Two Penn’orth: Hello? Fuck off

I apologise for this one; another rant about celebrity culture. I am on a relentless quest to find someone who feels as I feel. I cannot be the only one.

I renew this argument now in light of the current political climate. For a start, if the British economy is in as deep a crisis as the panic-mongers who feed us our news lead us to believe, we simply cannot afford to be spending our last few coins on this week’s _Hello_ magazine. On a slightly more serious note, I don’t believe I am being unrealistic in caring slightly more about Col. Gaddafi’s proximity to a jail than Lindsay Lohan’s.

There are certain things going on in today’s world that outweigh the trials and tribulations of who is getting hitched to whom, or who got sun-burnt in a tanning booth this week. Things I am currently worried about: the possible implementation of David Cameron’s big society, the people of Libya, the people of Japan, under-privileged children of future generations who might want to go to university, the elderly in winter, the men and women who have and will lose their jobs as a result of funding cuts, the men and women who will suffer as a result of cuts to public services, and many other topical issues which haunt our headlines every day. As if that wasn’t enough, a massive explosion hit the Fukushima plant in Japan as I was writing that list. And I’m still expected to care more about what dress Kate Middleton will be wearing on the big day?

Looking from a student perspective I only become more bitter. This was supposed to be our moment, our time. The first Tory (for the most part) government in over a decade, tuition fee rises and education cuts, cuts to public sectors and the MoD: we had the fuel, but not the fire. Type ‘Paris Riots 1968’ into Youtube and you get tiny, pixelated previews into what a true protest looks like. They made the student protests of 2010 look like a moderately relaxed funfair, only with less candy floss and more policemen on horses.

I urge you now: put down the glossies. Let’s be honest; they’re shit. They’re shallow and pointless; a waste of your money, a waste of your time and a waste of your brain. Pick up something different tomorrow. You can even find it now; there’s a wonderful little invention known as the inter-webs, or so I’ve heard, where you can get numerous facts, opinions and views about almost any issue you could think of.

I’ll put it like this: the death toll in Japan is currently rumoured to be around 700, and is expected to rise. Families, economies, lives; a country has been broken. Don’t expect me to care what Paris Hilton’s doing this weekend.