An Open Letter to Oprah

I have, for years, wanted to write an open letter to Oprah but I don’t suppose I ever will. The reason I would like to write that letter to Oprah is that every time I open one of those Oprah magazines about living your best life, I can’t help but notice that the advice would appear to be insane to a young kid living in central Africa with a limited life span because s/he was born HIV positive. In addition, the constant threat of genocide from other tribes in the area, political dictators who enjoy bloodshed, and starvation, make buying a Gucci bag seem somewhat inane. I have yet to see an Oprah magazine that explains to people earning $1100 per month how to buy good food, pay the rent, and cover medical expenses on a rate of pay that is 50% below the poverty line, but legal because it is the minimum wage. I guess I want to criticize Oprah.

The Truth About Attitude, Attitude, and Attitude
Oprah is also very fond of saying that positive thoughts matter and she quite often advocates books like ‘The Secret’ and various other books that speak about the Laws of Attraction. Effectively, these schools of thought advocate that attitude determines outcomes. That is most definitely true to some degree.

However, to insist that attitude is all there is to it, is to misunderstand the sheer power of events outside one’s control. It is, in fact, nothing but ignorance and arrogance combined, and is highly dangerous when no degree of positive attitude will change the circumstances. No degree of positive thought by one person will change Mugabe’s murderous government in Zimbabwe, and no degree of positive thought will stop a deadly earthquake or volcano from killing those in their path.

In addition, if people think everything is attitude, they might be desperately trying to change their attitude, rather than changing the current tyrant who is responsible for their misery. Oprah’s magazine has a lot to say about attitude. I think it should begin have a more balanced outlook. Everything is NOT attitude.

And, of course, my letter to Oprah would cover all these points!

Balance
Finding true balance is difficult at the best of times; finding it when societal values are skewered can be virtually impossible. And nothing is more skewered than consumerism. Oprah’s entire magazine seems to be built on consumerism. Citizenship is the other side of the coin and is more worthy than consumerism. Balance would ensure that both sides were open to examination. A lack of balance would focus on one more than the other.

Balance is vital to both the ability to survive and a sense of well being. Balance is that thin line that takes both points of view into consideration and makes the choice that will ensure both the safety and well being of one individual without encroaching on the safety and well being of another individual. Not sure whether an open letter to Oprah would do any good, but sometimes, I really want to write to Oprah and tell her all these things.

Laws of Success vs Laws of a Good Life
Far too much is written about being successful and far too little is written about living a good life. The two are mostly not the same thing. One may be tremendously successful in earning money and being famous. Take Bernie Madoff, for example. Until he was caught out, most people would have thought he was a very successful person. There are many people out there who have buckets of money and are very well known without it being known how exactly they reached that point of success.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t know what happens behind the scenes, and we know even less how much dishonesty there was involved in reaching that point. Am I being overly cynical in thinking it’s highly unlikely to reach a point of extreme wealth without corners being cut?

In the early 80s, I did a study on extreme wealth. One book I read contained interviews with the super wealthy. I found some statements fascinating. They all admitted to crossing the legal line at some point and said that if they had not done so, they would not have been able to attain super wealth.

That said, however, today we live in a time when certain parameters do permit super wealth without crossing those lines. This has to do with super efficient means of communication like television and the internet. However, being super successful does not mean the same as living a good life.

What is Living a Good Life?
Living a good life means that one’s life matters to others, and that friends and family values who one is and what one contributes. It means that one has managed to negotiate earning a living without impairing the world around one. It means having decent health and sufficient energy to do the work one needs to and enjoy the pleasures one loves. It means a balance in all things. People who live good lives seldom worry about having excessive wealth. They also seldom worry about status markers. Living a good life is the best thing that one can do with one’s life. And despite Oprah’s constant idiom ‘living your best life’, it seems that her interpretation of living one’s best life has a lot to do with living the upper middle class consumer best life. I'm amazed that more people don't write a letter to Oprah and complain about her emphasis on such materialistic values.

A Better Oprah Magazine?
Wouldn’t it be nice to read a magazine where the accent was not on buying more products but on living more in balance with other people and one’s environment? Wouldn’t it be nice of Oprah to try to give people sound advice on how to live on $1200 per month? Wouldn’t it be nice if Oprah started speaking about situations where attitudes do not change environment, and give people the tools to change the environment when it is beyond the control of one person or many? Now that would really be contributing to humanity! And if I'm not going to write that open letter to Oprah, do you think there is any chance someone else will?