The other day I saw an in-store display that featured a model taking a selfie using a high-end digital camera with a flip up LCD screen. It struck me as the perfect metaphor for America in 2017. But, of course, I was being narrow minded. It’s really a perfect metaphor for the world. In an era when our regional cultures can feel increasingly isolated, it’s nice to know there’s still at least one characteristic that binds us: Self obsession. And Americans aren’t the only ones turning that obsession into a business. The New Yorker on China’s Selfie Obsession. “Internet celebrities themselves—the name wang hong means ‘Internet red’—are newly ubiquitous in China. The most famous of them rival the country’s biggest pop singers, and outrank most TV and movie stars, in recognition and earnings.”