July 19, 2009 | So, was Michael Jackson actually America?
Real Time with Bill Maher returned last night. While I had hoped that Michael Jackson would not have been a subject brought up during this show (RTwBM was on hiatus for the past three weeks), it was brought up in such a way that makes you wonder why no one else made the following comparison: America is Michael Jackson.
Before you balk at that statement, just watch the video.
I cannot disagree with any of Bill Maher’s talking points, because our society has become too complacent over our accomplishments and late 20th century prosperity. Particularly my generation, which has grown up in an age of connectedness never seen before, thanks to telecommunications and the Internet. And, while we toy with our iPhones and Twitter the events of our day to our circles of friends, are we really escaping into the world of the now (of the world of “me, me, you kinda, and, oh, me?”) , instead of work on the world of tomorrow?
What have we accomplished in the past 40 years? Sure, the Cold War is over, Nixon went to China, we have a space station, we’re all better connected and we receive… well, I don’t know if we can really call what we receive useful information, since most of the information is garbage data… we have the Internet in all its wonders and horror, and we have something for all of our ills. Prozac for the kids with emotional problems, gaming systems to shut up the kiddies so the adults can do their thing, cell phones to keep our kids connected so we know where they are at all times (here’s an idea—ankle bracelets with GPS), and InstantTV. Heaven forbid should we miss the newest episode of Lost, so let us just download that into our iPods, play it on Hulu, or play it on our DVR when we get home from work or that oh-so-important hedonistic social event.
Perhaps we should take the opportunity to look at the death of MJ and what’s happening in America over the past decade as a sign that we, should we truly want to better ourselves as a people, take a good hard look at ourselves and ask whether or not we like what we see in the mirror. Further, we need to take a good hard look at the world around us and ask the question that John Fitzgerald Kennedy once asked of the American people:
“[M]y fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
In addition, let me also add this:
“Further, ask not what others can do for you, but what you can do for yourself and others without merely being a user.”
For, after all, change comes from within—and while change may not be always be good, change may be an imperative that we have no choice but to execute.
Thank you for reading, and that’s the way it is…. sadly.
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