this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2024
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politics

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[–] Prethoryn@lemmy.world 95 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Look, I am not a billionaire loving guy anymore than some of you are.

But has anyone here considered that Musk has made an impact on the views of young white men (whom also happen to be Republican and Conservative or Proud Boys?

Does it bother us that these men follow a billionaire who doesn't give two shits about them? Yes.

Do I care that Taylor Swift is the opposite of that and encourages young women and men, be it black, gay, trans, etc to be opposite end of that spectrum. Fuck yes, we shouldn't base our views off the rich but has it ever occurred to anyone here that it is using those billionairs to represent and have them be vocal with the power they hold with our views instead?

I will absolutely take Taylor Swift speaking up and saying what she believes in and her giving that voice to 100000+ people whose only voice is heard in a vote if her speaking up also encourages people to say fuck Trump and and Musk and every fucking dumb ass on this post that thinks Taylor speaking out is a bad thing by comparison to it somehow being worse then what they already do with Musk.

Fuckem, fuck billionaires, but God damn keep fucking roasting them TSwiftie.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 46 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

If I had a platform that millions of people listened to (which I don't), and strongly held beliefs about how the country could be made better for everyone (which I do), why wouldn't I use my platform to share those beliefs? How could I not?

No one MUST obey what either of them says, just like no one would be compelled to obey me in my hypothetical. But I don't really have a problem with any person using whatever platform they've found themselves with to express their own beliefs and desires. I don't think people lose the right to free expression just because they are rich and/or famous and/or powerful.

Edit: And if you piss a lot of people off and lose all your advertisers because your opinions are repugnant and awful - well hey, that's the choice you made.

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ironically, Taylor Swift was, up to this point, trying very hard NOT to use her platform. Just read her post. She's BEGGING the reader not to blindly follow her in voting, and do their own research and make their own choice. She'd said she'd wait until after her tour to endorse a candidate (which would have been after the election 🤣 ), but she says in her post that the AI DeepFake Endorsement she 'made' of Trump compelled her to give up her secret ballot and outright state she's voting for Harris.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Great point and apologies for glossing over that. I guess my reply just blurred into my general opinion about people dismissing or being grumpy about "celebrity" endorsements or political statements.

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

I hear ya. Yeah, I do agree with 'you shouldn't make a political opinion based on what a celebrity does,' but the reality is that people might waiver until they hear someone they like and trust (like a celebrity) makes a decision. Sad fact of life in this popularity contest we call a political system. ;)

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 months ago

why wouldn't I use my platform to share those beliefs?

I think it's perfectly valid to say "the system that gave me this platform is unfair and I shouldn't have benefited from it to the degree that I have, but I have the platform now so I'm going to use it for good."

[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm not down with billionaires either, but at least she's using her fame and money towards some good things.

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's one of the very few ethical ways to become a billionaire I think. If you sell an album or book for $10, and you're a global sensation, it's reasonable you'll get 100 million people buying it. It just falls on you then to use that money for his good reasons and adequately compensate people who support you. And Swift has generally been really good about that.

[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, agreed. I do think overall that being a billionaire necessitates someone else (lots of someone elses) getting the shaft. But there are degrees of... billionairism, and she is on the right side of that, albeit still a billionaire.

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I think overall that is very much so the case. This is the exception, not the norm.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 11 points 3 months ago

It's almost like people have attributes other than their net worth.