Watching and reading various media sources today I noticed a general order of news priority:

• The death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen
• Revised death toll from the earthquake in Haiti to 217,000
• Celebrations and comment surrounding the 20 year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.

We live in a world where a relatively small number of inhabitants are overwhelmingly preoccuppied with the luxury of appearance while an overwhelmingly large number of inhabitants are preoccupied with surviving.

Perhaps you might argue that both the Haitian earthquake and Nelson Mandela are older news and so naturally will be less prominent. Perhaps you could argue that fashion is not just clothes but art and a commentary on our times. Perhaps you could argue that this snapshot of media priorities is not a true reflection of Western cultural values.

Perhaps…
PH