So of course by now you've heard about OJ Simpson's sure-to-be dreadful book about "if I did it" how he "would have" done it. Everyone's talking about what a shameful and crass thing this is, and how he's going to make scads of money off of it.
But the only reason this is going to happen is because despite all the deprecating and lamenting, people are going to buy his stupid book and watch the cable news shows when they cover it.
Now, if they gave a war and only one side came and it wasn't yours, you'd be in deep. But if your neighbor buys OJ Simpson's book and you don't, what do you lose? Nothing, really. But in practice, everyone's going to grouse and moan about how awful this is, yet they're going to pay attention just like the people they complain about.
But what if no one did? Wouldn't it be glorious? If nobody gave them the attention they crave, then annoying, weird celebrities would go away and we might get some virtuous ones instead.
There was a story I heard once about some king who held a tribal council and asked everyone to bring a gourd full of wine to contribute to the common pot so everyone could have a drink. One man said, with all that wine, nobody will notice one gourd full of water in the pot. When they ladled out the drinks, he was dismayed to be find himself drinking straight water - because everyone else did what he did.
In other words, don't expect other people to be any different from you. If you want annoying and foolish celebrities to go away, begin by not buying their books, and changing the channel whenever they come on tv. Same goes for Michael Jackson and all the others.
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