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[b]Sir GH wrote: [/b]
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[b]Sebastian wrote: [/b]
If so, we should forgive every criminal, because they all had traumas and had 'reasons' (good or not) to do what they did. Everybody should be allow to kill, rape, steal, yell, hit, abuse, defraud, cheat, etc. because all of us, for some extent, have faced traumatic events.
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That's correct, for criminals. Michael Jackson wasn't a criminal.
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But still there's no excuse for the window incident, for instance. I don't mind MJ's (or anybody else's) eccentricities as long as they don't (potentially or actually) harm anybody: when he bought Neverland, put a zoo, etc. those things didn't affect other people. If he wanted to name his kids 'Blanket', 'Bedsheet', 'Futon' or 'Platypus', that's his problem - worst case scenario, the kids would hate those names and change them as soon as they reached the legal age.
When he held the kid outside that balcony or whatever (I don't remember exactly), that's got NO excuse. Neither his fame, nor his hormones, nor the rumours built around him, etc.
Same for any sort of behaviour (criminal or not) that (even if just potentially) could harm other people. Sure, none of us lived what Michael had to live, so what? If so, only heads of state should be allowed to vote, as none of us (unless there's a former or current commander in chief in QZ) can actually know what it's like to rule a country; and none of us should be allowed to say 'Blair did this wrong' or 'Bush was a moron' because none of us lived what they lived.
None of us could say 'this paper's telling porkies' unless we own the Daily Mail or something like that and we know what it's like to feel the pressure of selling stories (even if they're fake) to make ends meet. None of us could tell the annoying neighbour not to smoke in front of our kids because none of us lived what the annoying neighbour lived and none of us know what it's like to grow with whatever crap the annoying neighbour grew, etc.
Only those who have been professional football players could have a say on whether Beckham or Lampard is the appropriate choice for free kicks, as none of the rest of us know what it's like to play before thousands of people in a stadium and millions at home. Only those of us who are whales should have an opinion on the orca that killed the instructor, as none of us know what it's like to be a cetacean. BTW, that could be Michael's revenge as that Willy wasn't freed. Talk about karma...
BTW, crimes aren't 'solved'. The best that can be done is preventing more from happening. And there's a biiiiiiiiiiig difference between 'not demonising' people who make harmful or potentially harmful things and simply not being allowed to have an opinion because we didn't live what they had to live.
Sebastian