[MD] Is Paris Hilton the end of culture?

[Case]

[David M]
I wonder about our trash culture, of course it is more popular and 
democratic and available than culture was in the past and it is 
pretty trashy (yet far from entirely). But where else would we expect 
it to begin but at the bottom?

[Arlo]
To clarify upfront, I have nothing against "popular culture". I am 
not so highbrow an elitist to yearn for a world devoid of The Clash, 
LOST, Doom 3, and books such as "When the Ass Saw the Angel". Often, 
what is deemed "vulgar" by the elite brings us dynamic sarcasm, wit, 
commentary, and criticism. And aside from this there is nothing wrong 
with just being entertained. To toss out Dave Sim's Cerebus comic 
series in favor of Melville presents a world mired in old, static 
patterns. While I enjoy Bach and Mozart and even Cage, give me some 
ale and folk guitar and lutes and drums any day.

So I want to make it clear that my position is NOT one of some 
elitist, highbrow seeking to replace all art with the "approved 
masters of the past".

I also don't think its even possible to maintain a Dynamic system 
that closes off the door to all "bad" art. For every LOST, there will 
be a condescendingly idiotic "Simple Life". I'm okay with that. What 
I have trouble with is why so many people make the absolute worst of 
what's out their the most popular. I expect that some people will 
always be drawn to the lowest thing out there, but so many? That's 
what gets me. And I think its reflective of an overall value that has 
gotten latched in American culture.

More on that later.

[Case]
I hear you. It is not so much surprise that the lowest common denominator is
so low as disappointment; sadness even.