Inner Michael

Do you feel that ache? The one that originates just under your sternum, and radiates down to your solar plexus and then outward? Yes, that’s the ache of WIFS, the well informed futility syndrome. It happens when you know too much. It happens when you know something in the world is very, very wrong and you know why but you are helpless to set it right. It happens when the human code is violated.

That space under the ribcage is a hungry area; it’s a void that needs filling. While most people are blissfully living their lives unaware of the power of that internal black hole, a whirlpool that sucks eveything into it’s center, they know that something is missing and begin thinking that the next thing will be the cure, will make them happy– the next promotion, the next new boat, the next car that’s going to be the luxury model, the next party thrown where anybody who is somebody is invited, the next new workout that sculpts the body better, the next new dress with the plunging neckline, the next …….

This hungry monster is starving.

It’s starving because it needs nourishment but not the kind it’s getting most of the time. It needs satisfaction, satiation, completeness, wholeness, self recognition that  requires comfort from being the nucleus of a surrounding life that is spiritually fulfilling, socially just, and sustainable. It is hungry for a world where humans matter, where the individual matters, a world where humans thrive. Where is that world?

You can’t have spiritual fulfillment without soul; you can’t have social justice without conscience or ethics; you can’t have humans thriving on a planet without the solidarity and compassion that supports ALL human life in a sustainable form in a collective stewardship on a planet with limited resources that is now endangered.

This simply can’t go on. The world is just not working.

Name your poison. It is the insanity that places scarce and self-limiting resources above human life? Is it the corporate greed that has so much that it can afford to pay its top executive millions  and who live in houses outside the city where its consumers barely make a living. Is it the articficial demand created by a fashion company for the latest designer wear that kids will kill each other for? Or the latest technology that is so attractive and so lusted after that those who can’t afford it will steal it risking the life of its owner and sacrificing their own lives in prison or worse, should something go wrong. Is it the hushed and secret conversations and deals made behind the scenes that covets what another has? Is it the jealousy that connives for the downfall of another in order to weaken the opponent? Is it the one ego that is so out of whack that its jealousy plots the destruction of another who gets more attention, more admiration, more love? Is it the chemical company that produces a product it knows is toxic yet continues to produce and sell it because to withdraw it from the market would mean great losses in revenues? Is it the politician voting against her constituents because if she votes with them her financial contributors would withdraw their support from her next campaign that will keep her in office?

Or is it a bigger poison that promotes toxic waste and dumps it in the river making people sick downstream? A corporation that knows what it is doing is hurting the environment but does it anyway? Foresters who clear cut the lungs of the planet sacrificing the rain forests that clean the air of carbon dioxide and exchange it for the oxygen humans need to breathe? The pharmaceutical company that knows its product is dangerous but doesn’t reveal the dangers or withdraw it from the market? The media mogul who deliberately dehumanizes real people and conscripts the dark side of human nature to sell his product that instead of making the wrold a brighter place, deliberately makes it darker instead? A billionaire who would use their fortune to buy what is supposed to be a democratic election?

There are many kinds of human torture and treachery. There are many kinds of betrayal. Aren’t you tired of it?

And now that you have been awakened, the pain of this knowledge makes life more difficult doesn’t it? It’s harder to navigate this life,and this world now that you know the truth. And others who don’t know what you know can’t see it. And no matter how hard you try to tell them the truth, they prefer their ignorance because it’s bliss. For if they too knew the truth, it would be life changing and they would have to do something about it. But you’re not ignorant and there is no bliss for you.

So once again, because one little moonwalker awakened you, you are forced to bear witness and bear the pain of greed and treachery. Once again your heart has to take on that ache and dance with despair. But know this… that hungry black hole inside is losing it’s gravity. You are moving away from trying to fill it up with meaninglessness and are developing an appetite for authenticity, for inspiration, for love.

If a man would betray someone who was his benefactor for money, what is the character of that man? If the man would betray his benefactor after his death, what is the character of that man? If a group, a country, a civilization sanctions that act of betrayal, what is the character that.. group, country, civilization? Of those people?

If a man was a grand force in the world and amassed wealth and a following and his work and art touched millions of lives and inspired them, then what does it say about the character of those who would tear him down?

How many times has an individual, one person whose ego drives his life, done something that harmed many– thousands or perhaps millions of people?

One man killed President Kennedy. What might he have accomplished had he lived?
One man killed Lincoln. What might Lincoln have accomplished had he lived?
One man set in motion and approved a machine that killed six million Jews.
One man ended the life of John Lennon. What might Lennon have taught with his music had he lived?
Martin Luther King was killed by an assassin. What might have happened had King been allowed to finish his life’s mission?
One man killed Gandhi, the most effective protestor in the history of the world, who freed a nation.
How many witches were burned at the stake in Europe because someone condemned them and crowd hysterics followed?
How many African Americans were lynched because they broke the rules manufactured by a culture built on their kidnapping and forced slavery?

This list could go on and on. The question is, how many times have the little egos of men, feeling that dark hole inside tried to fill it up with something artificial and inhumane, superficial or evil? How many of those actions affected millions, and affected the world?

And how many people have become targets or victims of suffering because of those damaged egos? A damaged ego is one that is disconnected from its soul, or source or spirituality. A damaged ego is one who sees everyone as separate from its own humanity, sees them as “others” to be competed with, feared, ignored, attacked or eliminated.

The ego that loses faith in itself, fears it cannot “measure up,” lacks the confidence to know it can create its own security, safety, sustainance, wealth, life– by tapping its own brilliance will resort to desperate measures to fill up the emptiness. It comes from fear that the ego invents that says “I am not enough.” It is an ego that is not loved.

That is what Michael Jackson meant when he said people were not loved enough. And his message to children was to love. To love themselves and love everybody.

It got so twisted because egos listen to their black holes instead of their hearts that know love and their souls that know they are creatures and creations of the divine. Jackson knew the world was broken. He knew the answer to the world’s misery was the children. He understood that adults were too far gone, too far into the ego and the fear and lack of love. The world’s problems would be solved by children. The future world of unity, stewardship and love would be built by children. He knew that if children believed in themselves and not the fear in their egos, they could change the world.

He even left the formula behind. The fix for a broken world is in the lyrics of Michael Jackson’s music. The formula has always been there. He was a visionary, a quirky little man who was spiritually alive, lived his principles based on the life of Jesus, loved children whom he rescued, healed, supported, assisted, promoted, procured organs for, built schools and hospital wings for, saved, and in some cases, buried them when their parents couldn’t afford it.

Now comes another one to accuse the man of impropriety to claim he was abused at the hands of Jackson via his suddenly recovered memories. It’s just too easy, isn’t it? Jackson is dead, the estate is flush, the details are sealed and there is no defense because a negative can’t be proven and an accusation is enough to have some people assume guilt. Add to that the over and over linguistics of accusation and damnation and a repetitive mug shot or a photo captured in a less than flattering expression. Repeated use of a mug shot telegraphs guilt to a gullible audience. It evicerates the constitutional right of innocent until proven guilty.

In Jackson’s case the not-guilty verdict 14 times over was not enough to prove his innocence because in the frenzied media and salivating tabloids and tabloid TV, accusation equals guilt. And in this case, the new accuser was Jackson’s staunchest defendant. He testified not once, but twice on behalf of Jackson and participated in tributes.

The timing of this late accusation of the late singer that was too late to claim on the estate is suspicious because the accusor, Wade Robson, was bankrolled by AEG — the company that Katherine Jackson is suing for the wrongful death of yes, the accused, Michael Jackson. Robson was Creative Director for Demi Lovato’s tour, an AEG production. Robson was passed over for Cirque du Soleil’s Immortal tribute to Jackson after announcing he would be working on the tour and he was also passed over for One, another production honoring Jackson.

And again TMZ spearheads the story. Shane Sparks now says he was misquoted by TMZ because “boy TMZ just can’t wait to destroy someone’s reputation.” They called him for a quote and he gave one saying he respected both men and TMZ reported that Shane says he believes Wade’s story. Sparks says that is not what he said.

Robson said after Jackson’s death: “Michael Jackson changed the world and, more personally, my life forever. He is the reason I dance, the reason I make music, and one of the main reasons I believe in the pure goodness of human kind,” Robson said. “He has been a close friend of mine for 20 years. His music, his movement, his personal words of inspiration and encouragement and his unconditional love will live inside of me forever. I will miss him immeasurably, but I know that he is now at peace and enchanting the heavens with a melody and a moonwalk.”

Most commentary on these stories does not appear to be in Robson’s favor. It does look like a grab for money to most people. Public opinion is not in his favor and people are voicing skepticism because of the timing, because of his history of testifying in Jackson’s favor many times, because Michael Jackson is dead and can’t defend himself, and they don’t find the amnestic/re-remembered  memories credible particularly because of Robson’s past robust defense and admiration of Michael. So, the speculation is that Robson is a liar and this is an attempt to extort a dead man.

Jackson fans know this is not the first time that a “friend” of Michael Jackson found the lure and seduction of vast amounts of money more powerful than friendship or loyalty. Betrayal was unfortunately a reality of Jackson’s everyday life. The numbers of people who sold stories to the tabloids in exchange for handfuls of cash are legion. Nothing in his life was private. Nothing was sacred. He couldn’t even allow a cleaning lady upstairs into his bedroom or his home because something about his private life would be splayed all over the front pages of a tabloid or TV magazine, that something barely true and greatly embellished and sensationalized because scandal sells.

How many people betrayed Michael Jackson, poked into his privacy and his life for profit? How many people promised him one thing and delivered quite another- many times a treachery or betrayal? How many deliberately cultivated a relationship with him or someone close to him to gain “insider information?” It even happend to his nanny- cynically befriended and courted for her proximity to Jackson only to be used and betrayed by a reporter who wanted a source for Jackson articles she could sensationalize and publish.

Everybody wanted a piece of Michael Jackson.

It seems that people are now skeptical of this new charge against a dead man who is not here to defend himself. That’s logical because the estate is wealthy, there is a trial going on with Jackson’s mother suing a corporation that can’t afford to lose. A corporation this late coming accuser works for.

One wonders if these are people who were skeptical when Jackson family and defenders were trying to tell them a very much alive and assailed Jackson was extorted not once, but twice and the second time he was determined to have his day in court to prove his innocence. He was found not guilty as charged and not guilty even on optional lesser charges. Many said, including reporters off the record, that these were empty charges and the case should not have been brought in the first place. But they still filed their sensational courtroom stories to their salivating editors.

Instead of wondering if Jackson was someone who systematically harmed children, perhaps the real question is about the accusors– and how many were money grabs from someone with deep pockets. Once an accusation is made and particularly of someone with the fame and prominence as Jackson, they are immediately demonized in the press and a frenzy ensues. In that frenzy and the race for the “breaking news” inaccuracies get printed, and people get hurt. An accusation is not guilt but in the press, is treated as if it is and frantically so when the charge involves children and sexual impropriety.

What is not quickly recognized is the reasons for such accusations. It’s not always money that drives these things; sometimes it’s the hungry black hole. Sometimes it’s an attempt to harm the reputation, career or the person himself. Sometimes it’s a tactic in a power struggle or retaliation for a perceive betrayal. Michael Jackson had a life like no other on this planet and there will likely never be another.

It’s important to see Jackson’s life in context and his career in the curve of history. Michael Jackson was a black man born in a time when black men were lynched for perceived infractions of societal customs, in a time when an African American was considered only 3/5  of a person, in a time not so long after black people could be minstrels and entertaining amusements for white folk but were not to be taken seriously. A black man gaining power and being taken seriously in an industry that traditionally exploited and mocked them was not taken to kindly. A black man owning the most lucrative music catalog in the business was not seen as favorable. The catalogue was coveted. When his reputation was in jeopardy and Michael Jackson was vulnerable, his catalogue was suddenly within reach. And once his name was tainted by such a horrific charge, he was more albatross than asset. Corporations don’t have loyalty and they don’t protect people; they protect profits. Once accused, Jackson was baggage.

As long as Michael Jackson could be expoited, he was.

That’s the major story of his life. This latest story is likely more of the same. In the 4 years that I have been researching his life, I have found no research or evidence to support the theory that he harmed children but quite the opposite– how many he impacted and improved their lives. But I can only go on what I know based on extensive research which is more than the average person, but I can’t know with certainty. Others who have known Jackson personally have known with certainty and have said their children spent time with Jackson. The average person, however, knows the caricature and the tabloid myth.

It is possible that he did harm children in the way that is being claimed. That would mean, however, that millions of Michael Jackson fans who love him are wrong. It would mean that a few detractors are correct vs. the millions who claim to feel his heart and his character and love him. It would mean the the global outpouring at his death was mistaken. There was weeping in the streets at his passing. People didn’t find Jackson an “idol” as many try to claim. They loved him. He impacted their lives. And some of them he saved. Some will always believe, some will always doubt and some will always trust their heart.

It is also possible that this is indeed another grab for the limelight, for vicarious fame, for trying to make a name for oneself using Jackson, or for money, and that would fit better with the evidence of countless betrayals at the hands of others in his life or somehow in his orbit. Mocking Michael Jackson, exploiting his name, photos, stories, every action, his children, and essentially dissecting and exploiting every aspect of his whole life was an industry for decades. It’s not a very pretty portrayal of human nature.

It is also possible that Wade Robson believes he was abused. And possibly he was. This would not be the first time a “well meaning” attorney, doctor, psychiatrist, social worker, therapist or other “professional” led someone to believe they had been abused. There are deliberate and plotted plans to extort, there are mistaken cues, there are actions that are misinterpreted, there are “repressed memories” unearthed by well meaning therapists who lead the client in particular modalities and directions fully believing they are doing the client a service.

This is after all, Michael Jackson we are talking about. If a therapist, police officer, attorney, prosecutor acquired a client who had been in the immediate vicinty of Michael Jackson, what would the FIRST assumption be based on the prevailing attitude on this planet at the hands of an out-of-control media? And if you knew nothing about Michael Jackson but the caricature and the meme, what personal unexamined assumptions would you have about Michael Jackson? And what would such a professional be looking for? What evidence would such professional expect? In what direction would the questioning lead? How would you interpret what your client tells you?

There are many cases where probing therapists, zealous police officers, pressured investigators, opportunistic attorneys, investigative journalists…  have been wrong.

• The McMartin Preschool was accused of child molestation in a notorious case that lasted for 10 years. Nobody was guilty.
• Richard Jewell was accused and considered the “Olympic Park Bomber” in headlines. He was not guilty. He died young.
• Patsy Ramsey was accused of killing her daughter and vilified by the press for years. New evidence points to evidence of an intruder. Patsy’s cancer recurred and she died a few years later still considered a suspect. Twelve years later the invesitgation stated the family was cleared of suspicion
• The “West Memphis three” were teenagers accused of killing 3 eight year old boys. The story is chronicled in a documentary by Amy Berg “West of Memphis” that reveals the 3 teens convicted spent 18 years in prison for a crime they did not commit.

 
If you read “Central Park Five” or see “West of Memphis” you come away with this same sentiment voiced by movie critic Joe Morgenstern:
 

“a devastating account of police incompetence, civic hysteria and prosecutorial behavior that was totally at odds with a vastly persuasive body of evidence uncovered in a privately funded investigation.” “What was irretrievably lost — the innocent lives of the children, plus 18 years of three other innocent lives and what was there to be gained: dramatic new insights into an inexorable progression from random arrests through groundless supposition, fevered conjecture and flagrant perjury to official disgrace in a supposedly airtight case. “

None have ever come forward to admit they were culpable in any way; not have admitted they were wrong.

There were and are lessons to be learned from Michael Jackson, from his work, from studying his life, from watching with an objective eye and listening with a critical ear to what those around him said and did, from the salivating and frenzied press that fed on hysteria and fed off him for decades, and from what is happening now.

Yes, Michael Jackson is on trial again. There is a lot at stake. More than anyone realizes. There is a lot on trial.

Pay close attention. Hold your judgment. Look at the man that was the mirror and look in the mirror he continues to hold up to the cuture he was a part of shaping, the century he was a part of evolving and the world he was a part of creating. Now go back and listen to “Breaking News“again.