Inner Michael

From an educator in the UK:

“Regarding tabloids: We sit back, read and revel in it today – and you can be sure that one day, it might well be us, our loved ones, our children tomorrow. Excellent piece, Barbara. (She is speaking here of a previous post.) However, coming from the UK and having see the shocking treatment of Michael by the tabloids over decades, it is undoubtedly the Daily and Sunday Mirror that has been the worst and more grotesque in its treatment of this gentle man, and others. In fact, The Mirror is the only tabloid that Michael sued, so this gives you an idea of just how bad it truly was – and is.

Up until recently, the Sunday edition was edited by none other than Tina Weaver (the UK’s answer to Diane Dimond) who – unsurprisingly and ironically – also sat on the Press Complaints Commission, overseeing complaints about media intrusion and inaccuracy. She used to edit a now defunct tabloid called ‘Today’, and used every opportunity in the 1993 case to produce front page headlines condemning Michael to prison and swaying public opinion against him in the most vile way. She too, was recently arrested on phone hacking charges, but will likely glean sympathy due to the fact that on arrest, she was pregnant. Of course, there was no such dignity for an innocent man with three children dependent on him. Michael’s life and the way he was vilified will go down in history as one of the most shocking and horrendous acts of mass bullying we might ever witness.”

She is right. There has never been a case of bullying the magnitude of the one suffered by Michael Joe Jackson. People are starting to get it. But he had to die to get any humane treatment. This must never, ever happen to another human being. And it’s important for the world to not just understand but feel the truth of it.

Is one tabloid is more damaging or worse than another? Their practices go far beyond “free speech” or anti-censorship which was Murdoch’s excuse for what he was doing (and still is.) It goes far beyond innocent “reporting” and “journalism.” This is a concerning trend for humanity. What the tabloid business (and mainstream media following the trend to get eyes on the page, readership and market share) does is focus on the shadow side of the ego to the detriment of the other side– bright shadow and the potential within the inner self (Inner Michael) which engages the soul and compassion.

Social scientists tell us that humanity is hard-wired for compassion and science proves that we are all one and that reality from the quantum to the cosmos is one huge interconnected web. Targeting people for dehumanization and bullying conscripts the dark side of human nature. When we compare the number of words and images dedicated to destroying and semblance of “humanity” in favor of divisiveness, marginalization, humiliation, separation, and bullying, with the dedication to compassion, empathy, kindness– it’s obvious that the destruction of “humanity” individually and the collective, devolves instead of evolves the human being. Making people “other” and deriding them by labeling them less than human and undesirable has caused most of the problems on this planet from the beginning of time– colonization, genocide, ethnic cleansing, joy killings, slavery, racism, war…

We are now a global community. We have “colonized” the planet to the brink of our own extinction, so dehumanizing is not a trend that is helping to move the species forward in evolution. Exploiting people for sport and profit diminishes all of humanity– those who are targets, those who observe and those traumatized directly or indirectly by the practice as well as those who justify their own bullying behavior by thinking or citing it as “normal.” It makes all of us less. It makes us value self and others less and ultimately diminishes the value of humanity and the planet. The slope is very slippery. Humanity is in trouble. The planet is in trouble. We did that.

There is an antidote: Compassion for self, for others, and for the planet. THIS we can do. Will we?

The one thing Michael Jackson said over and over was we, humanity, if we can believe in ourselves, we can make the world a better place. He wanted to save us from ourselves (“Earth Song”) and save the planet. He said time and time again “my fans are my legacy.” What are you doing to be his legacy? Are you living and propagating compassion?

Compassion is a beautiful thing. As an artist and writer myself, and founder of “Words and Violence” with a 4th Edition at “Voices Compassionate Education,” I am keenly aware of images and words and how they impact an observer, having studied it steadily for 5 years now. The fourth estate (media) which garners the largest audience in the world, is biased toward the negative and tends to highlight the shadow side of humanity. It’s easy to forget there’s another side; social scientists find that we humans are actually hard-wired for compassion, but empathy and acts of compassion don’t regularly make headlines.

Google “compassion” and take a look at what you find. There are very few dynamic images. Many symbols but it is all static. If you try “empathy” and “kindness” they’re not much better. Why are good and evocative images of compassion-in-action far too scarce? We know humans model what we see both consciously and subliminally and emotions and behavior then follow. Our brains are awash with images that stimulate corresponding neurons and chemicals that can foster despair instead of hope and easily send us into grief and overwhelm at the state of the world. This deer-in-the-headlights monotony leads to despair and inertia.

A deliberate focus and activity toward positive human imaging of compassion promises to fundamentally change the brain and its chemicals and will condition people to see with their hearts—the attitude which fosters humane behavior and compassion—something the world urgently needs. Dynamic and prolific compassion-in-action illustrations would be life changing. We observe them emulate and contribute to the world what we learn and know. Cynicism does not help. Overwhelm paralyzes. We are impacted by what we observe and the world and our worldview is based on our beliefs. Whatever you believe, your consciousness will select out of all the field of possibilities what will support your worldview.

We make the world. We are the world. We are the singers and we sing the song.

Here’s a new kind of Earth Song.