Missing Michael Jackson — The Long View
Posted by Sonja Ebron
These summer electric bills remind me that I need new windows in my home. I still have a few incandescent bulbs to replace, but I’m waiting for them to die. There’s so much going on with energy these days, from the new climate bill to the “pullback” of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, that I’ve been overwhelmed every time I wanted to write.
But losing Michael Jackson has forced me to the keyboard. I’m old enough to remember him as a pre-teen marvel, before he became a cultural icon. Reflecting on his four-decade expression of musical genius, I wonder what we’ll remember in 40 years about the lifestyles we enjoy today. We’ve gone from telephone answering machines to the iPhone, from radio antennas to HDTV, from the Ford Mustang to the Toyota Prius. Michael has left us at the Great U-Turn, trying to be the Jetsons but decked out like the Flintstones.
We’re at the most startling turning point in human history, supporting 7 billion people on resources fit for 2 billion. In 40 years, we will all wonder how we let ANYone drive a Hummer or burn coal to make electricity. The concept of the “job” and the “grocery store” will be gone, and we will know our neighbors well.
But Michael’s is the spirit we’ll need going forward. His exuberant commitment to sharing his God-given talent, even in the face of slander and fear of his grown-man innocence, may give us the courage to share ours in the decades to come. We will need this spirit, cause my new windows and light bulbs ain’t gonna cut it.