Seriously, for the good of America, the world, and the human species as a whole, just stop what you’re doing.
I hope I don’t need to go into specifics. If you know what I’m talking about, you can probably fill in the blanks based on the first sentence alone. But if you’re blissfully unaware, I’ll only offer the basics.
Jubilee isn’t just the name of a beloved X-Men character. It’s the name of a YouTube channel that specializes in debates/clickbait. They claim they seek to provoke greater discussions and create better connections between those with different points of view.
That’s bullshit.
Everyone working for this channel knows it’s bullshit. If they’re capable of putting their pants without assistance, they have to know.
They’re not in the business of thought-provoking discussions. They’re in the business of clickbait/rage-bait/anything that will get them trending on social media. They invite controversial figures, mostly “influencers” who operate on the extremes of the political spectrum. And they put them in a room surrounded by people who are diametrically opposed to their viewpoints. Then, they engage in timed debates on various controversial issues.
Now, in the pre-internet era, this would’ve been harmless. Even if you put it on TV, it probably wouldn’t have too great an impact. It would just be a temporary spectacle. But this isn’t just a world dominated by the internet. This is a world where extreme voices can make the most noise and gain both attention and power.
That’s not merely an exercise in free speech. That’s enabling assholes by giving them a large platform, a big audience, and an opportunity to completely change/destabilize public discourse on important topics. I liken it to letting random strangers have a say in important medical decisions while your doctor tells you things you don’t like hearing. Yes, people are free to share their opinions on such matters, but listening to those opinions you prefer is going to have serious consequences.
Now, I admit I did watch a number of these Jubilee debates. I’ll even concede that some of them are entertaining and memorable. But at no point do I ever feel like these debates are productive. I guarantee that not one person changed their mind or even reconsidered a position by watching these debates. If anything, all they do is make everyone more extreme and entrenched.
Certain debates have been plenty controversial, given the figures they’ve invited onto this show. But the one that prompted this post involved journalist Mehdi Hasan, who was tasked with debating 20 far-right conservatives.
Now, I don’t want to provide a link to this video. The last thing I want is for this channel to get any extra clicks at my expense. I’ll just say that the label “far-right conservatives” was too generously. Even calling them outright fascists would’ve been too kind. These people who “debated” Mr. Hasan are just assholes in the highest order.
Their politics have nothing to do with policy. They revolve entirely around being a dick to whoever they want, facing no consequences, and getting paid/empowered by their dickish behavior. These aren’t just people who want to live in conservative utopia. They want a world where they’re masters on a planation and everyone else is a slave who does their bidding.
But to write them off or claim they’re not representative of conservative values is missing the point. The fact remains that Jubilee sought them out. Jubilee platformed and emboldened them. Their rhetoric wasn’t just stupid, hateful, and irresponsible. In this current system of clickbait, bots, and algorithms, their assholery will be rewarded.
Sure, one of the participants lost his job for basically espousing Nazi talking points. But then, he used a go-fund-me to raise thousands of dollars to ensure he’ll be rewarded. And any system or society that effectively rewards people who champion Nazi shit is doomed to fail.
Now, as someone who makes YouTube videos who will never have the audience of Jubilee, I understand the desire to get more views, clicks, and subscribers. But at what point is it worth empowering people who champion Nazi shit? No amount of money is worth it. History has shown what happens when assholes like this are emboldened. We cannot let that history repeat itself.
Once again, I call on everyone behind the Jubilee channel to take a step back, think hard about what you’re doing, and realize this shit isn’t just irresponsible. It’s dangerous. If you want to host more debates with Skip Bayless and passionate sports fans, then go for it. That’s far less likely to involve Nazi shit. But what you did with Mehdi Hasan was far beyond any line that should never be crossed.
You have the power to stop.
You have the power to delete the video or at the very least, apologize for it.
Use that power wisely. Because the people who talk Nazi shit sure as hell won’t.
It’s an inescapable fact of life. At some point, your bladder and bowels will turn against you in the worst possible way at the worst possible time. You could be in the middle of an important meeting. You could be sitting side-by-side with the love of your life, the President of the United States, or the most famous celebrity in the world.
Then, it hits you.
Suddenly, you have to go the bathroom. Either your bladder is about to burst or you’re about to damage your underwear and pants beyond repair. It doesn’t matter how rich, well-connected, or powerful you are. Sometimes, your body will find a way to turn any one moment into something mortifying and/or stressful.
Without getting too graphic, I’ll spare everyone reading this the ugly details of what these situations entail. Since this happens to everyone at some point, I don’t think I have to. But I’m bringing it up because I recently found myself cleaning my bathroom. In doing so, I recalled an incident from many years ago that has impacted me in subtle, yet profound ways. And it has to do with the single most disgusting, dirty, and foul-smelling public restroom I ever had to use.
I understand the bar for awful public restrooms is very high. Depending on where you live in the world, a dirty public restroom might depend heavily on how much or how little actual fecal matter is smeared on the walls. In others, it might just depend on how backed up the toilet is.
I don’t doubt for a second that someone reading this can recall a public restroom experience that was many times worse than anything I ever experienced. But I still wish to share this story, if only to offer a hard lesson in what having to use disgusting public restrooms can to do your psyche.
Like many other formative experiences in my life, this one occurred while I was in college. Specifically, it occurred during my freshman year. That’s relevant because at the university I went to, there were numerous dorm facilities that were in various state of repair/disrepair. And, unfortunately for me, I ended up spending my first full year of college in an all-male dorm.
That fact alone should offer clues as to how dirty it was bound to be. Just picture, for a moment, the scenario beyond the context of college. Take a couple hundred teenage boys around the ages of 18 and 19. Put every one of them in a large, seven-story building. Have them be miles away from parents, relatives, and authority figures for the first time in their lives. Some of these young men have never even done their own laundry.
Things are going to get rowdy, dirty, smelly, and stupid.
There are any number of incidents I can recount from my experience living in that dorm. Looking back on it, I still can’t believe I managed to live there for nearly an entire year while maintaining a relative measure of sanity. But the worst part, by far, of living in that dorm had to do with the shared bathrooms.
Seriously, I cannot put into words how awful the shared bathrooms in an all-male college dorm were.
Yes, the dorm had a cleaning staff. But unless the people working on that staff had superpowers, I don’t see how they could’ve kept those bathrooms clean. And since that staff didn’t work on the weekends, things got really bad on Sundays.
It wasn’t unusual to walk into those bathrooms on a Sunday morning and see every stall clogged, overflowing, or in some state of general shittiness. It also wasn’t unusual to see traces of vomit, food, and other bodily fluids in the shower stalls, which I had to regularly use. I want to say you get used to it. But there are just some things the human brain is not equipped to process.
But on one particular Sunday morning during my freshman year, the true breadth of shittiness in public restrooms was taken to a whole new level. And to this day, my body and my gag reflex has never been so thoroughly strained.
This incident happened during the late spring. By then, I’d seen my share of disgusting crap in the men’s bathrooms. I had also gotten pretty good at managing myself so that, if I ever needed to take a shit, I would be somewhere else on campus where the bathrooms were considerably better. I learned early on that, so long as I limited how often I had to use the bathrooms in a male dorm, I could cope.
But on this morning, my stomach decided test my resolve. For reasons I still don’t understand, I woke up that morning feeling like bodybuilders were tapdancing on my lower intestines while wearing lead bricks as shoes. It hit me in a way where my roommate commented he could hear my stomach from across the room.
That’s when I knew I was in trouble.
Initially, I wondered if it was possible to get to another building with a decent bathroom. But my stomach quickly informed me that time was not on my side. I had to get to a toilet and I had to get to one immediately.
So, I entered the nearest bathroom in my dorm. It was right across the hall. It also happened to be empty, given the early morning hour. However, as soon as I stepped in, I was hit with a sight and a smell that is forever seared into my brain.
Someone, or more likely a group of fellow male students in a less-than-sober mindset, had found a way to utterly desecrate every single toilet in some way, shape, or form. One had a literal mountain of wet, piss-colored toilet paper spilling out of the toilet, onto the floor, and into the neighboring stall. Another had a massive puddle of liquid shit at the rim of the bowl, eager to flow over at the slightest provocation. And the third had what I can only describe as the coiled anaconda of all shits.
It was so awful I nearly threw up on the spot. Had my stomach not been a firestorm of fermenting sewage, I would’ve run to another bathroom. But I had to go. So, I picked a stall, wading through puddles of piss in the process, and did what I had to do.
Again, I’ll spare everyone the details. But trust me, these are NOT details you want to know. All I’ll say is that, when I was done, I had to take a very long shower in another bathroom. I also washed my hands at least 10 times over the course of that day. The memory of what I had experienced in that bathroom was just too raw.
That memory even lingered after I finished my freshman year and got to live in better dorms later on. In that same time, I didn’t just learn to appreciate the simple comfort of a non-filthy bathroom. I actually went out of my way to clean up after myself and even clean around certain areas if I could. It wasn’t much, but it was better than another shitty ordeal, literally and figuratively.
Even after I finished college and moved out of my parents’ house, I made a big deal about keeping the bathrooms clean. And rest assure, if any toilet ever showed signs of backing up or not working properly, I immediately looked into it. The more proactive you can be with a toilet, the better. You don’t have to be a plumber to know how to keep it working.
Now, I live alone in a place that I own. That means I am fully responsible for how clean and functional my bathroom is. I won’t say it’s always spotless. And I won’t say it’s the cleanest bathroom you’ll ever see. I can only be certain that it will always be pleasant to use and you can be confident that the toilet will work, as needed.
I honestly don’t know how long I’ll live in this crazy world. But I am certain that at some point, I’ll find myself in another situation where I’ll have to badly use a bathroom and I’ll have to go into a public bathroom. I just hope that, whenever or wherever it happens, I never have to use a bathroom like the one I used during my freshman year of college.
Filed under comedy, Jack Fisher's Insights, rants
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is about hatred and bigotry. I’ve witnessed it manifest in many forms over the course of my life. It is a dark, disturbing insight into humanity’s collective psyche. But in that same experience, I came to a number of realizations about hatred and bigotry that I wish to share. Hopefully, it broadens everyone’s perspective on the matter.
Filed under Current Events, human nature, Jack's World, psychology, rants, YouTube
I don’t consider myself highly sophisticated when it comes to fashion. Sure, I wear men’s suits and I am aware of certain types of designer clothes, some of which I do wear from time to time. But for the most part, my tastes in clothes are very simple.
If it’s comfortable, I wear it.
For that reason, a non-insignificant part of my wardrobe consists of shirts, pants, socks, and underwear that I buy discount from Walmart or Amazon. Aside from my professional attire, I never splurge much on clothes of any kind. I also don’t buy new clothes too often. There are clothes in my drawers right now that I’ve had for nearly 10 years. They’re still intact. They’re still comfortable. So, I continue to wear them.
In that sense, I’m not someone who can do much in terms of fashion statements. However, there is one particular sentiment regarding fashion on which I am very passionate. And it’s this.
Sweatpants are the single greatest piece of clothing ever made.
Seriously, I dare anyone to challenge that.
In terms of function, comfort, and sheer simplicity, sweatpants really do have it all. They’re something you can throw on at a moment’s notice. You don’t have to worry about zippers, buttons, or anything like that. They’re also easy to wash. You don’t need to iron them or use some kind of fancy soaps. And for the most part, they’re cheap and easy to fit.
It doesn’t matter what your gender might be.
It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you might be.
It doesn’t matter what god you worship, who you vote for, who you interact with, or what your interests might be.
Sweatpants still feel great! Even in hot weather, they offer a special kind of comfort that’s hard to find with any other clothing. And after a long hard day of wearing work clothes of any kind, there’s just something inherently relaxing about throwing on a pair of sweatpants for the evening.
I’m not just speaking from experience, either. I’ve watched peoples’ moods radically change for the better the moment they shed whatever they happen to be wearing and put on a nice pair of sweatpants. They become more relaxed, less tense, and just happier overall. I’ve yet to see another piece of clothing have that kind of impact on so many people.
I know it sounds like I’m just raving and ranting about sweatpants. But I find myself singing their praise more and more, especially whenever I’ve had to wear my professional attire for extended periods. Yes, there’s a time and place to look good, dignified, and well-groomed. But there’s also a time to just put on something unfashionably comfortable and just relax. And no other piece of clothing does that like sweatpants.
So, to whoever invented sweatpants and to those who continue to make them, I thank you. The world sucks slightly less because of sweatpants.
Filed under Jack Fisher's Insights, rants
I’m a simple man. If I like something, I try not to overthink it. So long as it’s not actively damaging to my mind or body, I’ll enjoy it on my own accord and not pay much mind to whatever politics or popular attitudes are aligned with it.
Trust me, if you make it through middle school and high school being open about your love of Pokémon and superhero comics, you can be relatively confident in the thickness of your skin.
But when it comes to something as innocuous as pumpkin spice, it feels like the internet and meme culture have given it a less-than-flattering reputation. It tends to happen whenever the calendar turns to September. That’s when you notice that all things pumpkin spice showing up in grocery stores, along with Halloween decor. It just went along with the changing seasons, becoming this thing we in the United States associate with fall.
And it’s true that some companies go overboard, trying to incorporate pumpkin spice into damn near everything. But that’s nothing new for profit-seeking companies. It’s not their fault that we keep consuming pumpkin spice, nor is it their fault that it tastes so delicious. Rest assure, they wouldn’t keep overhyping it every fall if it didn’t help their profits in a non-insignificant way.
That still doesn’t stop some people from bemoaning pumpkin spice as this inherently insufferable seasonal phenomenon, associating it with annoying yuppie stereotypes who make ordering lattes at a coffee shop akin to arguing their Masters Thesis. That’s not to say those people don’t exist. I’ve met those people. They can be annoying. But I’ll gladly endure standing in line with them over those who just exist to complain about everything and everyone during every season.
I suppose it also helps that I, personally, love pumpkin spice as a flavor. I’m also a big fan of pumpkin spice lattes, in particular. Whenever I’m feeling restless or lethargic in the morning, I’ll treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte and immediately feel a little better. I often do the same if the previous night was rough and I didn’t get much sleep.
It’s not a political statement or a surrender to the trends dictated by our cultural and corporate overloords.
It just fucking tastes good. Can we just leave it at that?
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get myself a pumpkin spice latte and I’m going to enjoy it.
Filed under Current Events, Jack Fisher's Insights, rants
When it comes to being rich, there are only two types.
The first type is more traditional and common, relatively speaking. That type of rich largely covers people who can afford to live in nice houses within nice neighborhoods in well-maintained communities while not drowning in debt, be it from credit cards and student loans. These aren’t the kind of rich people who live in mansions and have butlers. These are just people who have comfortable, affluent lifestyles.
I don’t have a problem with rich people like this. I even know some of them. They’re generally decent people. And while some did inherit part of their wealth, they still had to work to some extent in order to maintain it. If they didn’t, then they wouldn’t remain rich for very long.
Then, there’s the second type of rich people. These people are rich in ways that most of us, including the first type of rich people I just mentioned, cannot begin to fathom. These are people with access to billions of dollars of wealth. I know people love to throw terms like millions and billions around interchangeably, but I don’t think those people realize just how much more a billion is than a million.
To illustrate, consider the following anecdote.
If you made approximately $50,000 a year, it would take you about 18 years in order to make $1 million. That’s a timeframe we can wrap our heads around. Most people work longer than 18 years in their adult lives.
But working at that same rate, it would take over 18,000 years to make $1 billion. That’s nearly three times longer than the history of human civilization. That is not a trivial difference.
And that difference is worth highlighting because only the second type of rich people can afford obscene displays of wealth like yachts. I also think it’s entirely appropriate to label these types of displays as obscene. Because yachts are not just boats.
They might as well be floating private islands that rich people use as extensions of their gawdy lifestyle. It’s not enough they can afford armies of butlers, nurses, nannys, personal chefs, and servants. They have to take that shit with them across the ocean. Just imagine feeling like you need that kind of pampering and luxury to begin with, let alone take it with you on an oversized boat.
It’s just one of the many reasons why I’ve come to believe that there’s no such thing as a “good” billionaire. But if you’re a billionaire who happens to own a yacht, then I’m just going to assume you’re an insufferable asshole until proven otherwise. Thus far, I haven’t been able to find reliable proof in that regard.
But all too often, I come across proof in the opposite direction that further affirms that these types of rich people really are assholes. The latest bit of proof comes courtesy of a misguided fireworks display organized by the crew of a superyacht that had been chartered by a group of rich people who don’t mind dropping $320,000 a week.
What’s the difference between a yacht and a superyacht? I don’t claim to know, but it’s safe to assume you have to be a special kind of greedy, self-centered asshole to think a regular yacht isn’t obscene enough.
But according to the Daily Beast, this particular superyacht tried to do a firework show off the Greek island of Hydra. While it might have looked pretty initially, it didn’t end well because it caused a massive forest fire on the island. Thankfully, no one was hurt in this fire, as far as we know. Even so, this is the kind of display that only the obscenely wealthy can pull off.
It’s not enough for people like this to live on a floating resort where they’re treated like royalty. They need a personal fireworks show to be entertained, even if it puts part of the natural world at risk. Even if you grand them the benefit of the doubt that this was entirely an accident and the people involved feel bad about it, remember this one detail.
These people won’t be the least bit inconvenienced.
It doesn’t matter that the mayor of the island is seeking compensation. Chances are he’ll run into an army overpaid lawyers who will either pay for this incident to go away or just plain intimidate the people on this island into submission. For most of the people paying these lawyers, the most they’ll have to do is make a phone call, sign some papers, and maybe even wire some money.
If anyone else mistakenly caused a forest fire that devastated an entire island, there would be consequences. This wouldn’t be something we could just ignore or bully our way out of. Then again, this isn’t something most of us are in a position to even do. We don’t own or use any yachts, let alone a superyacht.
We don’t know the names of the people who were on this superyacht when the fire erupted. Chances are we’ll never know, thanks to those aforementioned lawyers. But whoever they are, they’re still prime examples of why billionaires in general are assholes.
Filed under Current Events, human nature, politics, rants, real stories
As we get older, we often learn the hard way that the people we admire and those we’ve placed our trust in are painfully human. With very few exceptions, people are complicated. They have their flaws, failures, warts, and regrets. It doesn’t matter how high their profile or how long their list of accomplishments. They’re just as human as us. And sometimes, that same high profile can exacerbate their worst tendencies.
That’s what I’ve come to learn about Elon Musk, someone who I used to reference in admiration on this site. Like many others, there was a time when I respected and admired Musk for his efforts to forge a better future through technology and investment. Whenever he spoke on these issues, I listened closely and took his words seriously. I still believe the work he did making electric cars more mainstream and pursuing brain/computer interfaces are a net positive for the world.
However, recent years have caused me to re-evaluate many of my opinions on this man. It’s not just that I’ve become more jaded and cynical over the years. I’ve watched, along with many others, as Elon Musk has proven himself to be out of touch, egotistical, petty, ruthless, and increasingly unhinged with respect to his political leanings.
He’s also a billionaire who, like many others before him, has shown no qualms about ruthlessly exploiting his workers, even during a global pandemic. Let’s not forget about that.
Now, I freely admit my attitude towards billionaires has soured a great deal in recent years. I’m now of the opinion that billionaires really shouldn’t exist in a civilized society. I also believe it’s impossible to become a billionaire without being ruthlessly exploitative. But that’s beside the point.
Even if Musk wasn’t a billionaire, he still wouldn’t be someone worthy of his reputation among supporters. The past four years have shown that he is not the future tech visionary he pretends to be. He is also not a self-made billionaire in any sense, considering how much of his wealth was inherited.
At his core, Elon Musk is a sales pitch man, plain and simple. He’s about as honest as a used car salesman trying to sell cars that he knows aren’t what he claims them to be. This is not just my opinion of the man. You need only look up the long list of predictions/promises he’s made over the past 15 years.
He claimed he could get humans to Mars by 2024. He hasn’t even made it back to the Moon.
He claimed fully autonomous self-driving cars would be ready by 2018. He was wrong about that too.
He claimed COVID-19 would go away by April 2020. He was distressingly wrong in that prediction.
It’s an age-old tactic of many sales pitchmen. Make big, bold promises that you can’t possibly deliver, but deliver just barely enough to keep people from calling you a total fraud. And on the things Musk has delivered, there’s still a lot to be desired on that front.
Then, there are Musk’s politics, which he just loves sharing on social media to a disturbing degree. Some have claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic radicalized him. It was around 2020 when his politics became much more reactionary, so much so that it got him in trouble. And once he bought Twitter outright, he essentially emboldened everyone who shares in his reactionary outlook, including a few who have done serious harm.
There’s a lot more I can say about his political leanings, but that’s a rabbit hole nobody can dive into without losing too much of their soul. I’ll just say that people far smarter than me have been much more thorough in debunking the myths surrounding Musk’s persona. I’ll even concede that Musk is still capable of worthwhile efforts, even if he’s not a likable person in general.
But, as someone who used to buy into the hype on which this man built his fortune, I want to make one thing clear. Elon Musk is not someone you should trust.
If he makes a bold promise, don’t assume for a second he’ll deliver until he actually does.
If he makes a confident statement about politics, don’t assume it’s anything other than self-serving aggrandizement.
If he makes a bold prediction, don’t take it seriously until you remind yourself how many other predictions he’s gotten wrong.
And, most important, don’t forget for a second that Elon Musk is not normal in the sense that he’s a billionaire. You just can’t be normal and become a billionaire through wholly ethical means.
It still remains to be seen what Elon Musk’s legacy will be in the grand scheme of things. It’s very likely that, whatever it ends up being, it’ll be skewed by both his supporters and detractors. But while it’s being built, it’s worth being cautious, skeptical, and even a little extra cynical when it comes to this man.
Filed under futurism, Neuralink, rants, technology
As a general rule, I do not look to celebrities to inform my opinions on politics. And I strongly recommend that approach for everyone. Getting your politics from a celebrity is like getting medical advice from a plumber. It’s both misguided and irrational.
That even applies to celebrities with the star power of Taylor Swift. I’m fully aware that, in terms of celebrity star power, she’s on a very different level compared to most. I even referenced her when I said nobody should ever be as famous as Michael Jackson. Be that as it may, she might very well be the only one to come close to that level of star power.
Now, I don’t consider myself a full-blown Swifty, as they’re called. But I do have friends and relatives who are as passionate about all things Taylor Swift as I am about superhero comics. And I totally respect that. I get that kind of passion. But even those die-hard Taylor Swift fans understand on some levels that she’s not a political figure. She’s an entertainer and, by far, one of the most successful of the past 25 years.
Then, there are those who are angry at Taylor Swift for her recent politics. But unlike other instances in which celebrities mix star power with politics in objectively awful ways, this anger is even dumber than usual. It barely even has anything to do with politics, which makes it even dumber when people try to put a political spin on it.
While I’d rather not get into all the drama surrounding Taylor Swift’s foray into politics, going back to 2020, the current source of outrage is this. Taylor Swift is dating Travis Kelce, the star tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs. And her presence at Chiefs games has had a significant impact on both the ratings of those and the overall interest in this relationship.
Naturally, the NFL loves the extra attention they’re getting from Swift’s legion of dedicated fans. But there is also a sizable crowd of angry, politically motivated individuals who hate the attention she’s bringing to the games, as well as the “politics” she’s engaged in. And I put “politics” in quotes because the criteria these people are using is too stupid for me to put into words.
Officially, the only real political activity Swift has engaged in since 2020 is encouraging people to register to vote. She never told anyone who to vote for or even what party to vote for. She just used her massive platform as a celebrity to get people out to vote. In most circumstances, that’s an objectively good thing. Getting people to participate in the democratic process helps the country, as a whole.
But unofficially, those who hate this brand of “politics” think she and Travis Kelce are part of some elaborate conspiracy to rig the 2024 Presidential Election against their side. They genuinely believe in a real, tangible conspiracy theory that has shadowy political forces manipulating Swift into influencing the upcoming election in a certain way.
Again, it is too stupid for words. I could write an entire book on how stupid it is, but it still wouldn’t be enough.
So, without getting too deep into the politics, I just want to convey one important message to those who are angry with Taylor Swift, her politics, her current relationship, and her public persona.
Getting angry at her for such petty reasons is a huge mistake.
That’s not a warning or anything. That’s just a simple, logical observation. Because targeting public figures for their political views is bad enough. We’ve already seen this same crowd of angry reactionaries target companies, comedians, school boards, and even a children’s hospital.
Yes, they actually got angry at a children’s hospital. That, alone, should tell you all you need to know about the nature of these peoples’ anger.
But going after Taylor Swift is different. She is not someone who is unaccustomed to public scrutiny. She has been a celebrity for over a decade, long before the current political climate. She also is familiar with dealing with hostile fans. So, she’s likely not going to be intimidated by that sort of fiery rhetoric.
Most critically, Taylor Swift has legions of passionate fans who won’t hesitate to defend her. And in this case, they would be perfectly right in defending her because she’s doing nothing outrageous. Again, all she has done since 2020 is encourage people to register to vote. And the fact that this is what enrages these reactionaries so much is both telling and pathetic.
It’s as though they know for a fact that if more people vote, they’re more likely to lose major elections. They’re aware that their views are unpopular, untenable, and just plain wrong. And the only why they have a chance of winning is if enough people aren’t motivated to vote.
That, in and of itself, is pretty egregious. But take another step back and look at the larger message this outrage is sending. These people are utterly outraged at Taylor Swift, one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers of all time, for simply not agreeing with them politically. The way she carries herself, the way she navigates the world of celebrity, and the political stances she’s taken in the past are just too much for them.
And that, simply put, is pathetic.
On top of that, these reactionaries are telling Swift’s legion of fans that they hate her for this one simple disagreement. And many of those fans are young, passionate, and likely weren’t even interested in her politics until people from a certain end of the political spectrum started attacking her. How do you think they’re going to feel about those who hate her? Moreover, how do you think that’s going to impact their voting habits?
Personally, I still don’t care about Taylor Swift’s politics. Even if she didn’t agree with me politically, I would still have her songs on my workout playlist. Whenever there’s a disagreement like that with anyone, celebrity or otherwise, it’s just easier to shake it off.
But that apparently isn’t enough for these angry, reactionary whiners. They still feel compelled to attack her for the sin of not going along with their agenda. And they really think they’re more powerful than Taylor Swift’s legion of fans.
Well, if they really think that, by all means. Keep trying to villainize her. Keep pretending that hating her won’t have a significant influence on young people who love her music. Just don’t be surprised if the consequences aren’t something you can easily shake off.
Filed under Celebrities and Celebrity Culture, politics, rants
When I was a teenager, it was not unusual to see these cheesy, poorly produced ads on TV that emphasized the importance of voting. Some even took it to cartoonish extremes, even for the era. I distinctly remember how sick I got of all those “Vote or Die” campaigns that seemed to air every 15 minuets.
Then, when I reached voting age, I finally got a chance to experience it. And, for the most part, I found it mundane and inconvenient. Just registering was a hassle. It couldn’t be done over the internet at the time. I had to go through my local post office, which was not a very memorable experience. And I had to find my polling place, which happened to be a local elementary school with dirty bathrooms and poor heating.
Even so, I voted because everyone told me it was important. I didn’t appreciate it at the time. And I still didn’t appreciate it, even as I kept voting throughout college. Granted, I did miss voting a few years, mostly because the mail-in ballots I had to use were a pain. And I had a lot of other crap going on both during and after college that kept me occupied.
But once my post-college life stabilized, I made it a point to keep voting in every election, even when it wasn’t for President. I still never put too much thought into it. Following local races can be difficult, especially when every campaign ad can be reduced to cheesy soundbites about how “evil” the opponent is.
All that being said, my perspective on voting has changed a lot in the past few years. It’s not that I’ve become politically awakened or radicalized in any meaningful sense. My politics today aren’t terribly different from what they were 10 years ago. It’s just that, over the past five years, I’ve watched American politics become increasingly ugly.
It used to be that people just disagreed on certain social and regulatory policies. Reasonable people can certainly disagree how much we ought to be taxed, how much we ought to be regulated, and how we allocate public resources. But politics since 2016 is not about reasonable disagreements.
Instead, it’s about opposing, resisting, or outright hurting your political opponents. It’s not that they disagree with you on certain issues anymore. It’s that they’re flat out evil. I have heard real, sober, straight-faced people call others devil-worshipping, baby-eating, child rapists over politics. There’s no discussing anymore. There’s not even an attempt at debate. It’s just yelling and hating against those you don’t agree with.
As a result, voting hasn’t just become more important. It’s also become hazardous. If you don’t believe me, just look up some of the harassment that poll workers have gotten in recent years. Just be warned, some of what they face is not for the faint of heart.
Now, I’m not bringing this up just to go on a political rant. I’m not even going to try and appeal to the humanity, patriotism, and civic responsibility of my fellow Americans. Having dealt with some of these people directly, I know that ship has sailed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean of tribalism.
We’ve officially crossed a line in American politics where voting is no longer a mundane civic duty.
It is one of the few remaining institutions that safeguard the public from demagogues, despots, and plutocrats.
So, with Election Day 2023 coming up soon for much of my fellow Americans, I certainly want to encourage everyone to vote. I also want to encourage everyone to register if they haven’t already. I can attest it’s much easier today than it was when I was a teenager. Just go to a website like Vote.org. No matter which state you live in, it offers all the resources you need to vote in local, state, and federal elections.
Again, it’s Vote.org.
Click the link. Follow the prompts. If you can read this website, you can register to vote.
But there’s one other important perspective I’d like to share on top of encouraging everyone to vote. And it has less to do with voting, itself, and more to do with those working very hard to make it difficult for more people.
Because make no mistake. There are powerful, well-connected individuals who are doing everything they can to make it harder to vote. This is not a conspiracy theory. There’s no effort to hide it, either. These anti-American, anti-freedom, objectively deplorable assholes (and no, I am not being hyperbolic) are outright targeting people they know won’t vote for them to gain, retain, or expand power.
Seriously, fuck these people.
Fuck them, their doners, and everyone on their staff who helps them undermine democracy.
They are an insult to American values. Take it from someone who consumes more superhero media than 85 percent of the population. Those who make concerted efforts to suppress, limit, or undermine peoples’ right to vote are either outright villains or they freely support such villains.
How else would you describe people who got upset when Taylor Swift encouraged her passionate legion of fans to register to vote? She didn’t even tell them to vote for a particular party or candidate. She just told them to register to vote. And still, one particular wing of the American political spectrum whined about it. It’s almost as though they know that if more people vote, they’re likely to lose because they know the general public thinks they’re assholes.
Again, fuck these people with the fury of a billion venomous spiders. I cannot belabor that enough.
We may not have superheroes in this world, but we the people can still oppose these villains. And the best way to do that for now is to vote. We can still disagree on any number of issues. But in general, if the choice is between a candidate or party that protects your right to vote and a candidate or party that would prefer to restrict it, then the choice should be clear.
If it’s not, then I don’t know what else to tell you other than to just make sure you’re registered to vote. Do not take this freedom for granted. Just take a brief look at the history of any country that has failed or declined. Once the people lose their rights, it’s very difficult to get them back.
Filed under Current Events, politics, rants
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