Oprah’s gone off the deep end. She’s selling snake oil.
I almost filed this under humor, if what she was doing wasn’t so harmful. This article on Salon.com is worth the read. It details how Oprah has bought into the pseudo-philosophy of “The Secret,” by Rhonda Byrne.
“The Secret” espouses a “philosophy” patched together by an Australian talk-show producer named Rhonda Byrne. Though “The Secret” unabashedly appropriates and mishmashes familiar self-help clichés, it was still the subject of two recent episodes of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” featuring a dream team of self-help gurus, all of whom contributed to the project.
The main idea of “The Secret” is that people need only visualize what they want in order to get it — and the book certainly has created instant wealth, at least for Rhonda Byrne and her partners-in-con.
That’s it, just visualize it. Worse, if you’re poor, it’s because you’re blocking wealth with your mind.
From the article again:
Why “venality”? Because, with survivors of Auschwitz still alive, Oprah writes this about “The Secret” on her Web site, “the energy you put into the world — both good and bad — is exactly what comes back to you. This means you create the circumstances of your life with the choices you make every day.” “Venality,” because Oprah, in the age of AIDS, is advertising a book that says, “You cannot ‘catch’ anything unless you think you can, and thinking you can is inviting it to you with your thought.” “Venality,” because Oprah, from a studio within walking distance of Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green Projects, pitches a book that says, “The only reason any person does not have enough money is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts.”
Blame the victim.? The poor deserve their lot in life.
The entire article is worth reading and digesting.