Will MTV Be Responsible For Our Financial Demise?

Imagine a time in the near distant future when the government finally acknowledges that social security is doomed and our nation’s debt tops 3 quadrillion dollars.  Would we come together as a nation and try to get out of our predicament?  Doubtful.  I would say that we have a better chance of Snooki getting a scholarship to a school other than Empire Beauty than for that to happen.

Instead of trying to fix the problem, there is no doubt that the public will be more energized to debate whom is to blame for this mess.  Some, especially those who have MSNBC.com as their home page, will blame our financial problems on Bush.  Others, like the Fox News fanatics, will blame it on Obama.

However, the real culprit here is MTV.  Yes, the cable television network that used to play videos once in a while, MTV is now corrupting our country by barraging it with constant irresponsible and unrealistic financial role models.

Let’s take a look at some of MTV’s more popular shows and see what kind of financial lessons are being taught:

Jersey Shore–Did you know that “The Situation” now makes $5 million/year.  Don’t worry, the rest of the cast is not doing too bad, making $30,000 an episode.  As a result, it is not surprising that money never seems to come up during the show.  Snookie can easily plop down $350 sunglasses at a “tranny store.”  In addition, the seven roommates are portrayed as going out almost every night, spending without any regard  on liquor, cab fare, and condoms.  When you add in all the gym fees, trips to the tanning salons, and hair spray costs, you can easily figure out that their part-time jobs at a gelato shop couldn’t cover 1/10th of their expenses.  Not exactly good financial role models!

The Real World–This is the unreal story about how 7 strangers are picked to live in a house that they could never afford. . . work together at a part time job that would not even cover their party expenses for a week. . .  have their life taped while being compensated by MTV. . .to find out what happens after careful editing. . .when people stop being polite. . . and start getting “real.”

Teen Mom–According to the Agriculture Department, the average cost of raising a child to maturity is $222,360.  But do we see the teen parents taking a second job (or sometimes first), cutting coupons for diapers, or anything that can be considered remotely frugal.  (Oh wait, there was that one time that Gary decided that it might be smart to return the new Xbox he bought since the money was supposed to be for diapers.)  When a financial crisis does seem to occur, like Farrah losing $3000 in an internet scam, the consequences are just glossed over.  I seriously doubt Farrah working a couple of extra shifts was enough to cover her $2600 checking account deficit.  In addition, there was no follow through the following episode, leading the viewers to believe that the problem was miraculously solved.   Yes, some of these young parents are getting help from their parents and all of them are getting help from MTV.   The question I have after watching every episode is how can EVERY one of these kids afford a better cell phone than I have?

Okay, maybe I am picking on MTV here.  After all they do have a show entitled True Life that does tackle real world problems an hour at a time.  But what does it say that they have to entitle the show True Life?  Still, any goodwill earned by that show was certainly erased by The Hills pseudo reality show.

So here is the situation folks–unless we teach our country’s youth a little personal finance, R.J. Berger will not be the only one having hard times.