by Bethany Vanderzand

Created on: April 22, 2008   Last Updated: June 20, 2011

Celebrities who break the law are almost always released with a "slap on the wrist", and one should think it painfully obvious as to why. We've all heard of the Golden Rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules. The judicial system is easily corrupted by money and turns a blind eye to those who have it. Celebrities are wealthy beyond belief, and therefore can easily buy their way out of trouble, regardless of the crimes they have committed or the evidence mounted against their innocence. The same rules do not apply to the common man because he has little to no material wealth or social standing. Celebrities can afford bail and fines, reputable lawyers who construct unbelievable defenses, a mass of fans who are indisposed to support their guilt, and the ability to bribe crooked judges. Their notoriety, wealth and powerful connections buy them their immunity from the consequences of disobeying the law and allow them to sway justice.

Our prisons are filled with lower-class minor drug offenders, yet child molestors like Michael Jackson and murderers like O.J. Simpson are free to prowl the streets because of their wealth and status. The poor man gets booked, and the rich man is set free. This is the world we have built up for ourselves out of ignorance and greed. This is democracy in America, this is the Land of Opportunity, or at least this is what we have let it become. Justice is but a fleeting ideal - an illusion that everyone talks about and no one demands. Justice is a fairy-tale we tell our children to instill in them false images of a glorious nation we have never actually known.

The current American economy was set in place to keep the rich, rich and the poor, poor. It accommodates the powerful and enslaves those impoverished. The rich have more influence in government, and more rights and freedoms than the general public. So, naturally, celebrities are going to get away with things you and I never could, regardless of how diligently we pay our taxes or how clean our driving record is or how often we volunteer and recycle.

Money is the god America worships, and he who has money is as good as a god.

Learn more about this author, Bethany Vanderzand.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.