Fame & Fortune is America's DNA

You won't get any argument that we're living in historic times. You will, though, on how to define history itself. Alexander Hamilton cynically said, "History is the story written by the winners!" Henry Ford, back when the company was still solvent, even more cynically said, "History is bunk!" Then there are those who simply call it a "necklace of anecdotes!"

Two personal anecdotes come to mind which may say something about the history of my America. One reflects its spirit of fame, and the other its spirit of fortune.

Our passion for fame is the later and the least of the two. Lately, Americans indulge in this sorcery daily, as the news of our celebrities takes up equal space with the news of our leaders. This American-Idol-Dance-with the Stars obsession has worked its way into the national DNA, so that which superstar is cheating on which partner gets the same headline treatment given to which rogue nation is cheating on which arms control. Hello.......?

As if to prove this startling habit, I once sat on the dais of a Roast for my friend Bob Newhart. As the "mystery roaster" I was in mask and costume sitting next to the Mayor, the Cardinal, and other prominent Chicagoans. But it was me many of the guests crowded around for an autograph. An autograph.......? Me....? Well, yes, their giggling explanation was, "You must be somebody famous!" It was then that a nameless me really understood how in today's America, name-and-fame has somehow become comparable to work-and-talent.

The second anecdote is closer to home. In fact, wherever you call home you can probably find this example tucked inside your front door during these spring days. It's those inevitable handbills, advertising local spring-cleaning services. Now think about it. Aren't these simple, hand-printed promises yet another optimistic example of American free enterprise in neighborhood action? I get several a week, suggesting to me that people still believe there's a new way to make a buck in this country.

Today's fat-cat CEOs now under populist attack trace back to the infamous tycoons of the 1920s and before them the even more infamous robber barons of the late 19th century. Still, they can all trace back to those back-pack peddlers and traveling salesmen who in time became the Wards and Sears and Marshall Fields and AT&T's and GE's of our time. It's called by many names, but capitalism will do.

Fame as a goal is often little more than seeing your lush mirage melt into the drifting sands. Fortune, on the other hand, is more substantial. However, as we're once more discovering, only when you make the honest effort to make the mirage come true.

Right now, both parts of our national DNA are being tested by history. No matter how you define it, history's pen is writing as we read it...