ClumsyMonkey.net

November 23, 2003

I have tried to stray away from the subject of Michael Jackson simply because to give it any more attention would be to defeat the purpose of writing what I am about to. That said, I will venture into the murky gray mists of slight hypocrisy and do so nonetheless.

How is it that the world cares so much about this guy? True, he made some very popular records, but why do we care so much about him? If he is guilty of child molestation then he will go to jail for it, but when was the last time the media gave basically any attention to a child molester being arrested that worked at a hardware store or at a daycare? Would news agencies have spent two hours following their cars, for example?

There are far more important things in this world to focus on than the likes of a man that went from being black to white in a decade. That is not to say that we should not be outraged that children may have been sexually mistreated, rather that we should be equally informed about everyone that does it, be they the king of pop or the king of the shipping and receiving department of the local walmart.

If Michael Jackson goes to trial over this it will make the OJ marathon look like a jamboree. Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people will be engrossed in the trial, waiting to see if he’s guilty or if the American way can buy another person out of responsibility for their actions.

And while people waste their time paying attention to it the air will get more polluted, the ice caps will melt a little more, AIDS will infect tens of thousands more people in Africa, many of whom have barely enough to eat let alone the money to afford drugs, our inner cities will slip a little further into oblivion, and so on and so forth. Will the mass majority know anything about these things? Probably not compared to how much they will know about the Michael Jackson trial, if indeed there is one.

Our culture is that we have none. And our greatest cultural accomplishment is convincing ourselves that that isn’t the case.
Matthew Good

I enjoyed that, esspecially the last bit. Although almost everything Matt writes is interesting

Define Irony:

Posting a statement from a musician questioning why we care so much about some musician and what he does.....

But the thing is Matt doesn't see himself as anything special. He's just a typical guy who just happens to make music for a living. From what I've read in his journal it seems like he doesn't like the fact that people in his position are glamourized by the public and the media.

he's really against people being treated special because they're celeb's and he actually hates the media attention he gets, partly because ever since his career started he's been painted as a ranting asshole

Oh really? So he's not using his fame to get people to listen to his political statements? My bad. I didn't realize that wasn't his intent for having a public journal.

Well millions of people have online journals. He just happens to be a well known musician.

he'sbeen writing online since before he was famous, he used to write manifesto's now he just started a journal after the terrorist attacks, commenting on world issues

LOL maybe he should give up music and take up politics if he thinks he can change so much. Remind me again how much money he sends to Africa to help fight AIDS and hunger? I bet if we tried to tax him more than the average middle class citizen he'd have an issue with it, and if not he should volunteer to help these people. Otherwise he has no place to criticize governments of not giving enough.

Venom.. You should realize.. He's not exactly a millionaire...

he's actually basically middle class, he's not even considered very wealthy

oh ok! I bet he makes a hell of a lot more that his 50,000 a year example! How many records has he sold? Gimme a break! Nice try.

not forsure, i remember he had someone challenge him about it before, he really isn't that wealthy, he hasn't had a major record top hit since Beautiful Midnight, and that was years ago, plus Canadian rockstars really don't make that much, even when they are really big. So it's safe to say he's not rich

If I remember correctly sales were anywhere from 25,000 to 75,000 ... If I find the exact numbers I'll post them...

Now.. Consider how little the artist gets per album sale, and didive that little bit between (4?) members of the band...

Then add in all the concert revenue, t-shirts, buttons, posters, etc, etc, etc

yeah he already went into it before, people seem to think because he makes music he's rich, he lives in a small apartment, and his wife works to help support them

It doesn't matter how much money he makes. As long he's willing to pay more taxes if he makes more, otherwise he'd be a hypocrite. I don't think he is. Progressive taxes are actually quite common, we have it in Holland, even more so in Sweden. People who make more money pay a larger percentage of taxes. It doesn't mean everybody has the same income, although it does bring incomes closer together. But that's just a bit of solidarity towards your fellow countrymen who don't all have the capability or opportunity to become a doctor or lawyer.

psssst he's conservitive he doesn't believe in the whole, help your fellow man mombo jumbo. Although then the conservitives will turn around and try to "Help" there fellow man in countries with oil

I don't care how much money he has. In fact, this whole discussion proves my point. You guys are reciting his life story like he's your brother. His post is criticizing the likes of you for caring so much about a musician's life.... am I the only one who finds this a bit humorous?

i don't find his life super respectable because he's a rock star, i used to hate matt because of his olp comments. But i respect him as a educated man with his own opinions, he's not scared to voice them, and he happens to be in the same stream of thought as me. And no, i haven't just blindly followed him, i've been talking about my morlas here for longer then matt has had his journal