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While I grew up in Chicago, during the introduction of Michael Jackson to the world, I have never been an ardent fan of Michael Jackson. He could sing and he could dance but my younger brothers liked him much more than I ever did. To bear witness to so many people distraught and grieving over a person they never even personally knew baffles any intelligent imagination. Most People waste their lives living vicariously through the lives of famous people, simply because they have lots of money. It is such a waste of a life. Frankly, I do not like going to funerals or memorial services when it’s a member of my family or to support a friend while grieving a loss. If I don’t like doing so when the service is down the street I certainly have no desire to fly out of town or watch a memorial service on TV. What does it say about our country when we elevate a person whose only contribution to society was selling a lot of records or dancing better than most of us will ever be able to dance? It’s not as if he discovered a cure for cancer or died in the service of his country or made any sacrifice, for that matter. Worse, as much as I hate to admit it, he killed himself via refusing to face life on life’s terms. He choose to spend his days getting high and denying who he was while simultaneously portraying the worst role model our kids could ever envision. Michael did not add to my existence, as an American and he certainly did not provide a positive example to our naïve and so easily impressed young people. In fact, he hurt them by portraying that it is okay to coward out of life and use your massive resources to avoid your life and ostracize family and loved ones by any means necessary.
