chula - I wouldn’t go so far as to say that money can make up for bad parenting, but it depends on what “bad parenting” means. To take the extreme example, which baby is better off:
The one whose parents love him, but dies of dehydration during a drought in an impoverished country;
or his twin brother who is adopted by rich parents (who don’t love him and only wanted a status symbol to show off to the neighbours), and survives to old age? For the sake of argument we will assume that child B has unresolved issues that last all through his life, caused by the lack of love in his childhood.
Ummm… how come that kid is as white as I am?
This came up a bunch of times in the pit thread on MJ. I don’t understand why people think that having one black parent means you’ll have dark skin. Especiall since nearly all black Americans have a significant number of European ancestors.
I am still going to guess that there is a significant chance that even if Michael Jackson were to have a genetic baby with my own transparent self, the babby would at least be a slightly darker shade than me? Given the general oddness surrounding this man I am thinking that ain’t so much the “fruit of his loins”.
I don’t see how your example works, Arnold. If you could know in advance that a particular child was going to die young, and another was going to live a long life, you would probably choose to be the second child. But being rich is no guarantee of a long life. A more realistic example would be: if you could chose to live happily for 75 years or miserably for 85 years, which would you choose?
Iteki, I had a friend in high school who I thought was white, and it turned out that his dad was as black as MJ used to be. That’s not at all atypical.
That said, maybe I’ll introduce a bizarre, unsupportable theory my friends and I came up with years ago to explain Michael Jackson. His abusive, psycho father didn’t want to lose his money-maker when Michael’s voice changed. So he had a procedure done to ensure that wouldn’t happen. That explains MJ’s high voice and bizarre behavior. And his supposed kids are to make him feel less weird and to cover up any suspicions. Like I said, it’s bizarre and unsupportable.
I don’t care if he’s been Parent of the Year for the past five years, dangling a kid over a freaking fourth-story balcony is contemptible. Plus the infant was kicking its legs, perhaps out of fear? Trying to get away from the psycho having a little fun at its expense?
OK chula my example probably wasn’t be best. But the fact is that a lot of money can make a significant difference in your life. It can mean working in the fields picking strawberries vs. graduating from Harvard. It can mean living in a small apartment in a bad part of town vs. a large multi-bedroom house with a view of the ocean. When you balance mental anguish vs. a luxuriant lifestyle, I’m saying that there are some parental deficiencies I would be willing to put up with in exchange for an easier life later on. Not everyone that is raised in a loveless environment turns out to be incapacitated by their mental problems.
Because Michael had it sequenced out of his DNA before they cloned him. They also sequenced in Michael’s new face so that his clone wouldn’t have to spend valuable time out of the “fast grow” machine for plastic surgery.
Jackson’s own childhood was less than ideal, or so it has been said…
Sorry Arnold, I’m not with you this time. I’ve seen eough erratic and plain bizarre behaviour by Jackson to be freaked out by this. This man arguably shouldn’t be raising any kids at all, let alone dangling them from balconies.
I hope the Germans sick their version of CPS on his ass.
fruit picker + love = happy
Harvard grad + no love = not happy
small apartment + love = happy
big house + no love = not happy
It may be possible to overcome a loveless childhood to the extent necessary to be a functioning human being, but it will always cause severe emotional scars. Methinks you take your parents for granted.
Coldfire - social services is not my field, but what bizarre behaviour of Michael Jackson have you seen? All I know of is a fetish for plastic surgery, a reclusive lifestyle, and of curse the pedophilia accusations. Supposing the pedophilia accusations are not true, does the rest justify removing his children from him?
chula - I think the reasoning “If your parents loved you, you’ll be happy in life; if they didn’t, you won’t” is much too simplistic, or, since we’re in a Michael Jackson thread, much too black or white, ignoring all the levels of gray and brown in-between.
But Arnold, you seem to be saying that having a financially privileged life is preferable to a less wealthy life, even if it means alienation, psychological problems, etc. It will all be worth it, because you’ll have the best that money can buy.
Who’s being simplistic now?
My parents weren’t wealthy, by any means, but I’ll take the stable home life I and my siblings grew up with over all of Michael Jackson’s money, thanks.
I don’t believe money is even a contributing factor in a child’s happiness.
Obviously we see things differently.
DAVEW0071, I’m saying that growing up in a wealthy family / part of the world has advantages that can compensate for growing up with the problems that result from not having the best parents. For example, let’s say I want to learn a profession (such as M.D., university teacher) that requires a large initial investment, but I’m only of average capability in that field. If my family is wealthy I can achieve that ambition. If my father is a janitor my chances are much less.
I didn’t say that money is going to solve all your problems. And just because Michael Jackson is unstable, does that mean his children can’t be happy? Then to repeat my point from above, what does that say about the children whose parents are mentally ill? And those whose parents are only moderately interested in their well-being? How about the children raised in an orphanage? Are they all hopelessly screwed up? What I seem to be hearing is that “if you grow up without loving parents, you’re doomed.”
chula - some children in Pakistan grow up in families so poor that they are forced at a young age to forgo school and work in factories making soccer balls. Why would I even bother sending money to a charity that helps those people? Money is not even a contributing factor in their happiness, after all.
When you make strong statements like I did, it’s easy to get backed in a corner. I have a response, but unless you’re going to start a new thread, I’ll let you win that one.
What he said, saves me from typing it out and maybe get a bit too offensive for MPSIMS.
Yep, I’m with Bubba Ray and Arnold. He was holding his child. When it began to kick, he moved it inside.
As for covering the boy’s face, have you seen the number of threads just on this board about Jackson’s face? And the posts in this thread speculating about the child given the tiny glimpses of the colour of its skin? In those circumstances, would you want your child’s face plastered over the tabloids for a million celebrity tittle-obsessed people to gossip about?
Holding a kid over a balcony is odd and scary behavior, and I wouldn’t do it myself, but it’s not unique to Michael Jackson. Heck, supposedly loving parents have done worse. According to David McCullough’s biography of Harry S Truman, Truman was dropped out of an upper story window into the arms of an uncle below. Many years ago, I saw someone do exactly the same thing. Scared the hell out of me. At least Jackson covered the kid’s head and he couldn’t see where he was.