So Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have split. Cue the collective gasp of a civilisation that has, apparently, nothing better to do. In the midst of wars, economic collapse, and environmental decay, the media—and by extension, the public—has chosen to fixate on the romantic entanglements of pop stars.
This is not merely trivial; it is symptomatic of a deeper rot. We are living in the late stages of an empire, where bread and circuses have been replaced by Instagram breakups and TikTok gossip. The fall of Rome had its gladiators and chariot races; we have Ariana Grande.
The comparison is not hyperbolic; it is precise. When a society loses the ability to distinguish between genuine crisis and manufactured drama, it has already begun its decline. The obsession with celebrity divorces is a form of intellectual decadence, a wilful ignorance of the crumbling world around us.
Do not mistake this for moralising. It is simply observation. We are, in the words of the historian Gibbon, 'sinking into a state of languor and indifference'.
The Grande-Slater split is not news. It is a distraction. And the fact that we treat it as news is the real story.
Wake up, or continue to amuse yourselves while the empire burns.
