January 10, 2007
WHY ME?
Vol. 2 Issue 1
One day late last month, surrounded by
the clutter of my daily mail, was my latest
edition of Time magazine. It was their
Christmas issue, the one that everyone who,
whether or not they read Time, cannot wait
to be published. Thereby, finally solving
the mystery and discovering, after all the
speculation by their readers, other media
sources and competitors, who will be chosen
as "Person of The Year" for 2006.
As I quickly looked at the cover, a
sudden wave of excitement came over me. I
felt like a child who just discovered a new
puppy under the Christmas tree. There it was
in living color shinning on a piece of three
by five inch Mylar, my face. It was I. I was
chosen as Time's "Person of the Year."
I was astonished. I felt humbled and
honored. But why would they pick me? What
did I do to deserve this wonderful honor? I
know I did not cure some dreaded disease,
find some new economic theory or save the
world from oblivion. The euphoria was
overwhelming. I was ecstatic. Prior to this
moment the biggest thrill in my life, other
then the birth of my children and
grandchildren came during my first book
signing after my first book was published.
As a child, I was always chasing after
baseball players after a game or celebrities
outside a theater seeking their autograph.
Now for the first time in my life, some one
wanted mine. I had always wished it would be
the Pulitzer. But "Person of the Year," I
never even dreamed about it. Wow, what a
thrill.
It did not take but a few minutes for the
euphoria to wear off. I sat in my office and
started to reflect after reading the article
written by Lev Grossman, which explained
whey they had chosen "You" (a pronoun that I
interpreted to mean me.) How we, who from
Time’s prospective is ‘You,’ with all the
technological gadgets at our fingertips are
able to scoop the newsmakers. With our
camera phones, blackberry’s, lap tops and
all the other high-tech equipment we have
the capability to pass the information along
in nano-seconds; long before the paid
professionals even are aware it has
happened. "You" are breaking the news.
Therefore, "for seizing the reins of the
global media, for founding and framing the
new digital democracy, for working for
nothing and beating the pros at their own
game, TIME Magazine's Person
of the Year for 2006 is you."
I thought about this for a moment and
said to myself that the brothers Grimm could
not have written it better. Is that the real
reason I was chosen or was Time’s editors,
as they sat around their conference room
table brainstorming who would grace their
cover, suddenly overcome by a wave of
political correctness. Did they chose ‘you’
so they would not be labeled as hypocrites.
Think about it. Time has been singing the
praises of political correctness for years.
I cannot remember a recent issue that they
published that did not have some politically
correct overtones to it.
Political correctness has gotten so far
out of hand, that I am afraid to speak
extemporaneously in public any more without
having a battery of lawyers and a
representative from the ACLU at my side.
Political Correctness has taught us that
everyone is a winner. Students are allowed
to repeat exams in school if they fall below
the grade. Many schools have done away with
winners and losers. In some schools, they
have abolished failing grades. You can have
as many chances as you need to get the right
answer.
Students in many schools are marked wrong
with a "Purple Pen" not red. Red is a harsh
negative color - and negativity does not
belong in our schools the experts claim. Red
became that way because of what it stood
for- failure. How long will it take Purple
to stand for failure? What will we do then,
spend another $50 million to discover it
should be changed to Yellow. Maybe we will
start to report failing companies on the
NYSE and NASDAQ as showing more purple ink
on their books than black. Most schools will
not tell a student they have failed. The new
catch phrase is "Temporarily Academically
Deficient." After school, every child is
allowed to join an organized sports team,
such as Soccer, Little League or Junior
Hockey, no matter what their athletic
abilities are. When I was twelve-years-old I
tried out for my neighborhood little league
team. My athletic abilities where not up to
the teams standards therefore, I did not
make the team. Every team member today, gets
a trophy even the 15th place team in a
14-team league. Everyone is a winner there
are no losers.
Just recently in Needham, Massachusetts,
a local school district did away with the
reporting of a high school, honor roll. It
has become politically incorrect for
students who do not study hard to feel
different from those who excel. Honor
students will no longer be recognized.
Everyone is equal. Therefore, in the name of
political correctness we are turning our
future generations into winners. From the
time they enter school in kindergarten until
they graduate college they will always be a
winner. That bears no resemblance to
anything in real life. There are always
winners and losers. We do not expect our
professional sports teams to win every game.
Some one has to lose. It almost appears that
competitiveness is politically incorrect.
Time has shown me, time after time, no
pun intended, that they believe that this
new proclamation on political correctness
that has overtaken America over the past few
years is a move in the right direction.
What happens when the winners we have
contrived in the name of political
correctness lose their first job? What
happens to a winner if they have never lost?
How long will it take depression to set in?
If you do not learn how to handle failure
early on in life and turn it around you are
not going to learn it when you are
twenty-five. The pharmaceutical companies
must love it. Every year they produce a
supply of new anti-depression drugs. If I
were a clinical psychologist today, I would
franchise depression clinics.
Therefore, with this in mind, and Time
magazines position on political correctness,
It did not take me long to realize that I
was chosen as Time's, "Person of the Year,"
in the name of political correctness. You
see Time did not want me to feel like a
loser. Therefore, it is my belief that in
the name of political correctness (they will
never admit it), I was chosen.
I now have a new entry on my resume.
Under personal accomplishments it reads,
"2006 Time Magazine's Person of the Year."
Thank you Time.
Michael Solomon
|
