This is simultaneously wonderful and depressing.
If this is what it takes to get the 18-30 year olds to the polls in the right states, idgaf. Just win, baby!
Oh absolutely, by any means necessary. Which is why I say it’s wonderful.
But it’s disheartening that a celeb endorsement can drive such engagement. Might be dating myself here but it always reminds me of “what does Ja Rule think!?!”
I’d argue this isn’t any celebrity though. Say what you will about Taylor and her music but she has successfully marketed herself as a wholesome role model for younger generations who has ran a nearly 20 year career scandal free. To them she represents more than celebrity fame. She’s a movement and if she says vote they will vote.
I’m glad she’s a wholesome role model/movement.
I’m glad that she’s encouraging folks to vote.
I’m glad she’s encouraging folks to vote Dem.
I’m less glad that there are kids whose participation in democracy seems to hinge on a singer. I know that this has always been the case to some extent it just feels increasingly so and kind of sad. Let’s not forget that trump’s main qualification to get into politics was his celebrity.
My grumpy old man take is our politics are getting dumber and dumber and people registering to vote because their favourite musician told them to, no matter how wholesome or good she is, seems a symptom of that.
For singers who are mostly political, sure, this kind of makes sense (think most of the famous 60s singers, most punk etc) but, to the best of my knowledge/limited listening, Swift’s music has seemed pretty non political, which makes it a bit weird to me. (That being said, also what makes it a bit more effective. Rage against the Machine telling folks to vote is preaching to the choir.)
Tl;dr: a good thing has happened, I’m just pining for a better yesteryear that may have never actually existed.
I’m just pining for a better yesteryear that may have never actually existed.
I mean, Neil Young and Joan Baez were encouraging people to vote back in the 60’s, so it’s been at least 60 years that popular music has been closely involved in youth culture’s voting habits
Like I said:
For singers who are mostly political, sure, this kind of makes sense (think most of the famous 60s singers, most punk etc) but, to the best of my knowledge/limited listening, Swift’s music has seemed pretty non political, which makes it a bit weird to me. (That being said, also what makes it a bit more effective. Rage against the Machine telling folks to vote is preaching to the choir.)
To me, there’s a difference between music that’s explicitly political effecting political behaviour and music that isn’t.
If, I dunno, BTS got hundreds of thousands of kids to register as Republican, I imagine/hope people would be concerned that that’s where kids are getting their political direction from.
Edit: I have no idea if BTS is actually political, I assume not. Most of the young music this old fuck listens to are political because that’s what I enjoy, so I’m not great at picking pop non political stuff. Sorry!
Taylor Swift definitely has some political songs like “The Man,” which is focused on the double standard faced by female celebrities, or “You Need to Calm Down,” which is explicitly pro-LGBTQ+, etc.
Right there with ya. The fact that this is a thing in our society is just… I’ll take it, but yikes. Glad she didn’t endorse trump I guess.
how much of a shit did you give about the crusty old white people in government when you were 10-18 yrs old?
10-18? I dont think that’s the age group we are discussing here…
As a punk kid living in the world of Reagan, I cared a lot.
All but the 18 year olds can’t vote.
That being said, I was 16 on 9/11 so my cohort got into politics very quickly. Especially as most of my good friends were into punk.
My first thought was “imagine if Putin could have afforded her”.
My first vote might have been because of free coffee at Starbucks for I Voted stickers. In other words, it can always be dumber ;p
Ha, that’s pretty good! Thanks for the perspective.
I’ve voted in every election for which I’ve been eligible, so I wonder if some of my votes were just to keep the streak alive even if only subconsciously.
Underestimate Swifties at your peril. Live Nation-Ticketmaster has been a loathed monopoly for years and they screwed up one Taylor Swift sale and there were Congressional hearings and a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice joined by 30 states’ Attorneys General.
Indeed. I’m delighted that LN/TM is finding out after fucking around so much for so long.
On an unrelated note, props for the usage of the correct plural form 🍻
for real? Where can I read more details about it?
Taylor Swift sucks almost as much as the people who like her music.
I don’t actually think that but I’d rather see that than all this ‘taylor swift fans are the mightiest force in the universe’ crap good lord. Causes headaches on account of all the involuntary spastic eye rolling.
Kpop too lol
It’s not so much a special capacity of swifties, but that they’re probably the only large unified bloc anywhere on the electoral left. I like them because they’re a large enough group of progressive liberals to prove that a unified front is absolutely effective
“Young people never vote. It’s pointless to listen to them.” - centrists who don’t want policy changes.
A big chunk of Swifties are in their 30s at this point
Some people seem to forget that younger generations get older too.
Some people assume that they will become conservative when they hit 30.
Her first album is old enough to vote
Whatever your opinion of her/Swifties, this is ultimately good news.
