Here's what I learned, first hand, about those "lost to the depths of neopagan, hedonistic decadence." And yeah, I've known a few of those folks: If it wasn't booze, it was endless women or men. If it wasn't women or men it was coke. If it wasn't coke, it was heroin. If it wasn't heroin it was pot, PCP, 'Ludes, uppers, downers - whatever it took for them to avoid themselves. And of all the wrecked and addicted folks I've run across through the years, it wasn't music that drove any of them towards the Abyss. It was themselves or their genes or their families or some horribly traumatic experience(s) or, most often, some combination of those things.
On a related note, why do I get the sense that you're one of those folks who, back in the day, would have joyously burned a minstrel at the stake for displeasing you or jarring your sensibilities?
The ruination of so many people, especially young people, that you accurately describe is a sad, unfortunate reality. Where I live now and where I grew up entire communities have been transformed and there has been much suffering and grief. You list the various ways individuals come to perdition. Why? A popular term in the venacular is “influencers”. Whether they be teachers, entertainers, politicos, the media, the internet elites who control information flow, medical quacks or those who just have loud determined power and money, most observers argue that they have immense influence on people especially young people and the vapid. They really do influence their choices and their epicurean behaviors.
It has been your argument that Osborne with his satanic schtick was really at his core a decent man, despite his public embrace of hedonism and decadence, just made entertaining music and did no real harm to those that he influenced. There are many reasons that rational, decent , educated people would disagree with you.
You claim to be a musician yourself and have a band. I’ll desribe just one observation on how music influences people and is a subject of some neurological research. If you attend big concerts where a male voice is projected through electric amlifiers observe the behavior of many of the women. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has an exhibit of the hotel keys and the underwear women throw on stage at the performers. Often the manage to copulate. Now ordinarily these women may be reserved and would not give these singers the right time of day if they met them in another setting. Obviously people like Osborne do influence people with their “schtick”. They have the wealth and adulation to prove it.
BTW to the best of my recollection ,I have never physicaly harmed any individual because of cultural, ideological or artistic reasons. The only people I have held personally accountable are those who physically attacked me or my family first. Also as an aside there is little doubt that our hypothalmi are shaped differently ( look up what that means if you are interested) and our values do not coincide. Nevertheless I wish you well.