There is an explosion of reality tv shows based around the lives of the rich and notorious of the world. There are the famous for being famous ones, like the Kardashians. There are the ones that claim to be ‘real’ with titles like the Real Housewives of something or other, with their latest addition in Vancouver, Canada, much to the country’s shame. Then there are the ones that cater to awful cultural stereotypes of the stinking rich like Shahs of Sunset.Their common thread is that everyone in these shows are just awful. Petty, vapid, dim-witted and downright mean are just a few of their key characteristics. They ride in limos, wear obnoxious clothing, drink profusely and go to lavish events. For some viewers, it’s a whole new world that they can only imagine, an occasion to take a peak behind the velvet rope. For others, they delight in the spectacle of Chardonnay throwing and verbal abuse slung out by mean-spirited and often drunk rivals.

Our fascination as a society with the rich is an enduring tradition which hasn’t changed much since the days the plebes created farces of the rich in public theaters. It’s also been thought that the rich were naturally different than everyone else, depending on which side of the Fitzgerald-Hemingway debate you’re on. Fitzgerald: the rich are very different from you and I. Hemingway: yes. They have more money.

In North American culture, the rich represent an ideal, one which is thought to be accessible to all through hard work and smarts. This principle is quickly eroding in the face of inheritance, entitlement, celebrity for the sake of celebrity and the ever-increasing gap between the very rich and the very poor. There is a point in every civilization’s history when the rich move away from being the top of the social pyramid which contributes largely to the whole of society to a parasitic, useless class which produces little and takes too much. This large gap is usually one of the first tipping points of the breakdown of civilization into decline.

So while the majority of us delight in seeing the rich auto-destruct on prime time television, we should be careful to consider what this actually means for our civilization. We think we’re witnessing the top 1% eat each other; but they’re taking us with them.