Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/25/britney-spears-calls-for-wealt.html
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It’s a little weird to say she ‘stole’ the poem, when its original author is included right there at the end of her post…
Regardless: I gotta say, when 2020 was starting, I didn’t think it’d be the kind of year where “Britney Spears calls for general strike and wealth redistribution amidst a global pandemic” would be a 100% real headline I’d be seeing. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…
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Ok, according to a random internet page:
" Britney Spears’ net worth is estimated to be $215 million as of 2020"
So that’s a small start, less than $1 per person in the US for her to distribute. Or 215 lucky recipients of $1 million.
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I’m so confused right now…
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It’s all bullshit unless she shares/distributes her own wealth. And a lot of it. And to people who need it.
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Also…
Not to mention…
Meh. Purity tests aren’t particularly helpful in making social change… We should transform our entire society so the kind of wealth she and others profitting off her labor have been able to accumlate under the current system, but one person can’t do that alone, even by giving away their entire fortune. By that metric Warren Buffet is a better communist than Britney here because he plans to give away much of his wealth to charity, and we ALL know that’s not the case.
A movement to end inequality doesn’t have to exclude the elites. Quite a few active members of the communist party in Russia came from nobility…
Probably.
Have you? Have you clothed the hungry, fed the poor, sheltered the homeless, given away all your possessions to the point your a poor revolutionary advocating for an end to inequality? Are only the people who have no contradictions in their lives allowed to be advocates for a better world? Because if that’s the case, there is no one left to do that we, because we are all hypocrites to some degree.
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Holy Fuck! I’m gobsmacked…
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All the while her socialist lyrical wordplay has been secretly combating Ace of Base’s fascist propaganda machine…
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So, has she started mailing out checks yet? Or is this one of those 'You should do this but I don’t really mean me at all as I am, well, different.?
I always find rich artists railing against capitalism to be ironic at best. I’ll bet she has an agent and a business manager just to make sure she gets what she feels is coming to her.
Or did I miss something and all her performances are completely free and she gives away her albums at no cost to anyone who wants them?
Doe she copyright her music? I’ll bet she sure as heck does and has one or more attorneys on retainer to make sure it stays that way.
I think it is important for the rich and famous to speak out against wealth inequality and the ever-widening gulf between the classes.
I do not hold Britney Spears wealth against her, her voice rings out much more loudly as a pop icon, than my little comments ever could.
If she felt handing out personal checks also made a difference, I would applaud that as well, but that would be a tiny gesture in the face of the immense disparity that exists, like throwing a teaspoon of water on a raging forest fire.
Change is needed systemically, individual actors do not have the clout to shift the status quo by themselves.
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Not a “purity” test, more proof that she actually believes what she’s saying.
Do you ask that everyone who makes a political statement or just famous women who are pop stars? Should I not use the internet (product of capitalism), eat mass produced food, buy books, DVDs, or streaming services? Should I not buy a house with a mortgage or a car with loan? Should I not use a bank?
And why hold someone with know education (since she’s been a performer since age 8 or so) to a different, higher standard than the rest of us? 
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So the assumption is that she is either lying or deluded ?
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I ask it of everyone displaying massive hypocrisy. Whether is it Evangelical Christians who value money over the poor or a rich celebrity espousing Marxism while keeping their wealth to themselves.
I’m not saying that all Christians should live in poverty, nor Brittany Spears, but if they actually believe what they espouse then they have to make at least some significant sacrifices to that end. If they don’t, then they don’t really believe what they are saying, they are just saying it.
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Anarcho-Capitalists positively luv to dismiss calls for socialist reform of the myth of the free market by saying it’s meaningless until everyone has personally given away their excess wealth. Incidentally…
In other news, you don’t solve climate change by insisting no one can call for systemic policy until they’ve given up meat, motors and air conditioning. You don’t defeat fascism by insisting everyone who speaks against it personally grab a shotgun, take a boat to Poland and wage ad hoc war against the Third Reich. And you don’t stop a pandemic by telling everyone they’re on their own.
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Well it’s her father that handles her money as she’s under guardianship, which likely figures into this decision. So I guess, give her a break? She’s trying to use her platform for good?
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Ikr? She stole that quote just as much as @thomdunn stole Britney’s insta post. Strong words from a blogger…
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She logistically can’t though. Her wealth is not her own. She’s been a slave to her parents for decades.
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