As I have struggled for some time with the inexplicable celebrity of heiress Paris Hilton, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that we, as a society, NEED her and others like her.

You see, to one extent, Paris represents an ideal that many of us, if pressed to be honest, aspire to. She has never had to work a day in her life, and, barring catastrophic collapse of the entire western world, never WILL need to do so. Her entire life is a life of leisure and luxury as she lives off of money she didn't earn. People spend millions of dollars each year on lottery tickets so that they can live a life like hers. Unlike a movie star who is constantly pressed with the need to keep working, even in a job we consider glamorous, to stay relevant, Paris has no such need. She could spend the rest of her life in the penthouse in one of her family's many hotels and never have to worry if she so choose.

But more than that, Paris represents the antithesis of what we want for our daughters. Even if we find wealth and fame, I would doubt that there is any American father who would want their child to turn out as spolied and self indulged as Ms. Hilton. She has no visible career ambitions, and if she has a strong sense of ethics, it's certainly not very visible. She's apolitical and a step backwards for feminists, no matter what their ideology, in endorsing the "Barbie" lifestyle to so many.

While I am certainly sure there is more to Ms. Hilton than meets the eye (I would certainly HOPE so, anyway), I see very little of tangible value that she has contributed to the community at large. But by being a model of indulgence for the millions who aspire to it and a model of scorn for those who don't, she has contributed far more than we know.

And maybe, just maybe, she may be the one key element to my knocking the "Mary Kate" article out of my "number 1" spot. If she does that, she'll have my enduring gratitude.