this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2024
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here are some hyper-polluting individuals:

  • the Rolling Stones’ Boeing 767 (5,046 tonnes of CO2)
  • Lawrence Stroll (1,512 flights)
  • Thirty-nine jets linked to 30 Russian oligarchs – (30,701 tonnes of CO2)

relevant quote:

But I will say this, a movement can't get along without a devil, and across the whole political spectrum there is a misogynistic tendency to choose a female devil, whether it's Anita Bryant, Hillary Clinton, Marie Antoinette, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or J.K. Rowling [or Taylor Swift]. And there's always gonna be people who seize on any opportunity to be misogynistic. So I would advise trans people and our allies [or environmentalists] to keep in mind, that J.K. Rowling [Taylor Swift] is not the final boss of transphobia [anti-environmentalism]. She's not our devil. The devil is the Republican Party, the Conservative Party.

Natalie Wynn (emphasis and bracket text mine)

edit: if you can’t respond to this without using the c*nt expletive it is not helping your case lmao. mods are we okay with this? in any case, please don’t feed the trolls.

edit 2/FAQ: “but why did she threaten legal action against that college kid though?” still shitty, but refer to this comment for a good explanation of the context behind that decision.

She only threatened legal action since those memes started before when her flight movements got the attention of the right in an attempt to make her less credible of a voice speaking out against trump. And knowing how batshit insane trump cultists can be and how she’s basically the single most hated person of his base I’m not surprised that she feared for her security. Those records were public for years but the legal action only happened after someone created that meme and even fox news suddenly cared about plane emissions…

and another good comment

[…] For Swift, this is legitimate fear. I don't know if you've ever experienced actual fear for your life, but it's crippling, and it effects your psyche. To experience that on a daily basis because of an app? You bet your goddamn ass I'm going to talk to my lawyers about what my options are.

sources/timeline for the above:

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[–] iAmTheTot@kbin.social 147 points 1 year ago (19 children)

Levying valid criticism on someone is not scapegoating. You can criticize more than one person for the same thing.

[–] Geobloke@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago (5 children)
[–] fhqwgads@possumpat.io 77 points 1 year ago (5 children)

No one memed on Elon when he shut down his tracker? Or Kylie Jenner for the 3 minute flight?

[–] Spiralvortexisalie@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Taylor has long had criticism for her jet use, the meme explosion is just about the media wanting to use her as hype prop while at the same time her team sued to shutdown the flight tracker kid. Posts that seem obsessed with possible damage to Taylor’s reputation sound like it is coming from a PR firm. Does Op genuinely believe that someone sees a Jet Meme and think differently of Taylor? Is Op against Taylor being the poster child for Aviation reform? I do not understand why an uninterested third party feels the need to prevent Taylor from suffering consequences of her actions merely because other heads should roll first.

ETA: I had to check if OP was a PR FIRM, check OP’s own response to Taylor Jet Memes: https://lemmy.cafe/comment/4651417

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[–] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 24 points 1 year ago

Totally no one memed Jeff Bezos nor Zark Muckerberg nor Tonald Drump. No one.

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[–] BluesF@lemmy.world 56 points 1 year ago (8 children)

The only reason this has blown up is because she threatened that tracker with legal action. It's the Streisand effect 100%. The same shit happend when Elon Musk shut down the account that was tracking him.

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[–] VaultBoyNewVegas@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Musk gets far worse said about him.

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[–] TeenieBopper@lemmy.world 110 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I just... I can't bring myself to give a shit about Taylor Swift's airplanes when BP and Shell still exist and capitalism is still the dominant economic system.

[–] DarthFrodo@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

BP and Shell only have that much power exacly because people buy fossil fuels from them. If demand would drop, their profits and political power would drop accordingly. As long as we don't even hold the biggest financiers of these companies responsible, how can anything change? Demand drives supply.

It's like saying "As long as hitmans exist, I won't give a shit about the people who pay hitmans, all consumption under capitalism is unethical anyways so anything goes." As long as we ignore those who actually fund the problem, we won't be able to fix anything.

[–] pup_atlas@pawb.social 27 points 1 year ago (7 children)

No they have so much power because decades of lobbying have made it impossible to get anywhere without traveling on a road in a car— Which uses gas. This is not a problem citizens can feasibly solve, this sort if problem can only be fixed with government intervention.

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[–] ninpnin@sopuli.xyz 93 points 1 year ago (4 children)

in response to public pressure, Swift recently cut back on private flights and downsized to one jet

So the memes worked?

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 88 points 1 year ago

She donated one of her private jets to an underprivileged kid who didn't have any private jets.

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[–] Clbull@lemmy.world 90 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I mean it's hilarious that we pilloried Elon Musk for trying to sue someone for tracking his private jet with publicly available records and posting this online, but the same people are defending Taylor Swift for doing the same.

I don't think it's a gender bias so much as it's a bias towards people we don't like.

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 year ago

It's like saying people did it with Elon Musk because he is African.

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[–] schnokobaer@lemmy.ml 50 points 1 year ago (6 children)

It's a valid criticism, I'm just wondering where 90% of those folks criticizing were the last 10 years, when it would have also been a valid criticism against her, but only a select group of people called it out and I recall precisely zero memes on this specific topic. Curious, that this has only become a mainstream meme now that there is a defamation campaign actively being conducted against her by right wing media.

[–] beardown@lemm.ee 23 points 1 year ago

All billionaires are evil. That includes all female billionaires

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[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 49 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Yeah, criticizing the Rolling Stones in 2024 is totally equivalent to criticizing Taylor Swift, yeah let's pivot right to that. Ignore the fact that she's arguably the most popular musician on earth right now, just played a major cultural event, and all recent events.... no, let's go back to a washed up classic rock band and meme on them instead. Yeah, that'll work.

Fucking Swifties dude.....

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

honestly, for me personally? the fact a “washed up classic rock band,” as you put it, is outputting more CO2 than an actually-relevant Swift? that’s a huge difference and reason to be all the more critical of The Rolling Stones. like what are they even doing all that for lol.

i criticize both and defend neither.

[–] kernelle@0d.gs 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah it sucks they seem to get a free pass, there certainly is an element of truth in this post. However, I still think the post is fighting the wrong battle. Memes will pass and Swift has certainly caused this shitstorm herself by threatening to sue a regular joe over public accessible information.

It's a general accepted truth rich people and companies have been spewing the majority of CO2 emissions, and this post is just a whole load of "whataboutisms".

I genuinely can't believe I'm the first one to actively press the downvote button on this post, what a load of bullshit.

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[–] AdmiralShat@programming.dev 43 points 1 year ago (14 children)

Is this because she's a woman or because she's a billionaire? I feel like we make fun of plenty of men too

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[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 42 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I assume the jet thing is just an excuse because Taylor Swift is the target du jour of the MAGA movement. They don't care about the jet use of anyone else but are actively making up shit about Swift.

This isn't about principles. It's just about othering.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm really of two minds on the private jet thing, because she undeniably was doing it way too much and for way too short distances, but for longer distances, I can see someone of her level of fame needing to fly privately for security reasons. I doubt Taylor Swift walking through an airport and getting on a Delta flight would be especially safe for her.

I do not like the idea of celebrities traveling in private jets overall, but when you're at Beatles-level fame? The Beatles chartered private flights too. Maybe she should charter, but I can see why flying commercial is a bad plan.

Let the mass downvoting commence.

[–] AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (91 children)

Maybe we all need to stop subsidizing the airline industry so that these rich assholes who want to fly around all the time for their convenience can pay the entire price themselves. Airlines and airports are publicly funded and utterly unsustainable without massive infusions of government cash and protection at every step along the way.

The fact that we pretend these airline companies and airports are in any way actual businesses Is just a way for the wealthy who get to fly all the time (private jets or not) to offload the cost of their convenient transportation onto the American people.

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[–] drunkosaurus@kbin.social 32 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Remember when Taylor Swift urged her audience to go out and vote? I can't escape the feeling that riffing constantly on her carbon footprint is a retaliation for that. They finally found something about her to latch on to.

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[–] pigup@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's funny because she is not a plane or made of planes, or brushes her teeth with airliners, but the funny pictures say that she is lol

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 20 points 1 year ago

the memes are funny! you’ll never catch me discounting that. i just think it’s good to question who is benefiting from the disproportionate coverage in 2024, and if a stronger case could be made to direct our meming at others. :)

[–] Xanis@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm going to point out something else that, unfortunately, will feel like an attack to some, though I hope my viewpoint is sound:

Taylor Swift is a product of an industry supported by us. Maybe not you, the reader, specifically, though by a couple billion around the world, across often only dozens of artists. That is entertainment. That is the industry. A byproduct and need of this career is travel and you certainly aren't taking a sailboat across the Atlantic to meet deadlines. Now, I am not blaming us. As always it is the industry and those expectations that should be blamed. We are a tiny part of a larger, global issue, though discriminated against and blamed due to our lack of individual authority. Gaslighting is a hell of a drug.

So while I can question Swift's initial amount of private flights, I will also point out that her hopping in a plane is likely akin to us driving a car, in the essence of usage of resources. We all use in excess to some degree and she did dial it back. That alone is important. Finally, I want to call out the bandwagoners and the envious.

I haven't knowingly listened to a single Taylor Swift song. Not sure I could name one tbh. Though for all the energy those of you who are envious put into criticism of what I can tell is one of the lesser evils amongst the many billionaires ruining this planet, you could be doing more and better. I'll admit, many of the memes were rather funny and dunking on someone with the wealth to afford a team of private therapists can be enjoyable, it has bothered me that we leaned so hard on seemingly (so far) the one wealth enjoyer with a bit of empathy.

Anyway, on the toilet at work. So if you need a reason for this there you go. lol I recognize that I probably don't have all the info. Plenty of people will likely come out with some nitpicked story or article or claim. On the scope of actual problems though? Taylor isn't one of them, I feel. At least not yet. Hopefully not ever.

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[–] Flumpkin@slrpnk.net 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

~~That~~ Thank you for putting this so well. Now we're entering the next phase, progressives arguing and attacking each other while climate inaction continues uninterrupted :D

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[–] lessthanluigi@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, there is Dexter Holland (Lead singer of The Offspring) that flys his own private jet. So you can yell at him now

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is this Reddit?

Gtfo I can’t downvote this shit enough.

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[–] Pilgrim@beehaw.org 21 points 1 year ago

I agree with the general idea here, but when I started following the Swift jet tracker after the Superbowl, I saw her make two flights that next day. Seems to me, some people are taking a whole hell of a lot while the rest of us are left with scraps.

[–] SpunkyMcGoo@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

why am i supposed to care about this person? why do people keep talking about her? i don't care!!!!!!!

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