By Ehiwario O. Efeyini

Last night I was fortunate enough to share the rarified air of New York's Core Club with some of America's most celebrated entertainers. I was late, but was nonetheless just in time to catch John Legend croon the lead single from his platinum selling album 'Get Lifted'. The song was incongruously titled 'Ordinary People.' Against each delicate chord sequence and soulfully delivered rendition of "we're just ordinary people" I surveyed the array of socialites who were clearly not. The assembled bankers, artists and obligatory Euro-trash were interspersed with instantly recognizable celebrities. Usher Raymond, Montell Williams, Jermaine Dupri and even the gawky one from 'Saved by the Bell' were all in attendance. Quincy Jones, our host for the evening, was also there. So what was the purpose of this extravaganza for these 'ordinary people'? This question was deceptively difficult to answer in a satisfactory way. At first, I thought I had addressed it by looking at the program: "Quincy
Jones and the Harvard School of Public Health have joined forces to create Project Q to improve the health and well-being of children worldwid ... Created by Quincy Jones, the Q Prize is a prestigious award designed to showcase extraordinary leadership and advocacy on behalf of children." This at first made me feel better. This year's Q prize was awarded to one Scott Neeson, former Hollywood executive and now director of a safe house for abused children in Cambodia. Here was a guy who was obviously making a difference. A worthy winner. But a few things still did not quite add up.

For such a nobly minded gathering, things seemed distractingly mercenary. Swiss watchmakers and event sponsors Audemars Piguet successfully managed to etch their image on the consciousness of the hoard of potential customers they had payed to collect in the same room. They then delivered the coup de gras, with an auction of their finest timepieces in an alcove of the main floor. The sight of well-heeled men in sharp suits pledging tens of thousands of dollars for a watch was a somewhat awkward bed fellow of impoverished Asian street kids.

After paying for the plush premises, the free-flowing bar and the lavish feast (to which I was not invited) on Madison Avenue, I am sure that some of the money raised form sponsorship and donations managed to trickle down to some poor kids, but the tax levied for all these extravagances seemed unnecessarily high. Perhaps the sad truth of the matter is that in Adam Smith's world of self-interest, these sorts of enticements are in fact necessary. Nonetheless, it seemed a shame that such frivolous needs had to be served to get America's elite to be even indirectly interested in these important issues of poverty and inequality. And full glasses and stomachs were not the only needs to be surfeited. Vanity was another. The lion's share of the night's set pieces carried titles such as "Mentor of the Year: Quincy Jones" and "A Poem by Maya Angelou Honoring Quincy Jones". The common denominator was self-interest. Meanwhile the street children were featured as wretched specimens, tucked safely out of sight on the backs of pamphlets in the pit of the Audemars Piguet gift bags.

I felt that this sequence was a poignant reflection of the beastly nature of society at large. The fat get fatter and occasionally throw scraps down to the lowly. Meanwhile, socio-economic distinctions are fortified – us and them. 'They' become cases or causes, all the better with which to massage the egos of Scott Neeson and Quincy Jones. Don't get me wrong. I am not against attempts to assist the plight of the world's needy, even - I suppose - when it is so hideously enmeshed with the more trivial aspects of our culture.

Last night simply highlighted an inalienable truth. The institutionalized apathy of the many dominates the spirited commitment of the few. Though some resources may have filtered down to the street kids of Cambodia, how torrential would be that trickle if those morsels of self-interest were unconditional acts of genuine care.

Images:
[top] Ashok Pai with Quincy Jones
[middle] Ashok Pai with Tony Robbins

Even EGO has a bad hair day sometimes: Our Associate Publisher Ashok Pai was asked by the coat check staff to take off the beautiful rabbit fur hat he was wearing on his head!