Fame, Fortune, Cars, Women and Immortality – Part 1: Fame

14 Sep 2026 16 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Robots may one day bring us all supper.  AI programs may one day make college degrees obsolete.  Quantum computers may one day manage our finances and even our lives.  However, there are some things that no programs or electronic devices can ever give us. 

As a man growing up in America, the five things that I dreamed of, lusted for, desired more of than anything else, and sometimes broke my heart over, were: Fame, Fortune, Cars, Women and Immortality.  These were my gods.  These were my icons. 

Perhaps if I were a woman growing up in America, children would be included in this pantheon of desires.  If I am showing any sexism here, you will forgive me.  I grew up in an Italian family in Brooklyn, New York with a father who was a very typical American male of his day.  The message I received from him about women was that they belonged in either the bedroom or the kitchen.  Of course, they still  had to be desirable and beautiful.  It was all the better if all the guys on the corner envied you your girlfriend.  Needless to say, I never had a girlfriend while in high school or while hanging out on the street corner.

Today, I see that Fame and Fortune are still the Pied Pipers of existence.  Fame and Fortune are the pathways or tickets to fast cars or perhaps large trucks and glamorous women but most of all Immortality. 

I want to talk about the connections, relationships or nexus between these five concepts.  What do they have to do with each other?  Why do they loom so large in the minds of so many people?  What is the glue that binds them all together?  How do they end up killing our souls and spirits? 

The Bible says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:10.  Money itself is not evil.  It is the mindless pursuit of money which is the evil.  The pursuit of something that recognizes no boundaries.  The pursuit which leads men and women to use illegal and immoral means to obtain their goals or if you will their Gods. 

Fame, fortune, cars, women, and immortality have become Gods for many of us.  Even those of us who learn to stop this reckless pursuit often admire, envy or dream of the attainment of one or more of these Gods.  How can you not want a God when all around you society is telling you how great you will be if you can only grasp a God.  Obtaining any of these Gods makes you at least a quasi-God.  

Fame:

You are admired and lauded by millions of adoring fans.  The paparazzi clamor to get your photo.  The reporters all want to get an interview with you.  Other rich people want to stand by your side or be your friend.  You get invited to the best hotels, the best restaurants, the best places.  Everyone wishes that they could get just a bit of your glamor.  You live in a house that could easily hold five families.  What does fame bring you?  Power.  Power and fame open doors.  Power and Fame go together like the Yin and Yang of existence. 

But fame has a downside.  Fame can cost you your soul.  If power can corrupt, fame can slowly extinguish your being.  You may no longer be you.  You become an image.  You have a reputation to maintain.  A persona that must be adhered to.  You no longer know who your real friends are or who are just sycophants who want a piece of your glory. 

You must walk and talk a certain way.  You must act and dress a certain way.  You belong to the public, and the public thinks that they own you.  You cannot go any place and just have peace and quiet.  Your old friends have fallen away because your glow has become too bright for them.  You stand on a pedestal that you have created.  You have become a God, and others can only worship you.  You are no longer a real person.  You are a celebrity.  You are a media personality.  A social influencer.  One of Fortune magazine’s 100 most admired people in America. 

But fame is fleeting. 

  • Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wing. Only one thing endures and that is character. – Horace Greeley
  • Don’t confuse fame with success.  Madonna is one; Helen Keller the other. – Erma Bombeck

Once upon a time you were “King of the Hill.”  Today you are a has-been.  A guy or gal who once made it big but are now forgotten.  No one views your old movies anymore.  No one  buys your albums.  The public has moved on.  Your invites to special events have become only memories.

You are now alone in your big mansion.  You are wondering how you are going to pay the bills.  No contracts are coming your way.  Your agent does not answer your calls.  Your spouse has left you for greener passions and taken most of your savings.  You lost all your old friends because you did not have any time for them.   

You wanted fame and you got it.  You forgot the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.”  You thought Fame would bring you happiness.  You reveled in the power that opened doors for you.  You even thought that Fame would make you immortal.  Like the Gods of Greece.  Like Zeus and Apollo and Athena, you thought that your Fame would echo down through the centuries.  They would at least erect monuments in your name. 

But perhaps beneath the desire for power, fame and even immortality was something still more fundamental.  You wanted someone to see you and say, “You matter.”  Fame promises that recognition on an enormous scale.  Immortality promises that you will continue to matter even after you are gone.  But being known by millions is not the same thing as being loved by one person who actually knows you.

You go to the refrigerator to make your own sandwich.  The maid and cook are things of the past.  You look for something edible and remember the old days when at home your mom made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  But you only have croissants and no jelly in the refrigerator.  You would call your mom and see if she could come over to make you a sandwich, but then you remember that she passed away a few years ago.  You did not go to her funeral because you were on a shoot.  You did send a nice bouquet of flowers. 

Life is not fair you think but again you remember your dad and mom telling you that life is never fair.  Your dad passed away a few years before your mom.  You regret that you did not spend more time with him.  Your parents seemed so proud of you when you became famous.  However, you remember your mom telling you that fame or not, they loved you and were always proud of you.  You wonder if Fame and Love can go together? 

Or are Fame and Love mortal enemies? 

What did Fame bring me?  You ponder this question.  Where can you get an answer?  You go to your computer AI program and type in the prompt:  “Are Fame and Love Mortal Enemies?”  Your AI program gives you the following reply:

Perhaps not mortal enemies—but they are uneasy companions.

Love depends on intimacy, trust, vulnerability, and the feeling that someone values us for who we are rather than for what we represent.  Fame works in almost the opposite direction.  It turns a person into an image, a commodity, or even a fantasy belonging partly to the public.

The famous person faces a peculiar problem: Who loves me, and who loves being close to my fame?  At the same time, the partner may wonder: Am I sharing this person with millions of strangers?

Fame also brings temptation, constant attention, travel, unusual power, and people eager to please.  None of these makes genuine love impossible, but each can put extraordinary pressure on it.

Perhaps the greatest danger is that fame feeds the ego while love requires us, at least occasionally, to forget the ego.

So, fame and love are not mortal enemies.  But love asks two people to create a small private world together, while fame continually invites the whole world inside.

In Part 2, I will deal with what Fortune Means to Us:   

16 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ's avatar SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ
    Sep 14, 2026 @ 06:06:32

    Dear John,

    Even though you have published only the first part, I would like to introduce you to the overarching theme for the five secular “Gods” detailed in your essay, namely, Fame, Fortune, Cars, Women and Immortality, which essentially form the foundational blueprint of the manosphere, which is an interconnected network of online male spaces, including pick-up artists (PUAs), “Alpha male” influencers and Red Pill forums. In these digital spaces, these five elements are treated as the ultimate metrics of male worth.

    Your essay’s themes directly connect to the core concepts and modern terminology of the manosphere as follows:

    1. Fame becomes “Status and Clout”

      • Your Essay’s View: Fame brings power, adoring fans and public recognition. It is the ticket to being admired and idolised.
      • The Manosphere Connection: The manosphere treats fame as Status or Clout. Influencers use live streams, podcasts and social media dominance to build personal brands. Followers are told that they have “no value” unless they build a high social status, which is viewed as a currency used to rank men as either “High-Value” or “Low-Value”.

    2. Fortune becomes “Hustle Culture”

      • Your Essay’s View: Money is chased relentlessly, often without boundaries, as a tool to gain power and escape societal limits.
      • The Manosphere Connection: The manosphere monetises this pursuit through Hustle Culture. A standard nine-to-five job is framed as submission to a rigged system, often called “the Matrix”. To escape, young men are funnelled into subscription-based “academies” that promise wealth through crypto trading, dropshipping or aggressive self-maximisation. Financial wealth is presented as the primary foundation of modern masculinity.

    3. Cars become “Conspicuous Consumption”

      • Your Essay’s View: Fast cars or large trucks are the physical status symbols used to make peers envious.
      • The Manosphere Connection: The manosphere relies heavily on Conspicuous Consumption insofar as influencers frequently pose with fleets of supercars (like Bugattis or Lamborghinis), private jets and luxury mansions to prove their authority. The supercar acts as immediate visual proof that a man has won the “game” of life. It is also used as marketing material to sell courses to insecure followers.

    4. Women become “Sexual Market Value (SMV)”

      • Your Essay’s View: Women are treated as beautiful prizes to be won, kept in the kitchen or bedroom, and used to make other men jealous.
      • The Manosphere Connection: The manosphere uses highly transactional terms to describe relationships, such as Sexual Market Value (SMV). Women are frequently commodified and viewed as status symbols rather than romantic partners. Within this framework, intimacy is cast as a privilege granted by the man, whereas domestic care is viewed as something owed to him. This dynamic reinforces a rigid gender hierarchy and male dominance.

    5. Immortality becomes “Legacy and the Alpha Identity”

      • Your Essay’s View: The desire for immortality is driven by an existential need to defeat death and ensure that one’s name echoes down through the centuries.
      • The Manosphere Connection: The manosphere translates immortality into building a Legacy and achieving an “Alpha” Identity. By completely mastering wealth, fitness and social dominance, a man is told that he can become invulnerable to economic changes and social rejection. This hyper-masculine ideal promises a form of digital immortality, whereby a man’s legacy is defined by his power and self-reliance.

    The Shared Downside: Isolation versus Intimacy

    The most significant link between your essay and the manosphere is the psychological outcome. You warn that chasing these external idols destroys the soul, leading to a large mansion filled with total isolation. The manosphere produces the identical issue:

    • The Strategy: It encourages men to suppress their emotions, treat relationships like financial markets, and view vulnerability as a weakness.
    • The Result: The result of replacing genuine connection with power and status symbols cuts men off from authentic intimacy. Just like the lonely celebrity in your essay, the man who follows this blueprint risks achieving wealth and status whilst remaining entirely isolated from meaningful human love.

    Yours sincerely,
    SoundEagle🦅ೋღஜஇ 音鷹

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  2. SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ's avatar SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ
    Sep 14, 2026 @ 06:12:21

    Dear John,

    I just submitted a very long comment here a few minutes ago. The said comment is very relevant and thought-provoking. Thank you for publishing your excellent post here.

    Happy mid-September to you!

    Yours sincerely,
    SoundEagle🦅ೋღஜஇ 音鷹

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatar Dr. John Persico Jr.
      Sep 14, 2026 @ 18:16:17

      I have been thinking of a good reply. Your thoughts are so insightful SoundEagle that they litterally leave me speechless. I will get on a good response after my supper. I actaully started one about ten minutes ago but lost it.

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      • SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ's avatar SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ
        Sep 14, 2026 @ 18:22:57

        Dear John,

        Happy mid-September to you!

        Yours sincerely,
        SoundEagle🦅ೋღஜஇ 音鷹

        Liked by 1 person

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        • Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatar Dr. John Persico Jr.
          Sep 14, 2026 @ 18:58:53

          Dear SoundEagle. I was astounded by your insightful and very thoughtful analysis of my blog post. You have given me a good start on continuing the series. I always get tired of doing a series as the subject gets somewhat redundant. I have mixed feelings about doing my 12 part series on violence but I think it is needed. I will try to break up each series with some sort of interludes. I wrote one such on Sunday after going to church with my wife. It is called “Who decides who is a Christian.” It is a satire but I hope people see the humor. Getting back to your analyis. I will use your ideas verbatim in quotes and giving you full credit. You have really helped me with these concepts. I often start off with a hazy idea of things which cooks when I start doing more research. In this case your ideas have given me some fruit for thought.. Sorry, If I did not get on it right away, but I really needed to reflect more and not write without some thought. John

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  3. jennygirl1278's avatar jennygirl1278
    Sep 14, 2026 @ 08:11:09

    Fame would have been nice, and so would fortune, but I am satisfied with what life has dealt. These days I do not want for anything, although I am by no means rich by some standards, but I am comfortable. I have never cared about expensive cars, nor did I want to live in a mansion.
    Perhaps a story my late mother told me, and I have never forgotten, made an impression. It tells of a humble couple living in a small home with their 4 young children. They had frequent visits from a very wealthy aunt who arrived in a chauffeur driven limousine. One day as the aunt was leaving ,and as they were waving their hands to say goodbye, the wife turned to the husband and said, “ I wish we were rich”. Her husband then replied, “ We are rich dear, maybe someday we’ll have more money”.

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  4. kwholley63's avatar kwholley63
    Sep 14, 2026 @ 09:33:04

    none of this stuff ever mattered much to me. I was always good as long as I had a job and got salary increases to provide but never chased these things, they actually don’t fit my personality

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    • Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatar Dr. John Persico Jr.
      Sep 14, 2026 @ 10:48:25

      Nice to know that some people can be REAL STRANGE and not fit the ALL AMERICAN MODE. How do you do it Kevin? No Jealousy or Regrets? No comparing yourself to friends, neighbors and billionaires? That is a very remarkable and noteworthy trait. I wish I had it. I would still like to be rich knowing that it would probably corrupt me but I could or would take the chance. On the other hand, it has never been anything I want to sacrifice my life for. I was more like the grasshopper. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow I might kick the bucket. Thanks for your comment. I will pray for you. 🙂

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      • kwholley63's avatar kwholley63
        Sep 14, 2026 @ 11:51:21

        I never really cared who had what. The two main material things I wanted were a Harley, and I bought it. Then sold it when I moved to Florida; they are terrible drivers. A BMW- never got it- and other things were more important. Even as I approached retirement, my goal was a place to sleep, some books to read, and a few nice spots like a coffee shop or outdoor cafe to enjoy. I got all those. I would like to maybe see Europe, but it does not consume me. I never even read my reviews the last 10 years of work. I always said, “Do I have a job and keep getting paid?” The answer was yes, and the review was done. I was just happy with what I could get based on my efforts, and if people wanted other things, that was cool with me, but I never really cared to chase anything. My goal was to provide as best I could, and that took up a lot of time. When we relocated to Brazil, we gave away a garage full of crap.

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  5. Deermoonflower's avatar Deermoonflower
    Sep 14, 2026 @ 14:02:43

    I admire this kind of radically honest reflection! It may be hard to admit our motivations like this sometimes! Better to know yourself, I think!!

    This reminds me a little bit of scarcity mindset vs abundance mindset.

    I think some of these desires could partly come from perceiving scarcity.

    I like to practice cultivating an abundance mindset but scarcity mindset still crops up in my thinking and that’s when I notice jealousy or things that don’t really feel aligned with my real values.

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    • Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatar Dr. John Persico Jr.
      Sep 14, 2026 @ 18:03:10

      Thanks Deermoonflower. I like to be honest in my writings. Some have been hard. I think your point on scarcity is well taken. Perhaps it points to one divide among humans, those who think scarcity and those who can look past it. It would probably make a big difference I suspect in how one reacts to the world. I can think of direct impacts it might have on how people view immigration. On the other hand, I would be speculating. THanks for the comment. John

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