ZazaCast
Major Contributor
Are you sure you haven't done it lately? ...have you watched your 5000th post video? :huh:
Michael Phelps could have made me $1 Millon
- Thread starter ChipG
- Start date
Are you sure you haven't done it lately? ...have you watched your 5000th post video? :huh:
Thats if you believe Nietzsche. I personally subscribe to the view that, and it is a sad reflection on society, that people do take things into consideration such as the number one athlete in the world doing it.
ZazaCast
Major Contributor
Anyway, I think its been made quite clear in this thread who are pot smokers, and who are not.rogar-Smoke(DBG):
....well, we do know Phelps does. :happy:
and I'm pretty sure Cheech & Chong do it too!
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Drew Ott
Wish I were banned.
You can't argue philosophy as if you're talking about fact. Saying "you're wrong because of existentialism" just shows that you don't know enough about the term.
Also, PK is the worst person you could have chosen to try to make your point with. If you don't think PK's life is important to humankind, check out Isara.org
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
Of course the actions of athletes and celebrities have an effect on people. Their behavior influences the behavior of others. If it didn't, companies wouldn't pay them big bucks for sponsorships and product endorsements.
My concern isn't whether or not smoking pot is a bad thing. My concern is that what he apparently did is a crime. Whether or not it should be a crime is a different discussion for a different forum. But the fact that he is apparently seen on video committing a crime is certainly a valid reason for sponsors to reconsider having him as their spokesperson.
That being said, I'm not sure it's a good reason to suspend him from competition. After all, the crime has not been proven yet. All the photo shows is Phelps smoking something that APPEARS to be marijuana. I don't think the accusation itself is enough to warrant suspension.
My concern isn't whether or not smoking pot is a bad thing. My concern is that what he apparently did is a crime. Whether or not it should be a crime is a different discussion for a different forum. But the fact that he is apparently seen on video committing a crime is certainly a valid reason for sponsors to reconsider having him as their spokesperson.
That being said, I'm not sure it's a good reason to suspend him from competition. After all, the crime has not been proven yet. All the photo shows is Phelps smoking something that APPEARS to be marijuana. I don't think the accusation itself is enough to warrant suspension.
MattinSTL
Sound Modulator
I don't see why anybody gives 2-sh*ts if somebody smokes pot... but just like everything else in life... you gotta' play by the rules of the fame... er... misspelling... I meant GAME... or did I?
The whole thing that makes it newsworthy is the image bestowed upon olympic athletes... and the simple fact that once you step up on that stage... you gotta' be THAT "actor"... because if you step out of that role, the audience leaves.
It was no big deal as a person... but a terrible move for somebody lucky enough to land a ton of "white bread" endorsements. You can't be on the cover of High Times and a Wheaties box at the same time... er "weedies?"
The whole thing that makes it newsworthy is the image bestowed upon olympic athletes... and the simple fact that once you step up on that stage... you gotta' be THAT "actor"... because if you step out of that role, the audience leaves.
It was no big deal as a person... but a terrible move for somebody lucky enough to land a ton of "white bread" endorsements. You can't be on the cover of High Times and a Wheaties box at the same time... er "weedies?"
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
It's also not like your kids admire and look up to them (figuratively speaking), and want to be JUST LIKE them.
yommytacoe
Well-known member
Sooo celebrities should have to tailor their lives to what other people want from them? Just because he's famous doesn't mean he can't live his own life. I guess with my vague existentialism reference earlier I don't mean that life is meaningless, it's just that you have to live the way you want to and make your own choices. Celebrity or not he can do whatever the hell he wants lay off him.
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
He's totally free to make his own choices and live his life the way he wants to. But he has to accept that there are consequences to that. The companies that pay him to endorse their products are free to cancel those endorsements if they so choose.
If he chooses to commit a crime and gets caught for it, he should expect to be punished. And he should expect many parents not to consider him an appropriate role model for their children. He should also expect his decisions to have an impact on his being allowed to compete.
As long as he's cool with that, great.
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Kirk Gillock
Rebel with a cause
Four years on this forum and I've never read a more disturbing post or sadder words. Seriously. Tell the parents of a child who was killed in a drunk driving accident that same thing. Tell them that another person's actions didn't affect them. If you really believe what you wrote then go ahead and tell them. But don't be surprised by the affect your words have on them.
I could think of a thousand examples of how our actions affect others, but here's one which is topic related and repeated millions of times each day - around the world. Maybe it will relate to you. Maybe not. Either way, it happens. A LOT!
Ex: A man parties a little too much one night and must call in sick the next day. Because of his ACTIONS (one night of excess) his co-worker(s) must work a little harder and do the job he should be doing. But, instead, is at home thinking about #1. Now ask his co-workers if his actions didn't affect them.
Multiply that one example by millions and you'll understand why the USA loses $118 billion in productivity each year because of alcohol/drug consumption. In other words, we can't afford a society filled with people only looking out for #1. It just won't work! What if a teacher is always looking out for #1, and not the well being of their students? What if a parent is always looking out for #1, and not the well being of their child? What if a politician is always looking out for #1, and not the well being of the citizens? What about a soldier? Fireman? The list could go on and on. But I'm glad we have teachers, parents, soldiers, firemen, and a "few" politicians who DON'T think the way you do and who are NOT always looking out for #1.
And, yommytacoe, since you're able to type English and quote existentialism, you must have had teachers and parents who were significant to you and whose actions AFFECTED your life. You should thank them for their efforts instead of insulting them with the very language they taught you.
By the way, Phelps' actions may not have affected you but he has directly affected me. As some one who goes to schools and encourages kids to focus on education and to stay away from alcohol/drugs, he makes my life's passion MUCH more difficult to do. Let's hope your message of "everyone is insignificant" never has the same audience.
You may think your life and actions are insignificant but they're NOT. Every day you make decisions which affect humanity directly or INDIRECTLY. If not, then you're not really living.
[/soapbox]
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Richard J. Johnson
Joystick Member
This thread sure went down a different path.
You linked to a screed by a fellow who has zero involvement with the studies described, has zero background in pharmacology, neurochemistry, psychology or epidemiology, and who receives a paycheck for pushing an anti-drug agenda.
While I don't object to his holding the position he does on the topic - after all, he's paid to hold that position, and is just giving his employers their money's worth - I do object to the suggestion that his uneducated, anecdotal, personal opinion is even relevant to the conversation, after I offered you the conclusions of professional, highly-educated researchers with access to study groups and relevant data, who - most important - were not paid to have made their conclusions before doing their research.
Now, if you have something based upon clinical research by people who actually know what they're talking about, I'd be interested in reading that.
I'm not sure about that.
After all, now you can point out to your audience that you can be a record-holding-Olympic-gold-medalist, a world-class athlete with fame and money and respect showered upon you...
...but just let an image get out of you maybe smoking something that might be marijuana, and bye-bye endorsements, bye-bye respectability, bye-bye status.
See, kids? Drugs are bad for you because if people find out what you're doing on your own time, no matter how beloved you are, no matter how relatively harmless the vice, you'll be ruined.
If anything, Phelps may have just made your work easier.
ZazaCast
Major Contributor
No lack of opinion here... after all it was an image of Phelps that set this all off. Perhaps we should look on the bright side and note how powerful an image can be (moving or still)? It's what we all do. (sorry I missed that snapshot of Clinton with Monica...damn!)
I just hate to see the kid assumed guilty before proven innocent...seems to be the trend these days.
I just hate to see the kid assumed guilty before proven innocent...seems to be the trend these days.
I might use that one...
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
He won't be ruined by this. The contract just wasn't extended and it probably wouldn't have been. It was up at the end of the month and the Olympics are history. If he competes again and wins a bunch of medals.... he'll be riding the next gravy train.
He's had a DUI in the past as well. Didn't hurt him at all.
MAH