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All Hail Taylor Swift, Person of the Year!

On a separate note, there's a news clip out there of Swift trying to convince her parents it is NOT against their religion to NOT vote for Trump. (Sorry for the double negative.) They didn't come right out and say it, (or I missed it), but it did look like her parents might be Trumpers.

This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDMwCGdKeCQ

Meanwhile, she's driving the MAGA creeps crazy: https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...e-popular-taylor-swift-maga-biden-1234956829/

That's got to be a good thing, although I bet it's costing her a fortune in security.

(no camels were harmed taking the photo in the article)
 
Let's see some numbers then. What percentage of global CO2 emissions is sourced from private jets, rather than, say, coal and gas power, the steel and concrete industries, and global agriculture?

That's called goalpost shifting and is one of several reasons why I think humanity is not going to be successful in dealing with climate change.

Having said that, do you never accept that criticism of others' behaviour may be valid unless the source of that criticism is perfect?

And you, mr Ivor the Engineer can almost certainly pollute less than you do given the resources an average person in a developed country has. Swift lives an almost impossible to imagine lifestyle for the average American. But, the average American lives an almost impossible to imagine lifestyle for at least the bottom half of the worlds population. Why do we get to burn so much more carbon than they do*? Its the same question as, how come Swift gets to emit so much carbon than we do?

*dont forget you have to calculate how much of their carbon emissions are in service of industry for export to the developed world



No, you've suggested she reduce her carbon emissions amount to a level that YOU deem acceptable. Why are you the final arbiter of what's acceptable? To a subsistence farmer in south America struggling due to climate change, you are the problem. The "you's and me's" of the world emit vastly more total co2 than the Taylor Swifts of the world.

It's nothing to do with what I personally deem acceptable. We live on a finite planet with finite resources and a finite ability to absorb the carbon dioxide from our activities. What entitles Taylor Swift and her economic class to emit vastly more than the average fellow American, let alone human?

They also do vastly more good for the world.

********. They simply find ways to generate passive income. In Swift's case it is through streaming of her music and flogging of merch. Obviously she was mainly fighting with the streaming giants over how much she gets paid for the benefit of the little guys trying to make a living out of music.

See this enlightening bar chart. Taylor Swift and her economic class (made to look much better on this chart by being averaged with another 9% of Americans who emit much less than her) are stealing from your carbon budget (or equivalently, time before things get nasty for you, not them) from you. That you're okay with it is simply a measure of how well Swift's economic class has persuaded you that this is just the way it is and can only be.
 
That's called goalpost shifting and is one of several reasons why I think humanity is not going to be successful in dealing with climate change.

Having said that, do you never accept that criticism of others' behaviour may be valid unless the source of that criticism is perfect?



It's nothing to do with what I personally deem acceptable. We live on a finite planet with finite resources and a finite ability to absorb the carbon dioxide from our activities. What entitles Taylor Swift and her economic class to emit vastly more than the average fellow American, let alone human?



********. They simply find ways to generate passive income. In Swift's case it is through streaming of her music and flogging of merch. Obviously she was mainly fighting with the streaming giants over how much she gets paid for the benefit of the little guys trying to make a living out of music.

See this enlightening bar chart. Taylor Swift and her economic class (made to look much better on this chart by being averaged with another 9% of Americans who emit much less than her) are stealing from your carbon budget (or equivalently, time before things get nasty for you, not them) from you. That you're okay with it is simply a measure of how well Swift's economic class has persuaded you that this is just the way it is and can only be.

I'm not so sure that chart is helping your cause very much.
At least, not if you're from the USA.

What I get out of it, is that every American steals the carbon budget from everybody else on the planet.
I mean, if the lowest income American produces more CO2, than for example the tier 9 of India, then Americans lose their right to complain about others in their country producing more CO2.

Or in other words. Look at the wooden beam in your own eye, before you mention the splinter in somebody else's.
 
I'm not so sure that chart is helping your cause very much.
At least, not if you're from the USA.

What I get out of it, is that every American steals the carbon budget from everybody else on the planet.
I mean, if the lowest income American produces more CO2, than for example the tier 9 of India, then Americans lose their right to complain about others in their country producing more CO2.

Or in other words. Look at the wooden beam in your own eye, before you mention the splinter in somebody else's.

Firstly, which between Taylor Swift and myself has the splinter and who has the wooden beam in their eye? I'll give you a clue: I don't own even one private jet.

Secondly, try applying that argument to something like speeding: If I am doing 55 in a 50 and someone else is doing 550 in a 50, your line of reasoning goes that I have no right to point out that the other person's behaviour is vastly worse than mine and most other drivers.

Thirdly, it fails as an argument because it is an infinite regress: unless I am perfect in every way you just play the same card to win. That's a stupid and boring game and I'm not playing it with you.

Oddly a similar line is in the King James Bible and supposedly uttered by Jesus about casting stones. I wonder if this is the first ever example of imposing a moral code on people that benefits those with the most egregious use of resources?
 
Firstly, which between Taylor Swift and myself has the splinter and who has the wooden beam in their eye? I'll give you a clue: I don't own even one private jet.

Secondly, try applying that argument to something like speeding: If I am doing 55 in a 50 and someone else is doing 550 in a 50, your line of reasoning goes that I have no right to point out that the other person's behaviour is vastly worse than mine and most other drivers.

Thirdly, it fails as an argument because it is an infinite regress: unless I am perfect in every way you just play the same card to win. That's a stupid and boring game and I'm not playing it with you.

Oddly a similar line is in the King James Bible and supposedly uttered by Jesus about casting stones. I wonder if this is the first ever example of imposing a moral code on people that benefits those with the most egregious use of resources?

You don't need to be perfect. Nobody is asking that.

What would help is recognizing that the average American is using roughly as much more energy (producing CO2) as opposed to the rest of the world as somebody like Tailor Swift is as opposed to the average American.

If what Tailor Swift is doing is unacceptable, when seen from the average Americans perspective. Then why is the pollution/energy consumption/CO2 production by the average American acceptable?

Or are the other things at play that makes somebody like a Tailor Swift so unacceptable?

Look. I know that I'm personally using more energy than a lot of the rest of the world. Luck of me being born in the EU. But at least I know it and am actively trying to reduce said pollution footprint.
 
I think the most important ones are that she is the subject of this thread and engaging in a particularly environmentally damaging and unnecessary activity given the huge resources she has available.

If the thread was about one of the male celebrities on this list we would be having a similar discussion.

Can you point to me any threads on this forum discussing any of many wealthy men who often use private jets that has suddenly veered into complaining that they use private jets? Can you point to where the same sources complaining the Taylor Swift flew in a private jet have been complaining when Trump, Musk, etc, uses a private jet?
 
This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDMwCGdKeCQ

Meanwhile, she's driving the MAGA creeps crazy: https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...e-popular-taylor-swift-maga-biden-1234956829/

That's got to be a good thing, although I bet it's costing her a fortune in security.

(no camels were harmed taking the photo in the article)

Is she really? From that rolling stone article:
In an email to Rolling Stone, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller shrugged off the prospect of a Swift endorsement for Trump’s rival. “Joe Biden might be counting on Taylor Swift to save him, but voters are looking at these sky-high inflation rates and saying, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,’” Miller wrote.
That doesn't sound like she's driving them crazy. I've seen a lot of stories about how she is, but only in lefty outlets. I've not seen any maga types actually being driven any more crazy by her.

I did just see a tweet by Vivek Ramaswarmy speculating that She's "artificially propped up" in popular media. So, it seems there is at least a low level conspsiracy theory out there.
 
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Can you point to me any threads on this forum discussing any of many wealthy men who often use private jets that has suddenly veered into complaining that they use private jets? Can you point to where the same sources complaining the Taylor Swift flew in a private jet have been complaining when Trump, Musk, etc, uses a private jet?

Has anybody ever defended the use of private jets WRT climate change before. I can't say I've read every thread but this sure looks like a first.

It's certainly an interesting headshot to Greta Thumberg.

“The fact that using private jets is both legally and socially allowed today in an escalating climate emergency is completely detached from reality,” Thunberg said. “There are few examples that show as clearly how the rich elite is sacrificing present and future living conditions on this planet so they can maintain their extreme and violent lifestyles.”
 
Is she really? From that rolling stone article:
That doesn't sound like she's driving them crazy. I've seen a lot of stories about how she is, but only in lefty outlets. I've not seen any maga types actually being driven any more crazy by her.
I did just see a tweet by Vivek Ramaswarmy speculating that She's "artificially propped up" in popular media. So, it seems there is at least a low level conspsiracy theory out there.

Uhhh...



Thats a primetime show on FOX News, going on about Pentagon operations. Just one example of many.
 
To correct someone on The View saying Swift was born in Tennessee, from Google:

"Taylor Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania. When she was 13, her parents sold their family farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee, so she could pursue a career in country music in nearby Nashville."
 
This thread needs to be split off. I want to get back to important things, like Tay-Tay at the Super Bowl.
 
Some wag suggested the entire coverage should be of Taylor’s reactions, from which you’d have to intuit what was happening in the game!

I think she would like Reba McEntire and Andra Day the most, and Tiesto the least, but she'd be too polite to show anything other than enthusiasm for everyone on the pitch.
 
No, not in my words, in your words.

Hasn't the libertarian philosophy and the "American Dream" of "everyone living there lives to please themselves" worked out great? Odd how "everyone living their lives to please themselves" has made so many people so unhealthy and depressed and brought humanity to the brink of ecological Armageddon, though. Must be a glitch.

This seems to be less about Taylor Swift, and more about AGW and AGW policy generally. There's threads for those topics, which is where I go when I want to debate those topics.

We've had a sidebar about Swift's carbon footprint, but really this thread is about whatever artistic, commercial, and cultural achievements prompted Time Magazine to name her "Person of the Year."
 
This seems to be less about Taylor Swift, and more about AGW and AGW policy generally. There's threads for those topics, which is where I go when I want to debate those topics.

We've had a sidebar about Swift's carbon footprint, but really this thread is about whatever artistic, commercial, and cultural achievements prompted Time Magazine to name her "Person of the Year."

According to whom? You? That very much sounds like you dictating to everyone else what this thread is and isn't about. All that "everyone living there lives to please themselves" thing didn't last very long, did it?

And the "sidebar", as you describe it, is as long as it is mainly because other posters want to make excuses for her (and presumably others') ginormous personal carbon footprints, which some may consider a factor when deciding on role models and attitudes presented to them by the media.
 
She got the cover of Time because she was constantly in the news. I saw hundreds of headlines about her in 2023, and even read a couple of the stories, like the one about a Vancouver hotel raising their rates by 13X during her concert dates or the "earthquake" her concert caused in Seattle.

This thread is pretty open so please feel free to post your top 5 favourite Swift songs with a detailed explanation of why you love them or post photos of your Taylor Swift friendship bracelets.

Me? I just bought a can of paint with the colour name Tailored Tan. Guess what I renamed it to?
 
I heard that Taylor Swift plans to offset her carbon emissions by having all her fans gather atop a mountain of coal. Their combined weight will compress the coal into a gigantic diamond, capturing all that carbon and preventing it from leaking into the atmosphere. The resultant diamond will be twenty miles in diameter and of exceptional quality, and she will set it into a tiara and wear it during her concerts.
 
According to the title and the OP. You're the one who's trying to turn it into a referendum on carbon footprints generally.

The OP:

The Atheist said:
All Hail Taylor Swift, Person of the Year!

And quite right, too. I can't imagine anyone who's done more for humankind in 2023 than my beloved Tay-Tay.

Is it quite right that at the end of 2023 and the world on the verge of burning, someone with a ginormous carbon footprint is celebrated as "person of the year"?

I think it is ******* insane.

However, moving on:

Let me also throw a bit more petrol on the fire (and no doubt ridicule in my direction): The photo of her on the cover of Time is highly sexualized and hardly promotes a progressive view of women in general or her personal achievements as a song writer or singer. Perhaps she was running late from a pole dancing class and didn't have time to put the rest of her clothes on?

<Ivor goes to do the shopping and awaits the contortions of other posters arguing that he is clearly a prude and the photo is precisely as they would want their daughter/wife/sister to be viewed>
 
Well, I'll chime in for sure!

Is it quite right that at the end of 2023 and the world on the verge of burning, someone with a ginormous carbon footprint is celebrated as "person of the year"?

I think it is ******* insane.

Person of the year isn't based on their ******* carbon footprint. It has to do with their overall influence on society. While you focus solely on her carbon footprint, you're happily ignoring the massive amount of philanthropy she engages in and the way she treats people.

However, moving on:

Let me also throw a bit more petrol on the fire (and no doubt ridicule in my direction): The photo of her on the cover of Time is highly sexualized and hardly promotes a progressive view of women in general or her personal achievements as a song writer or singer. Perhaps she was running late from a pole dancing class and didn't have time to put the rest of her clothes on?

<Ivor goes to do the shopping and awaits the contortions of other posters arguing that he is clearly a prude and the photo is precisely as they would want their daughter/wife/sister to be viewed>

Ah yes, the good ol', "I'm a man and don't like the way she dresses" argument. I'm going to tell you something, not everyone sees the world like you do. My daughter, wife and sister can dress any way they want because I view them as people. People that can make their own decisions. I view Taylor the same way. If she's wearing something that makes her feel comfortable, perhaps a little frisky, then I say have at it.

At least you know you're a prude though. I thought in 2024 we'd be past this type of asinine argument, but I'm glad to see you trying to bring it back. I do love the stripper reference too. You're full of 1960's angst and biases aren't you? Do the clouds yell back when you scream at them or is it a one-way conversation?
 
Well, I'll chime in for sure!



Person of the year isn't based on their ******* carbon footprint.
It could be, if carbon footprint were the virtue Time decided they should signal, in that year. Obviously 2023 wasn't the year of the carbon footprint, as far as Time was concerned.*

Speaking of carbon unseriousness, according to Ivor's calculus, pretty much anyone who gets to be POTY is undeserving, since all the most influential people in the world are either carbon pigs by default (Americans) or carbon pigs by virtue of whatever activities got them to be POTY (giants of industry, commerce, entertainment, etc.) The Greta Thunbergs are a rare exception.

So, okay, Taylor Swift's carbon footprint is pretty typical of the likely POTY candidates. Now what?

---
*If it makes Ivor feel any better, Greta Thunberg was POTY in 2016.
 
Well, I'll chime in for sure!



Person of the year isn't based on their ******* carbon footprint. It has to do with their overall influence on society. While you focus solely on her carbon footprint, you're happily ignoring the massive amount of philanthropy she engages in and the way she treats people.

Evidence?

Ah yes, the good ol', "I'm a man and don't like the way she dresses" argument. I'm going to tell you something, not everyone sees the world like you do. My daughter, wife and sister can dress any way they want because I view them as people. People that can make their own decisions. I view Taylor the same way. If she's wearing something that makes her feel comfortable, perhaps a little frisky, then I say have at it.

At least you know you're a prude though. I thought in 2024 we'd be past this type of asinine argument, but I'm glad to see you trying to bring it back. I do love the stripper reference too. You're full of 1960's angst and biases aren't you? Do the clouds yell back when you scream at them or is it a one-way conversation?

I would argue that photo was to attract the male gaze.

BTW, I made no stripper reference. Pole dancing for exercise is quite popular nowadays.
 
Evidence?



I would argue that photo was to attract the male gaze.

BTW, I made no stripper reference. Pole dancing for exercise is quite popular nowadays.

I have a feeling that Swift had massive input on her wardrobe. She probably went for sexy to attract the male gaze herself knowing it would get more people to notice the article.
Are you suggesting she stop trying to attract an audience for her thoughts who might otherwise miss them?
Because you disapprove of immodesty?

ETA: haven’t seen the cover shot
 
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It could be, if carbon footprint were the virtue Time decided they should signal, in that year. Obviously 2023 wasn't the year of the carbon footprint, as far as Time was concerned.*

I would argue that carbon footprint isn't ever taken into account. Greta got it because of her influence in relation to climate change and the effects she's had on changes globally. They didn't give it to her because her carbon footprint is small, at least from what I remember. I'm open to being corrected.
 
Yeah, Taylor's look on all the cover variants is extremely consistent with the look she chooses to present as her "official" look. And even the leotard look (I assume that's the one Ivor is talking about, perhaps ignorant of the fact that Time publishes different covers in different markets, and not everyone might be seeing what he's seeing) conforms pretty well to local standards of modesty. There are millions of women wearing a lot less, and expecting us all to be gentlemen about it. Which we mostly are.

As to the question of whether Ivor is a prude, let me say this about that: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when a lady's dress or physique makes us think naughty thoughts, we keep them to ourselves. The exception to this rule is prudes and letchers, who get personal satisfaction from announcing to the world that a lady is making them think naughty thoughts. My hypothesis is that Ivor is neither, but rather sees some rhetorical advantage in adopting the pose of someone who gets satisfaction from telling us that Ms Swift makes him think naughty thoughts and that this is a problem for him.
 
I've seen three covers. One with a black bodysuit and a cat, which reveals absolutely nothing but the cat is extremely cute. One with what looks like a suede jacket layered with a denim top and turtleneck that just makes her look well-prepared for cold weather. And one with her arms raised in an strapped dress that looks much like anyone I'd see in the city on a warm Friday night. It's hardly even red-carpet revealing. I'm guessing that's the one that Ivor is describing as "highly sexualised".

And really, if that's "sexualised", then you should come out to the city with me on a warm Friday night.

But something tells me it's not about the outfits.
 
You've apparently never seen me in a pair of caprezios.

A pic of my banana hammock collection would be apropos here, with its accompanying restraining order.

I read somewhere that the male equivalent of a woman in lingerie is a tailored suit. There's a lot of hyper sexualized dudes running around, if so.
 
I've seen three covers. One with a black bodysuit and a cat, which reveals absolutely nothing but the cat is extremely cute.

That's clearly to make men think "Nice pussy!" (cue Mrs Slocombe)

The fact her wardrobe has even been mentioned is pretty funny.

Let's get to victim blaming rape victims while we're at it.

If a guy wears shorts or something tight, is he "sexualized", or is that different?

He's a stud showing off his manly assets.

Girls aren't allowed to do that.
 
Well, let's see, according to celebritynetworth.com she has $800 million at the moment and will probably be a billionaire after the RoW leg of the Eras tour is over.

She could do *nothing* and live off the interest of the interest of the interest and still have a better standard of living than most people in the USA.

She could build herself a PassiveHaus Plus (complete with recording studio) and make music. Not travelling all over the place (chasing fame?) would probably help her maintain a relationship too!

There are many paths between doing *nothing* and having more than enough income for the rest of her life and running down the clock for everyone else by zigzagging around the planet in two jet planes.

So according to you she should give up her career? :rolleyes:

Isn't putting some of all that money to use in ways that lower her carbon footprint a reasonable option? And you didn't do the calculations of what the effect of all that employment is, the people she employs.

It's not the least bit realistic she should give up her career, it simply is not.
 
The OP:



Is it quite right that at the end of 2023 and the world on the verge of burning, someone with a ginormous carbon footprint is celebrated as "person of the year"?

I think it is ******* insane.

However, moving on:

Let me also throw a bit more petrol on the fire (and no doubt ridicule in my direction): The photo of her on the cover of Time is highly sexualized and hardly promotes a progressive view of women in general or her personal achievements as a song writer or singer. Perhaps she was running late from a pole dancing class and didn't have time to put the rest of her clothes on?

<Ivor goes to do the shopping and awaits the contortions of other posters arguing that he is clearly a prude and the photo is precisely as they would want their daughter/wife/sister to be viewed>

Wow. This goes way past Taylor hating and right into woman hating territory. Good ******* show.
 
OK. If that's typical, then it is possible that I've never heard one of her songs before either.

Weird. I was assuming that I would have heard something.

However, my various radios have been on classical music stations for decades, so I guess there's not much opportunity for me to hear her work.

I recently found out about Katy Perry because of an advert for a food delivery service, I think this demonstrates that I'm as far out of touch with 'bubblegum music' as it is possible to be.

Other than the announcement, what does the 'person of the year' do?
What does she do besides writing, and singing her music. Just yesterday I found out she is a philanthropist. In 2023 she gave $50 mil 9f her own money to truckers, $30 mil to food banks and $20 mil to animal welfare. To all members of her crew she gave each checks for $100k as I recall.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc7ny...-tour-bonus-truck-drivers-net-worth/13588228/
 
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