> Why do people who proudly espouse an ideology whose hallmarks are
> rationalism, historical materialism, and egalitarianism engage in
> celebrity
> cults?
I'm not an Eminem aficionado, so I'm not sure about this, but wouldn't he be considered an artist? (At least technically.)
In that sense, Beethoven is a "celebrity" to me, and I don't think that contradicts rationalism, historical materialism, or egalitarianism. And Liszt was certainly a celebrity on the level of Eminem in his time.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ After the Buddha died, people still kept pointing to his shadow in a cave for centuries—an enormous, dreadful shadow. God is dead: but the way people are, there may be, for millennia, caves in which his shadow is still pointed to. — And we — we must still overcome his shadow! —Friedrich Nietzsche