The Misuse of the Word "Tragedy" and the Deification of Ordinary People

Hello, Earnest Mann here! In today's episode, I'm addressing a critical issue: the misuse of the word "tragedy" and the deification of ordinary people. I thank the creators of the background video for their excellent work, which you can find linked below. Now, let's get into the heart of the matter.

Defining Tragedy: What It Truly Means

We need to agree on the definitions of the words we use to communicate effectively. The constant misuse of "tragedy" when referring to the predictable outcomes of poor choices, like chronic drinking, is misleading. I discuss how Morgan Spurlock, despite his achievements, was not a hero but a flawed individual who succumbed to his choices. His passing at 53, largely due to his prolonged drinking problem, is sad but not a tragedy in the true sense of the word.

The Deification Problem: Stop Idolizing Ordinary Lives

Another issue is the deification of ordinary people. When celebrities or public figures die, they are often described as tragic losses, even when their deaths result from predictable behaviors. I share personal anecdotes to illustrate what genuine tragedies are, such as unforeseen accidents that claim innocent lives. We must reserve the term "tragedy" for truly unexpected and devastating events, not the foreseeable consequences of personal choices.

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00:06 hello and good Monday before we get started I wish to thank and give full credit to the makers of the background video I used that entire video is listed in the description below let's get going if we as a society are going to do anything can we at least agree to the definitions of the words we use to [ __ ] communicate I believe it would be really good if we did if we stopped being so damned disingenuous and with this little video well I just as um the newscaster from Network once said I just can't take this

00:56 [ __ ] anymore what I'm tired of is the constant deification of people places or things which quite simply should not be [ __ ] deified and Morgan Spurlock is no exception yes back in the day I watched the film and for a moment just for a brief moment I was almost Tak taken in by it um yeah it was uh it was pretty slick it was pretty good but of all the things that it was it sure as hell wasn't honest Morgan sparlock had a drinking problem for more than 30 years so to say that um he was being a bit disingenuous with this entire

02:02 documentary is an understatement folks we need to actually use appropriate language he was not Jesus [ __ ] Christ he was a flawed man he was far from perfect and yes that included an opportunity to make a buck in this case a very big buck that was until they sued his ass for various reasons the main problem here is not uh Spurlock himself this is I mean the guy's dead and um here's a news flash but you know people die but this isn't a character is not meant as a character attack on Spurlock per se it isn't that

03:00 it's this this endless um practice of deifying just ordinary people people die okay I'm going to die yeah you're going to die um hopefully you have a good long life and you get to do a few things while you're here you know and maybe hopefully you live to ripe old age and unfortunately since um Spurlock died at 53 he did not get to do that but that's what we H for but Spurlock didn't get to do that and one of the reasons was his drinking big time and then much later on um developing uh cancer but had having an a week in

04:01 immune system or any other number of issues due to the drinking uh certainly I'm sure didn't help I'm no doctor but yeah any guy you know drinking that much booze for 30 years I mean something's going to give but the thing here is that the very first words out of the gate of this whole thing is Shak tragedy die tragedy it's not a [ __ ] tragedy let me explain to you what a tragedy is a child or an adult for that matter gets on some sort of ride at the local fair or state fair or what have you and

04:55 it malfunctions and it ends up killing them terribly that's a tragedy when my uncle and I was just a boy who was a barber he had survived WW2 he had it was ironic that there was this man should not have been alive he'd been through so much absolute hell in his life there is no way he should have been alive but he was until one day he left his house as normal and this is in New York City and they're roow houses so he left his home to walk approximately roughly 50 60 yards down the street to his barber shop where he

05:47 was going to work and never made it because a drunken [ __ ] in a car ran up on the curb behind him and killed him that is a tragedy so there are things that happen that are just actually pretty much predictable you know someone it does not take a genius to tell someone son you keep drinking like that you're going to die this is not a mystery there is nothing here that is a huge mystery but he's sure as hell you know was not Jesus Christ and I'm not specifically limiting this to Mr Spurlock I'm talking about you people

06:51 the people or any people who keep doing this who keep insisting on bending and grotesquely twisting the language and twisting the lives of people where we have just pretty much Ordinary People haven't done anything that spectacular [ __ ] last time I checked you know he didn't like cure cancer or hell even you know uh cure polio for that matter he was was just pretty much an ordinary guy who often times had a really shitty attitude and again probably the booze didn't help but stop using the [ __ ] word

07:45 tragedy C A lot of people in the show business business you know Sports people a lot of people they make stupid mistakes and eventually life catches up with them but every single time it happens all you ever hear about is what a terrible tragedy I already previously gave examples of tragedies the next biggest tragedy on top of all of this is that if if you listen to what I'm saying and I don't know how to make it any [ __ ] clearer than I am right now if you actually listen to what I'm saying and you

08:41 still can't agree or understand that well now that that's a tragedy until next Monday or Friday if this isn't Earnest what is.