this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2024
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[–] FlyingSquid 149 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Yeah, she's generally a decent person, but she's just in the wrong here.

[–] [email protected] 186 points 10 months ago (2 children)

She's generally good at managing her public persona, except when it comes to her ~~pollute more than a small city machine~~ private jet addiction. When people show you who they really are, believe them.

[–] FlyingSquid 165 points 10 months ago (4 children)

She also showed who she really was during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes: someone who agrees to union demands, which was why she was allowed to release the best-selling concert movie of all time during the middle of the strikes.

On top of that, she got thousands of her fans registered to vote.

People are complicated.

[–] Speculater 58 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I like that she singlehandedly proved the union demands were reasonable.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not to take away from one of the most powerful people on the planet*, but a decent number of companies did that. I want to say A24 almost immediately agreed and that is why they were able to keep making films during the strike.

*: Jesus christ. How did Taylor Swift become one of the most powerful people on the planet?

[–] HappycamperNZ 7 points 10 months ago

*: Jesus christ. How did Taylor Swift become one of the most powerful people on the planet?

You ever tried saying no to a teenage daughter?

[–] Zweibel 51 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"People are complicated."

Very much agree with this sentiment. I feel, too often, this gets lost in discussions. People will do stuff we agree with, and then they'll turn around and do something we disagree with. It's fine to praise and simultaneously lambast 'em.

[–] aesthelete 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's pretty healthy, IMO. Seeing the fuzzy set of actions that people take that you agree with and don't agree with as part of a whole person is a sign of maturity mentally.

Having to cleave people into "the Madonna" and "the whore" or the "good object" and the "bad object" is in the mix for a variety of mental problems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology)

[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago

Also pulled her catalog from Spotify to protest their scummy royalty payouts. They changed the payouts for everyone as a result.

[–] Klear 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

which was why she was allowed to release the best-selling concert movie of all time during the middle of the strikes.

When you put it like that, it doesn't really sound like she was doing it out of the goodness of her heart.

[–] HappycamperNZ 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean, just because she benefited doesn't mean hundreds of others also didn't.

[–] Klear 4 points 10 months ago

Sure, I'm not saying it's wrong what she did, just that it's not a good way to judge her character.

[–] Paddzr 9 points 10 months ago

She has a very good PR manager to keep her in such a good image. You know there are hundreds of people rooting for her downfall and are waiting for every slip up.

Anything Taylor goes straight to front-page, despite my efforts to block it.

[–] DarthFrodo 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Admittedly I don't know much about her as a person, but how can someone who uses a private jet in 2024 be considered a decent person by any stretch?

Having such a ludicrously unsustainable lifestyle in a climate emergency that will kill millions and displace hundreds of millions in just a few decades is a crime against humanity, change my mind.

[–] FlyingSquid 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The same way a pediatric heart surgeon who also drives a Land Rover can be considered a decent person. People shouldn't be judged on a single data point.

[–] DarthFrodo 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

A land rover isn't nearly as polluting and doesn't drive nearly as far. More importantly, the heart surgeon isn't a role model in terms of lifestyle aspirations for literally hundreds of millions of followers.

People shouldn't be judged on a single data point.

It's not like we're talking about stealing some sweets from children or something. Climate change just gets worse and worse and worse until we reach net zero co2 emissions. As long as it's culturally accepted to cause massive amounts of completely unnecessary emissions, we don't have the slightest chance of fixing this.

The only way a decent person could be doing this is if they were completely uneducated about climate change and their impact as a role model.

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you really think Taylor Swift not having a private plane is going to do anything about climate change when the real problem is major corporations?

When 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions, why is Taylor Swift to be treated as a pariah because she has a private plane?

Neither the doctor nor Taylor Swift would make the tiniest dent in climate change if they gave those things up and we need to stop blaming individuals when it isn't individuals who are the problem unless those individuals are running one of those 100 companies. Which Taylor Swift is not.

[–] DarthFrodo 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

There's always a supplier and a consumer. The pollution of these 100 corporations is caused on behalf of their customers who fund them in exchange for fossil fuels, directly or indirectly. They are both responsible, it's 2 sides of the same coin.

Of course, much of this pollution isn't really avoidable at this point. We can't have 100% renewable power and electric cars tomorrow. Some really polluting industries will take decades to decarbonize, like steel and cement production. But this makes it even more urgent to adress the low hanging fruit asap, i.e. big sources of pollution that can easily be cut. Private jets are a prime example.

You could say just a few private jet flights or chopping down one single forest won't make a dent in global carbon emissions, but that doesn't mean that thousands around the world can keep on doing it indefinitely without consequences for all of us. Especially if they are idols for millions of people, normalizing harm to society that we can't afford.

[–] stoly 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

LOL 15 downvotes at time of this comment for you daring to say that she was wrong.

[–] FlyingSquid 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I think they're downvoting me for saying she's a generally decent person considering some of the replies I've gotten.

[–] stoly 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There is definitely some brigading going on.

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Whatever. If people don't like Taylor Swift it doesn't bother me. To be honest, I've only ever heard one of her songs all the way through. She just has done plenty of good things. This is one of the few things I've heard about her that wasn't her being a decent person.

[–] stoly 2 points 10 months ago

I have also never knowingly heard her music. It's not that I avoid her, I just have never listened to pop music in lieu of jazz, classical, or world. But she does seem to be an upstanding person for the most part.

[–] jj4211 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well, we got some overriding scenario blasting away all nuance.

It's hard to be sympathetic toward a fundamental privacy limitation associated with flying in a plane exclusively owned by you. So in this context, it's easy to equate "Leave Taylor alone!" with "it's sad how she can't fly in her private jet without being tracked, there's nothing she can do!'

Now broadly speaking, I get that a lot of unreasonable piling on is coming with it, but the private jet is a symbol of excess and environmental harm and it's inherently a risk to hop into that whole mess. Particularly when she could charter private flights to the same effect without the tracking (still excess and environmental harm, but at least obfuscated from public eye a bit).

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I never said she should be left alone or that it's sad that she can't fly without being tracked.

I don't care if she can be tracked when she flies. I said she was in the wrong here. All I said was that she generally comes across as a decent person.

[–] jj4211 4 points 10 months ago

Yeah, unfortunately, it's the internet so we don't take kindly to nuance around here.