There was a newsman on Ed Schultz’s MSNBC program this early evening who said the frenzy over Michael Jackson was overkill – I know most of us agree on this. He said Michael was not a statesman nor a military man who had honored himself on the battlefield or saved thousands of lives nor was he a doctor who had done wonders in the world of medicine. I know I agree with him totally.

The reality is that a great many people DO NOT HAVE LIVES, do not have resources that make them feel okay, in control of things, good about themselves. They live in the would-be shadow of their minor heroes. (And more minor than Jackson, judging him as a human being and not a musical wunderkind, you don’t get.) The truth is, as my late husband, Jay, used to say, that about 10 percent of the world’s population had any real smarts and it is a wonder that the rest survive at all since they are surrounded by marginal minds making great decisions. Bergan Evans, a wonderful philosopher and writer, once said, “A rational person lives in the modern world like a spy in an enemy camp.”

So when the world, aided and abetted by the monied interests behind news programs, idolizes Jackson, it is jumping on a bandwagon that generates self-aggrandizement: “I am special because Jackson’s death has affected me deeply -- look at my noble emotion.” “Oh, the tragedy of the musical genius cut down in his prime and I am special because I mourn him.” The bottom line with all of the mourners is that they feel themselves to be special because of their self-imposed involvement with Jackson and this gives them an identity they do not otherwise have. It is importance by association.

What has happened in this world of instant fame and instant dissemination of information is that young people who would need to grow before reaching any decisions are suddenly given a cachet that makes their choices important. Money in the hands of the young entices the media to cater to them. This keeps them dumb because they are never asked to examine anything more meaningful than the raucous, in-your-face “music” of the current pop culture. Suddenly, what was once considered gross, becomes elite.

Fashion designers send their subordinates into the street to see what the young are wearing – they go everywhere, specifically into the ghetto. They see young black men wearing pants that dangle around their knees because they are too poor to buy anything that fits and are wearing hand-me-downs. But, gee, let’s make this look “special” – so they do and suddenly yuppie teens from suburbia are wearing pants that crowd around their crotch.

This kind of instant acceptance of someone whose persona catches the public eye is at the root of our dumbed down society. I don’t see it changing. I won’t be around when society self-destructs, and even Kevin Costner will be dead, but if he weren't, that would be his next movie -- Destruction of Society through Infantile Culture.

As I write this, the coverage of the Jackson funeral is on the TV on MSNBC and someone is repeatedly quoted (I think it's Al Sharpton) as saying he was the greatest entertainer who ever lived.

I must stop now because I have to vomit.

xx, Teal

P.S. And why I love Ed -- I walk into the TV room and he looks up and says, his face full of rage and frustration -- "Mozart didn't die!!"