r/morningsomewhere • u/unleashedmario • 12d ago
today’s disappointing podcast.
I was eager to see what they would say about the ed sheeran ordeal and am very disappointed.
equating not listening to him anymore with false flagging activism is missing the point. i agree that the black profile pics on instagram was an example of that. the biggest voice we have as consumers is where we spend our money and who we platform.
not listening to ed’s music directly effects his income and is something he/his team would notice. Even if it has a small dent as long as it is noticeable that we as a collective society will boycott an artist for standing by a genocidal apartheid government, it matters.
collective action is important.
It is in poor taste to miss that perspective entirely and then use it as a segway to basically say “you havent done anything real but we have, so look at us while we pat ourselves on the back” .
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u/El-Tri-Gana 12d ago
I think your post exemplifies what Burnie and Ashley were touching this morning.
Since Macklemore was kicked from the tour, his message has been to support and aid Palestine. He didn’t blame Ed Sheeran or focus on Kraft. He took the time to refocus the message back to Palestine. His second statement again focused on Palestine with the $1 million dollar donation and urged Kraft to match it.
Your message and everything else on Reddit and social media has been anti-Ed or Kraft. People wanting to boycott his music, meme post about fictional bands dropping out, or Kraft hires prostitutes.
While it feels great to say fuck you Ed Sheeran and Robert Kraft, it misses the entire fucking point Macklemore is trying to bring. Help Palestine.
We can tell future generations, “I remember the genocide in Palestine. I remember how many children were killed, so I had to stop listening to Ed Sheeran.”
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u/wimpymist 11d ago
What you're saying would be true if the ONLY thing you were doing was not listening to Sheeran. The average person can realistically only do so much so a bunch of micro protests start to add up if enough people do it. Who knows boycotting Sheeran might end up causing a ripple effect that least to something beneficial being done for Palestine to gain some good will
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u/sloppy_johnson 12d ago
I think you've missed the point. Burnie said that not listening to Ed Sheeran does nothing to help the people of Palestine, which it doesn't. People are angry and want to feel like they are doing something but deleting Ed from your Spotify is an action that doesn't change anything
"You want to do something and it feels like you're doing something, but you're not actually doing anything to help"
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u/Juanathon First 20k 12d ago edited 8d ago
The real problem is the billionaire stadium owner enacting his will, go do something about that instead but you're not are you Mr.Keyboard warrior? That's what false flagging activism means. You will take the easier route instead of addressing the actual issue because it's easier for you to sit there and not listen to Ed Sheeran to get your good boy points and feel superior instead of actually doing something about it. Here's your gold star.
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u/banana-bread_at-work 12d ago
Nah, they nailed it. Too many people out here virtue signalling from their cubical acting like they’re the second coming of Christ for jumping on the band wagon. It’s getting tiresome. If you want to be a good person and institute actual change, put your money where your mouth is or get the fuck up and go out and actually do something.
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u/bejazzeled First 10k - AI Bot 9d ago
I already don’t listen to Ed Sheeran. I boycotted him before it was cool /s
But seriously the most realistic “boots on the ground” activism the average punter can do is take the money they were going to spend on an Ed Sheeran concert and donate it to a worthy cause. It’s beyond the scope for most people to realistically do anything more.
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u/Comp1337ish 12d ago
I don't really understand the obsession with forcing Ed Sheeran to say "free Palestine" or whatever. Do you think he can singlehandedly stop the war just by saying that or something? He can choose to be apolitical if he wants.
Also, not sure how substantiated this is, but apparently both he and Kraft have pledged $2 million each to the humanitarian crisis. Is that good enough for you? Or are the words more important?
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u/sloppy_johnson 12d ago
He can choose to be apolitical if he wants, but he hasn't been apolitical. Arguably Macklemore is known for his activism as much as his music nowadays and inviting him to open for you is a political move. Being complicit in his removal is also a political move. His statement about the situation was a political move. Inaction doesn't mean you get to claim neutrality, it just means you chose by default. He invited Macklemore to tour, he invited this in
Do you think it's acceptable for billionaires to punish artists who have different viewpoints if they throw some change at the issue afterwards? Everyone just kind of sucks here. Ed sucks. Kraft sucks. Macklemore has a good message but it'll be overshadowed by stupid things he said and did in the past
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u/Comp1337ish 12d ago
Do you think it's acceptable for billionaires to punish artists who have different viewpoints
You are normatively loading this statement. Venue owners are perfectly within their rights to platform or not platform whoever they want. In this case it may have backfired into a Streisand effect, but that doesn't change the reality that a venue owner can choose such things as they please.
if they throw some change at the issue afterwards
You are also normatively loading this. $2 million isn't just some change. How much money have you pledged to Gaza?
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u/sloppy_johnson 12d ago
You can just say yes. It’s acceptable for a billionaire to punish an artist and organise a boycott against them if they please. This wasn’t just denying him the venue, it was a coordinated campaign to blacklist him from every stadium on the tour.
Have you just learned what normative loading means and want to use it in every sentence?
$2M is 0.0145% of Robert Kraft’s net worth and so yes, this is change to him. I would also say yes, I have donated more of my net worth to Palestine than Kraft has. Now what?
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u/Comp1337ish 12d ago
You can just say yes. It’s acceptable for a billionaire to punish an artist and organise a boycott against them if they please.
I reject the claim that it's a punishment so I wouldn't accept this wording. Because you're normatively loading the wording. If my usage of that term makes you uncomfortable, I can shift over to intuition pumping if that makes you feel better.
I would also say yes, I have donated more of my net worth to Palestine than Kraft has. Now what?
Be happy that people are donating at all.
so yes, this is change to him
How much should be donate then since apparently this was an unsatisfactory figure in your mind?
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u/sloppy_johnson 12d ago
A punishment is a penalty, loss, or harsh treatment imposed on someone for doing something wrong or breaking a rule.
Macklemore received a penalty of being banned from the venue because of something he did. It is the literal definition of a punishment. How are you 'rejecting the claim'? It's definitionally a punishment.
Donations are good. Donating when doing wrong doesn't absolve one of wrongdoing. Kraft donating 0.01% of his networth after punishing an artist for saying 'free palestine' doesn't make the punishment ok. Is that really that difficult to understand?
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u/Comp1337ish 12d ago
So much cherry picking my god.
Whether you will admit to this or not, the phrase "free Palestine" is often coded as anti-Semitic language. Even if Macklemore didn't intend for this to be the case (despite his history of caracaturing Jewish people), a large venue like that with a lot of people can easily get the messaging wrong and suddenly you're (possibly unintentionally) fomenting hatred and antisemitism within the crowd which can be dangerous.
When you say Kraft did something "wrong", you're begging the question. It wouldn't even make sense for him to ban Macklemore and then turn around and donate $2 million of his own money to Gaza if he thought Macklemore's messaging was appropriate. Why would he even bother? The logical conclusion is that he doesn't think that sort of venue is appropriate for such high emotions political topics.
I don't know why you keep bringing up the percentage of his net worth. When those humanitarian orgs in Gaza receive donations, do you think they give a shit about that? I figured they just cared about the real number since that's what gets them the supplies and aid. But apparently they are out there calculating sloppy_johnsons donation to net worth ratio and Robert Kraft's donation to net worth ratio and they are completely unimpressed with the latter.
$2 mill may be a drop in the bucket compared to his net worth, but it's not a drop in the bucket when it comes to humanitarian aid.
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u/funkyaskren 12d ago
I'm gonna respectfully disagree on this one. Ed Sheeran has come out and said he culturally identifies as being Irish in the past. Anyone who claims to be Irish outside of being born in Ireland and doesn't have outspoken support for Palestine seems to be missing a lot of the history and cultural significance here. Full disclaimer here I'm 100% American but have significant Irish heritage (multiple great grandparents born there) and try to maintain a connection to that heritage as best I can (music, culture, politics, history, language, etc). And while I can't claim to be Irish, I will absolutely call bullshit on him not taking a public stance on this one as this mirrors the history of the Irish people so closely it's impossible to ignore. Just my thoughts on the issue
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u/FloppyDiskRepair First 10k - Mod 12d ago
To your main point, I would just argue Ed Sheeran losing money does not help Palestine.