[Kim] Kardashian rose to fame amid the worst recession America had experienced in seventy years, and her tremendous success as a substitute good is in many ways a product of that recession mentality. [Paris] Hilton represented all the excess of Bush-era wealth and conspicuous consumption, whereas Kardashian, despite her upper-class income, displayed a work ethic worthy of the middle class. Ask any one of the Kardashians about their success and they will pepper their answer with work, work, work.
