Mike Bannan is an exclusive journalist for Ozone Radio.

The tragic case of Michael Phelps' getting caught smoking a bong of marijuana casts a disturbing shadow upon the celebrity culture with which Americans obsess. More and more Americans are turning to a form of hero worship in order to bring order to their own lives. The people they view as heroes, those celebrities, are not necessarily willing to live like those role models and heroes that parents expect for their children. When these sort of events occur, those worshipers quickly turn against those people they once viewed as heroes. We cannot keep our celebrity culture intact without sacrificing our old gods. If we are to survive by living in the opium of celebrity hero worship, then we must stop caring about people like Michael Phelps. Our children will not find a positive role model in life unless they give up Michael Phelps and instead begin worshiping one man and legend - megabucks investor Bernie Madoff.

Just a brief glance at the litany of problems of this world - energy supply, environmental concerns, overcrowding, food supply and a flagging global economy, just to name a few - demonstrates to even the most optimistic among us that the trials and tribulations of humanity can only be solved through innovative thinking and creative solutions. Fortunately, the epitome of creativity rests in the imagination of a child; by its very nature, the mind of a child epitomizes creativity - what other way is there to turn Camelot into the starship Enterprise? Unfortunately, due to budget cuts and a general de-emphasis upon the arts, creativity among our students has been on the decline. Instead, we fund sporting events that by their very nature encourage steroid use, marijuana overdoses and foster animosity between players . Only by looking towards the example of Bernie Madoff can we recapture our imagination and creativity. Just like a child would invent a car that runs off of water, Madoff would use his imagination in creating his investment formula. In the child's case, it might not be clear how water can run a combustion engine, but little details like that are not important. In Madoff's case, it was not apparent how the formula could make money indefinitely if the fund relied on more people to invest, but that, too did not matter - money would magically reappear in order to pay returns to his investors. Perhaps that magic ran out and cost investors $50 billion, but the Federal Reserve could learn a thing or two about creating value for money when none is apparent thanks to the prime example of Bernard Madoff.

The idea of the creative solution should not be taught by a role model alone, however; nor should it be the only responsibility of a role model. A role model by definition should also make an important impact upon the world. In this category, Bernie Madoff also trumps Michael Phelps in the way that he has affected the course of world history. When Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal, he became the most recognizable face in America. However, being recognizable only has so much impact when one's face is on a cereal box and "Sports Illustrated." Madoff, on the other hand, is not easily distinguishable; there are very few known publicly available photographs of the man. This lack of face recognition, however, did not stop Madoff from being so influential that he caused a French investor to kill himself over the shame of investing money into Madoff's system. Face recognition is not the changing force the world needs; change itself is that force, and those who enact that change must often stay behind the scenes or risk people knowing all their secrets - even if their only secret was too much imagination and too much assuming that money could magically appear in accounting books. But the man put effort into trying to conjure it via magic spell, and for that, people should look up to him.

Perhaps the greatest argument one can make about children looking up to Bernie Madoff is that the later is far more consistent at achieving noticable results. Sure, there were times when Michael Phelps killed the competition, but what about the race in which he only won because he swam his hardest at the end while his competitor stopped stroking for just a moment? Some may point out the "never say die" attitude he displayed, but Phelps only won because an opponent left up. Madoff, on the other hand, promised "consistent" returns. The statements he released were consistent - is it his fault that the rest of the world let him down by not producing the infinite amount of investors required to fund a formula such as his? It may be unorthodox to use the money one investor pays to pay off the other investor, but it is also innovative - the great depression may never have happened if we just printed more money.

Our children will need to learn how to deal with having power. They will need a role model to teach them that if they are to succeed in turning around the world. Michael Phelps, with that said, has little power; his life consists of the ability to swim and behave himself just well enough so that he can get his advertising endorsements. He could not even do that successfully; he smoked marijuana and now Kellogs has proven that he cannot even keep his face on a box of cereal. Bernie Madoff, though, has made a permanent impact upon the world. Not only did his system involve $50 billion, but he had power over every day lives. Those employees of the charities and universities which he had affected through his illegal Ponzi scheme may now be unemployed, but they have now been given new opportunities to pursue their true childhood dreams and true career goals. Not only that, he also caused a man to kill himself over his failed investments, and what greater power can a man have than the power to change a life? Our future will demand the sort of people who can change lives, and Bernie Madoff has changed lives. His influence will be needed The man has influenced the courses of charities and schools; he has influenced entire institutions to rise and fall based on his system's performance. Phelps has only set a world record in sports that can only challenged once every four years. Bernie Madoff, on the other hand, inspired legislators to tailor regulations to make sure his creative systems couldn't recur. It had, after all, been too successful.

Why is anyone surprised that while reports indicate that South Carolina police are scrambling to mount a prosecution case against Michael Phelps for smoking marijuana, as well as arrest any students seen in the infamous bong picture, Bernie Madoff is still allowed to walk around his New York City penthouse despite the fact that his creative solution cost $50 billion? The ability to wear a glorified necklace pales is insignificant next to the power of creative financing. He deserves to be free even after he lost all that money; one can't say he never tried. He always gave it his all; Michael Phelps, on the other hand, smoked weed, and when you smoke, you don't try. At times, he made it look easy, and made our kids think that hard work can bring us our dreams. But any role model should know that it is not always so. Bernie Madoff demonstrates that one plan will forever alter the dreams of many through his scheme, and our dreams are what will keep us moving as we face the future.

Those dreams are often said to be impossible or out of reach. "It's impossible," said analysts about Madoff's scheme. "You can't do that," said the law. But "can't do" is just a word. Maybe it looks like three words contracted into two - "cannot" into "can't" plus "do" - but too often "can't" and "do" are used together in a way so that they form just one word. And that "can't do" is damning. "Can't do" keeps the heroes down. At the end of the day all heroes are mortal. Superman has his kryptonite. Batman has the Joker. Captain Kirk has Khan. Captain Kirk has William Shatner. But their willingness to rise above their challenges is what makes them into role models. They never once apologized for doing what they knew had to be done. Michael Phelps apologized, because he knew smoking weed was wrong. He realized that by law, you can't do that as a public figure. He admitted it himself after the fact; still, he smoked anyway, and as a result, the case for prison time builds around him. He will have nothing as a result. His moment will end because he said "you're right, I can't do that." He admitted to "can't do." If Phelps said "can't do" to smoking, imagine his attitude towards winning gold medals - he just "can't do" it anymore, he couldn't win more than eight. But Bernie Madoff never said anything like that; even as his company folded around him, he decided that it would be best to give his executives early bonuses rather than pay back investors. Madoff simply wouldn't listen to "can't do" when his sons asked him what was happening to the money. Madoff never said "I'm sorry," because sorry admits you realize that you "can't do" what you set out to do.

And look at Bernie Madoff - a man who still lives in his townhouse in New York, collared but not quite handcuffed, jobless but certainly not homeless. He even ignored the court order to freeze his assets by trying to mail jewelry to family members. The court should not admonish him - nay, they should reward him for such resourcefulness, because resourcefulness and creativity will be the only methods to change the world for the better. Bernie Madoff won't let far-off, nebulous entities like the American judicial system or the SEC and its agents or simple economics deter him from trying his Ponzi scheme. No, Bernie Madoff would sooner be placed under house arrest than listen to "can't do," because Bernie Madoff is a resourceful man who never says "can't do" - why else does he keep his $7 million dollar apartment? The fact that Michael Phelps stands to move back in with his mother as well as face a suspension and the loss of all his endorsements further speaks to ahis lack of preparedness. A prepared man would know what to do and would be able to get out of a decade of investigation - if Bernie Madoff did, then why couldn't Michael Phelps? The answer can only be this: Phelps is a simple, lazy man who gets by on talent and nothing more; his effort lacks a single merit; preparation must be too big a word for him. A man unresourceful is a man unprepared; a man unprepared can never win because a man who truly cares would never fail to train. This prepared state and resourcefulness also makes Bernie Madoff the perfect role model for our children.

Creativity. Dedication. Consistency. Resourcefulness. Bernie Madoff's approach to business is one that we should expect from a role model. Michael Phelps only showed such dedication between bong hits; a true role model would have tried to win gold medals from the Olympics in 2009. Swimming won't change the world, because there's only so much innovation in swimming. Nor is there dedication to training to swim to win eight gold medals; the dedication simply comes from a desire not to drown instead of bettering oneself. As for consistency - who cares? Losing billions every time is consistent and sends out a strong message; margin times varying from .0001 to 2 seconds suggests such discrepancy that we as a nation with class discrepancy cannot afford to tolerate any longer. Bernie Madoff lost money. Bernie Madoff probably stole money. But Michael Phelps lost brain cells to the effect of the THC found in weed, and stealing brain cells from yourself is far worse than stealing billions of dollars from the close friends who invested with you.

So remember that. Remember that Scotty constantly defied the laws of physics. Remember that a money button does exist. If none of that makes the current choice of role-model clear, then make that choice given the fact that as we approach the next decade, survival will demand the maximum effort given by our most inventive, creative people to overcome our problems. Bernie Madoff will give that effort, which is why we need him as a role model, and his experience at voodoo makes him the clear-cut choice for role model and world Messiah.

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