Oprah "Community Organizes" for Capitalism

The graduating class of Duke University this year had the privilege of Oprah giving their commencement speech. Her advice to the class of 2009: seriously, being rich is really cool because you can own a ton of mansions and fly around on a private jet.

Well at least she's honest. But is this really practical advice for a class that that is facing one of the worst job markets ever?

A great commencement speech holds advice for the future, for when those hopeful grads walk out of the campus, diplomas in hand, into the real world. Oprah's advice? "It's great to have a nice home. It's great to have nice homes! It's great to have a nice home that just escaped the fire in Santa Barbara," she told the students. "It's great to have a private jet. Anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn't great is lying to you."

Oprah's main point in the speech was to serve others in life. Still, promoting the idea of owning a private jet was perhaps not the best word choice for our fragile grads who are entering into a workforce, fighting with laid-off industry veterans for entry-level positions.

The private jet industry has recently become a symbol of what is wrong with corporate America, as banks and auto leaders fly solo to Washington while sucking up our government bailout money. The WSJ has a simple solution for them: a new advertising campaign with Oprah, in front of her $42 million custom-built Bombardier Aerospace Global Express XRS ride saying, "It's great to have a private jet."

Sure, you can praise Oprah for not being a hypocrite. She's rich and she's proud of it. It's kind of tacky to flaunt your riches in a recession, but whatever.

But here's why she is hypocritical. Oprah flaunts her philanthropy. She's one of the biggest givers in the country, donating millions each year to her various causes, so she has a right to do so. But how can a woman who opens up a school for girls in Africa, tries her luck at a vegan diet, and even launched a (failed) philanthropical reality TV show, flaunt the benefits of owning a private jet?

Flying private is one of the single most damaging things a person can do to the environment. A passenger flying in a private Gulfstream G400 puts out 1 ton of carbon emissions, while a passenger in first class on a Boing 777 puts out only .06.

Stars like Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Travolta, and Al Gore have all been blasted for preaching the dangers of global warming, while meanwhile expanding their own carbon footprints by jetting around the world in style.

High fuel prices have caused celebs like Diddy and Michael Jackson to fly commercial. And if Diddy and MJ can put up with the hassle of late flights and long lines, I'm sure Oprah can too. And there are even other options like jet ride sharing. It's like carpooling for celebs. Or Warren Buffet, who has made carbon offsetting mandatory for his private jet clientele.

But if you're going to keep your jet, Oprah, at least think twice before encouraging an entire class of graduates to aspire to owning one too. And hopefully they'll get some career advice from their parents.

This story was originally published on WalletPop.com.

Comments

[writerjohnny]

NEWSFLASH!!!! The Big "O" is a CAPITALIST! Seriously, who knew? Culture writers expounding on the class struggle. I have an idea. Get a real job. Oprah and Trump and Limbaugh will ALL hire mercenaries to kill working class organizers to protect their assets. Writing about "capitalist culture" is like writing about a dead fish. This is what I would write and then I would be done with that job, "capitalist culture stinks like a dead fish.".

[toocoldout]

Don't attack Oprah because she's successful. This is a woman who has overcome poverty, sexual abuse, racism, illegitimacy, drugs, teen pregnancy & weightism to become the most philanthropic African American & performer of all time. Business Week estimates that behind the scenes she's given over $300 million to charity. So don't call her a capitalist. She's simply a brilliant business woman who has achieved the American dream at the expense of NO ONE and has given back more than almost EVERYONE!

[Mila NYC]

Did you actually listen to Oprah speech??Bad case of selective hearing. For some reason you decided to take her words out of context without even bothering to mention that what Oprah actually said is that its great to have a great house and a private jet but none of these really matter unless you find your way to give back!
"It's great to have a nice home. It's great to have nice homes! It's great to have a nice home that just escaped the fire in Santa Barbara," she said. "It's great to have a private jet. Anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn't great is lying to you. You may achieve great things, but you haven't completed the circle of success until you help someone else move to a higher ground and get to a better place."
For some reason you decided to skip second part of her sentence and shame on you for that.

[canfemlib]

See if you can track down some of Oprah's much earlier shows, before she was flooded with commerical sponsors and giveaways. She was genuinely interested in enriching the lives of women. Then it all went Hollywood.­. I hope she hits a mid-life crisis and finds her way back to strengths of caring on a personal level, believing in self-improvement through what is around you (encouraging women to walk and go to the galleries and librairies), instead of touting the things a woman simply must have......

[SeanGardner]

You have every right to make a big deal of Oprah's jet flying (with respect to how it affects the environment). But as for what you call her "(failed) philanthropical reality TV show", you couldn't be more wrong.

Actually, her show consistently garnered 10-12 million viewers. Consistently. And when it was over, ABC wanted to renew it, but Oprah did not. So it was not a "failure", but in fact a success - a success Oprah did not want to extend beyond one season.

[Ivatsol]

Oprah is after all only an American.