Introducing the song that gives the tour its name, he said: “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”
I feel like we shouldn’t care this much about the opinions of entertainers. That’s kinda how trump got elected in the first place
Well, everyone’s voice should matter - and the voice of a guy with millions of fans, from an older generation, and whose most famous song often gets co-opted by MAGAts, should definitely matter. I appreciate him and De Niro in particular for speaking up so vehemently.
The problem is their voice matters more than they should. I get your point but there are voices more knowledgeable that we should listen to. The minimum I feel they should use their celebrity to amplify voices like those
I know what you mean, but I don’t agree in this case. We do live in an idiocracy where our minds have been numbed by the proliferation of mindless reality telly, and I wouldn’t care to hear the opinions of Paradise Hotel contestant #967. But art is and always has been politics, and Springsteen - known for being a champion of the working man - has had his art co-opted by MAGAts for many years. Thus, hearing him take a stance against them is very much relevant and something that I want to hear. Especially on a personal level being from a country continually demeaned and threatened by MAGA America.
It’s politics, not rocket science or medicine. You don’t need to have a fancy degree or hundreds of dusty books on your bookshelf to have an opinion on the direction that your (previously democratic) country is taking. Politics is first and foremost based on feelings; so-called experts also strongly disagree on literally everything. And, at least in theory, it’s your right, and the expectation, that a citizen of a democracy engages in politics, stays updated, and has an opinion. It’s your privilege to have a platform on which you can influence others when you have a large enough following.
The minute we stop listening to artists and other represantatives of the public sphere that’s when autocracy and plutocracy will truly defeat us.
Bruce Springsteen is worth over $500 million so champion of the working man is a stretch. Honestly him saying anything will change very little and like with most celebrities (or the rich in general) lobbying congress would be a lot better than just saying, “I don’t like trump”. These type of entertainers have the means to impact politics with meaningful actions but all they do is the bare minimum. Empty words that won’t effect their bottom line
And you probably should listen to ppl with fancy degrees when it comes to politics. History is our guide to not make the same mistakes over and over again. Understanding politics, the long term effects of introducing laws, how government actually operates, etc is important and we should all listen to ppl who study these. If ppl did maga supporters would actually know the financial aid we send other countries makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. The idea of rejecting experts or dismissing the intelligent is why we live in an idiocracy.
Politics DEFINITELY SHOULDN’T be based on feelings. It should based on logic, morals, and the greater good. Our current government came to be because ppl voted with their feelings instead of logic. I like trump because he tells it like it is, I feel like he’s a good person, I feel like America isn’t respected like it should be, I feel like I won’t be deported, I feel like he doesn’t believe in project 2025. Fox News preyed on their feelings of fear and anger. If ppl used logic, listened to political experts, or watched any news outside of Fox News we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Maybe i would’ve listened to artist like Frank Zappa, or James Baldwin but today’s entertainers are brands that will do anything to not to rock the boat. Celebrities, especially now, DO NOT represent the public sphere. They’re more worried about upsetting their sponsors. Bruce Springsteen isn’t courageous for saying this. He’s got a $500 million bullet proof vest. He’s got fuck you money and funny enough he’ll benefit from whatever happens anyway. He’s no Muhammad Ali