They Shoot Falcon’s, Don’t They?

Thanks to my hero, Frank Rich, of the New York Times, for the inspiration for this thread.

Making money, and seeking one’s moment of fame these days is much like it was in the 1930’s  according to a recent NY Times editorial by Frank Rich.  The 1935 book, and then 1969 movie, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, examined the common man’s desperation for survival and attention at an especially despondent time in the history of this country.  The corruption and venality of current-day reality television and the dance marathon movement of the 1930’s are compared by Rich and unsettling similarities are revealed.

So, is it so terrible to expose one’s children to real or imagined danger if the goal is 15 minutes of fame, which can in turn, be exploited for obsence profits?  Has this Great Recession become the most recent version of the Great Depression?  What do you fine bloggers think?