Up, Progressives Down
11/04/10: Last Chance, Republicans
11/01/10: By Their Own Words Shall Ye Know Them
10/28/10: Progressive Determination to Undermine American Elections
10/25/10: Shock, but more importantly, action: De-Unionize Public Schools now
10/20/10: Multiculturalism? Check, Please
10/18/10: Healthcare: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vs. The Constitution
10/11/10: Vote for Restoring the Rule of Law in November
10/11/10: Dems: Running From Clarity
10/07/10: Hypersensitive Hogwash
10/04/10: ‘Comprehensive’ Con Artists
09/29/10: Why Dems Are Going Down in November
09/27/10: The Unholiest of Unholy Alliances
09/22/10: Two Words for Republicans to Remember: ‘I Won’
09/20/10: Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians
09/17/10: No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
09/15/10: ‘Recovery’ Arms Race
09/13/10: ‘Bigots’ in the Majority --- Again?
09/09/10: Giving Voters Something to Vote For
09/07/10: Irresponsible Dems, Incomprehensible Bills
09/02/10: War Weary Americans vs. Implacable Islamists
08/31/10: A ‘Dream’ Debased
08/25/10: American ‘Bigots’ Versus Media Propagandists
08/23/10: Recovery Bummer
08/19/10: An Unholy Alliance of Radicals
08/16/10: You've Lost America, Mr. President
08/13/10: The Twin Towers of Progressive Disconnect
08/11/10: A Far Better ‘National Discussion’
08/09/10: It's ‘Only’ One Dead Nun
08/06/10: Incremental Tyranny
08/04/10: Ground Zero Mosque: Context Counts
08/02/10: The Arizona Ruling: a Gift for November
07/29/10: The United Cities of America
07/26/10: JournoList: ‘Coordinated’ Ideological Bankruptcy
07/20/10: Go For Broke Or Get Out of the Way
07/14/10: You're a Liberal/Progressive if You Believe…
07/12/10: $33-an-hour--For Sleeping On the Job
07/08/10: Extortionist Government
07/06/10: ‘Commerce Clause’ Totalitarians
07/01/10: Another Public School Travesty in MA
06/30/10: Calling YOUR Bluff, Mr. President
06/28/10: A Trifecta of Progressive Corruption
06/23/10: Plug the Darn Hole --- In Our Border
06/21/10: Our Empty-Suit-in-Chief
06/16/10: Betraying Our Children
06/14/10: Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
06/07/10: Politically Correct Warfare
06/01/10: Bill Maher's ‘Black’ President
05/25/10: A Mosque At Ground Zero
05/23/10: Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico
05/19/10: The 'Unintended Consequences' of Liberalism
05/17/10: 'Los' Suns: Stuck on Stupido
05/12/10: Union Audacity: Yes We Will!
05/10/10: Greeks, Leaks and and Double-Speak
05/05/10: Twelve Million Illegals --- or Thirty?
05/02/10: Republicans: Playing Not to Lose Doesn't Cut It
04/28/10: Arizona: Progressivism's Waterloo?
04/26/10: Son of Amnesty
04/22/10: Mortgages and Moral Meltdowns
04/20/10: Bashing Christians — Or Gays?
04/15/10: Personal Integri-‘tea’
04/12/10: Fools, Tools and Ghouls
04/08/10: (Tea) Party On
04/05/10: The Triumph of Mediocrity
04/02/10: Two For the Road
03/29/10: The Innate Immorality of Liberalism
03/24/10: The Art of War
03/22/10: I Want My Country Back
03/18/10: A Perpetual Process
03/17/10: American Exhibitionists
03/15/10: A Light Bulb Moment of Clarity
03/10/10: Little Things Mean A Lot
02/03/10: Budgetary Fork in the Road
02/01/10: Liberal Economic Illiteracy
01/27/10: ‘Roe-ing and Wade-ing’ Back to Reason
01/25/10: Arrogance When Up, Denial When Down
01/20/10: Connecting the Educational Dots
01/19/10: The Next Tea Party?
01/15/10: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
01/13/10: Airport Security Begins Away From the Airport
01/11/10: Secrets and Lies
01/08/10: Embracing Bigotry — or Rejecting Bullying?
01/06/10: Hanging by an Ideological Thread
01/04/10: Our ‘Wonderama’ Bureaucracy
12/30/09: A Day Off
12/28/09: Dangerous Myths
12/25/09: I, Me, Mine
12/23/09: A Very Harry Christmas
12/21/09: My Opinon
12/18/09: The Party of Repeal
12/15/09: Privileged Exemption
11/30/09: ‘Settled’ Science and Unsettled Children
11/30/09: American Sharia Law
11/23/09:The Trial (Travesty) of the Century
11/04/09: American Vampires and Their Political Enablers
11/01/09: ‘Opting Out’ of Insanity?
10/28/09: Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer. Brain Required
10/26/09: Communism: Nazism With Better PR
10/21/09: Just Asking
10/16/09: Cost Projections vs. Actual Costs, or Hope and Change vs. Reality
10/14/09: News you can use …
10/07/09: Incremental Insidiousness
10/05/09: MIA: Common Sense and Common Decency
09/30/09: Iran: Bad Options and Unpreparedness
09/21/09: Crying Racism: the Last Refuge of Scoundrels
09/11/09: 9/11 Cannot Be Sanitized
09/08/09: ‘Truthers’ and Consequences
09/01/09: A ‘Paper Trail’ Challenge for the Mainstream Media
08/31/09: Drowning in Amorality
08/26/09: The Republican Recovery Program
© 2011, Arnold Ahlert
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