And the adulation surrounding him dwarfs what we witnessed almost five years ago with the departure of his nemesis, Joe Frazier, who was an honorable and humble man. Ali was loud, obnoxious, vain, entertaining, and cruel, especially to Joe, whom he labeled an Uncle Tom. He also was a spoiled brat; it was Joe who endured poverty when growing up, while Ali enjoyed a middle-class upbringing that paradoxically led him to denounce the society that had given him so much.
The fact that Ali has obtained such purchase on the modern mind illustrates several things about our condition. For one, it shows that wealth is a far greater threat to one's character than poverty. It shows the unfortunate shift from a culture of character to the cult of personality. Though it might seem a stretch, it also shows the shift from Christianity to neo-paganism -- a man's external badges of success now count for more than his internal virtues, and immortality is achieved here on Earth through notoriety.
For a shallow age addicted to flash over substance, Ali is a fitting hero.
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