Don’t give the Foo Fighters a pass for doing corporate gigs for these assholes either. They knew exactly what they were doing.
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Easily the least rock and roll thing a rock star can do is take a big check to play a private show for a wealthy corporation lmao.
🤘
The difference between an artist and an entertainer
I remember seeing: Nick Cave is an artist.
I think I finally got what that is supposed to mean.
But is that statement even true lol
What would be extremely rock and roll-- punk rock, even – is donating all of the proceeds from that show to pro-union efforts.
#DonateItDave, or something
Blood money put to good use is still a karmic negative. Amazon dehumanizes people. Israel dehumanizes people. At some point the excuses aren’t enough anymore.
Maybe look at it this way: Foo Fighters effectively get Amazon to fund union activity by playing on stage for a couple of hours.
You nailed it.
Right? Dave has always been a very sneaky raging narcissist. I’m glad he’s finally showing his true self.
Has he?
Yes, he absolutly has. He’s treated a couple friends of mine that work at a local amphitheater like shit. I’ve heard a lot about him otherwise, here and there. He just has a really good PR team.
It’s so disappointing.
They were the best, the best, the best bootlickers.
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I’m disappointed in Dave grohl
Tbf it’s not like grohl needs the cash is it
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house! I’m not made of stone!
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Eh, all he did was accept money to do exactly what he does: play a concert. Now if he canceled other concerts just for this, that would be a different story IMO. The Amazon execs would just buy a yacht or something instead if Dave declined.
Ah the ol’ “If I didn’t accept the money to do something unethical, then someone else would have done it.” argument.
Yeah, I can see how it could be seen that way. I’m thinking more along the lines of “Dave performs for money. Someone wants to pay a lot of money for a special performance, and it doesn’t affect any of his other shows so of course he would do it”. IMO what Dave did isn’t unethical, but I can see how it could be seen that way. But I also think if the article was “Amazon Execs bought a multi million dollar yacht after massive layoffs”, no one would be blaming the yacht manufacturer. Just the execs.
no one would be blaming the yacht manufacturer
I already don’t support yacht manufacturers. I own foo fighters albums. There is a massive difference in your example.
Here’s a better one: If the Amazon execs threw a private party, no one would be blaming the caterers.
Assuming they’re not already millionaires, correct.
The yacht was a bad example. What I’m getting at is that not hating something is not the same as supporting it. I don’t support Dave doing this, but I don’t hate him for doing it either.
Fair as fuck
Perhaps it’s not against Dave Grohl’s ethics but it’s certainly against mine so all I can do is add the Foo Fighters to the ever growing list of people or companies that don’t get my attention or money.
To be honest I’m thankful all this stuff is out in the open as I’m saving a lot of money.
I don’t shop on Amazon, don’t use social media, don’t eat McD, don’t buy Foo Fighters albums, don’t watch Will Smith movies, etc.
Ah, the piecemeal approach to becoming a hermit. Eventually you’ll just add literally everything to your “failed my purity test” list.
I don’t know. Macklemore is a pretty stand up guy and will stand by his morals. Plenty of people ain’t selling out and plenty of people stand up for what they believe in.
Kinda strange all the back lash for my choice here but y’all won’t give the same backlash for FF choice. Double standards much.
I’m not talking to Dave Grohl, I’m talking to you.
Don’t expect perfection, or you’ll always be disappointed by people. Macklemore included lol
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He assaulted a man on live TV and later was given an award and never faced any repercussions.
Also, over shadowed Samuel L Jackson’s night.
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LMAO reading this IMMEDIATELY after replying to a… slightly different vibe of comment:
Beauty & strength through diversity [of thought]!
So I won’t buy a yacht anytime soon. Good.
It is a musician’s business to know who they are performing for and why - and the more famous they are, the more it starts to matter. Grohl knows this.
The people on here who is excusing this with “capitalism bad except when people I like is doing it” arguments is just demonstrating how empty “liberal values” get when push comes to shove.
That’s actually their manager’s business. Literally what they hire them for. And honestly, if you’re going to fault them for performing a private venue for an Amazon event, you should also fault every artist that’s ever performed in like, Vegas. Casinos have been bleeding people to death long before Amazon hit the scene.
I’m not going to fault a performer for literally doing their job and taking a fat payday. I’d probably do the same in their shoes, anybody who insists otherwise isn’t being honest with themselves.
It’s not like the rider said “play show at Amazon, these guys just laid a lot of people off and are screaming about budget cuts so they want you to play for the rest. Here’s 4 million dollars.”
It probably said “corporate event for 6-10k people. Here’s a check for 4 million dollars”
So you’re arguing that selling out any supposed values you might have is fine as long as the check is big enough.
Foo Fighters are a huge band. They aren’t at the whims of some all powerful manager. And Amazon’s crimes are not new, they’re not obscure information. They’re incredibly well known, frequently discussed, and go hand in hand with the mention of Amazon. They knew what they were doing, who they were doing it for.
Now, if you want to discuss the power that record labels and their business relationships hold and their contracts with the bands they produce, that’s a possible explanation for this. But we’re talking about aging millionaire white guys. Chances are, they had veto power, knew what they were doing and probably could’ve accepted a monetary fine from the record company for defying a contract obligation if that’s why they were being forced to do it. And, honestly, probably would’ve leaked that information, gotten a ton of great press, maybe gotten into a public dispute with the record label if they chose to speak out about it, and then cashed in on that.
But, like you said, they did it for a fat paycheck. They didn’t stick up for the well-documented abused workers of Amazon while cashing in on it — “virtue signaling,” as people say. They decided to do this. For money. From Amazon executives.
And that’s…not better.
The fact that this comes at the end of typical corporate purse string tightening at the expense of workers is really just the steaming shit nugget on top of this diarrhea sundae.
I’m arguing that you’re villainising the wrong people.
And that was me telling you your assumption of who’s at fault was way off the mark.
They’re rockstars. They knew what they were doing and made the choice themselves.
So we’re just skipping the part about the execs treating themselves to a concert after many years of union busting, horrid working conditions, innumerable other abuses, and excluding the workers. But we’re going to shit on the people they hired for a gig.
Coolcoolcoolcoolcool.
So we’re just skipping the part about the execs
No… we actually talk about Amazon’s shitfuckery a lot. Where have you been?
I’m talking about the point of the article and you know it. Which is why I have you noted as “Bad Faith”
Which is why I have you noted as “Bad Faith”
As all the liberals festering around here does. I’ll just throw this badge on the heap with the others, okay?
and you know it.
This is where you are wrong. You aren’t commenting on the article… You aren’t even commenting on the post about the article. Your responding to a comment left on the post about the article.
It’s you that’s arguing in bad faith here, or at least not recognising the context of what you’re saying, presumably because you’re too busy trying to get across your own point.
I don’t think your initial point about the criticism that should be levelled at Amazon is wrong (I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone on here that supports what Amazon have done), but that isn’t to say that the Foo Fighters shouldn’t be being criticised here.
Both things can be true.
But by responding to a comment that points out the band’s faults with whatabouttery you’re kind of coming across like you’re defending the band whilst also ignoring all the other people saying the same thing you are. Then on top of that having a go at the OP when he points out other people are talking about the Amazon issue by saying you’re clearly taking about the article… If you’re commenting on the article why are you replying to some other post?!
Not unlike all the excuses we’re seeing for genocide now that it’s Biden shipping the bombs over to Israel.
Have yet to see anybody ‘excusing’ it. Everybody’s just holding their noses and sticking with him because the alternative is convicted felon Trump.
Oh they straight up deny it’s happening. Nobody tries to say it’s a genocide and it’s okay, they just deny it or deflect to talking about Trump.
Trump is not a ‘deflection’ from Biden. Trump is the only alternative, and a much worse one for pretty much everybody on the planet, even if some don’t realise it.
It is absolutely a deflection when we want Biden to stop participating in Genocide, to instead bring up Trump.
That’s not what was stated before.
Then we’re reading two different threads.
At the end of the day they’re people too though. And this is music, not war. There’s a pretty big gray area for “participating in capitalism does not equal approval of capitalism.”
There’s a pretty big gray area for “participating in capitalism does not equal approval of capitalism.”
That only goes for the working class - the people who are forced to participate in capitalism. Not for filthy rich musicians.
And this is music, not war.
There is no aspect of our enforced existence under capitalism that is free from it’s insidious influence - and that includes music.
Sure but the biggest pushback I’ve really seen tbh was by a dude who eventually revealed he’s just ranting about cancel culture. He doesn’t even like Grohl. So certainly not a liberal lol
If those dirty fucking workers had just worked harder they could have a Foo Fighters concert too.
Best I can do is a YouTube video with ads for dick pills.
If those workers worked hard the execs could have had another concert after this one*
Yeah I heard some of them had the gall to use the actual restroom on work hours. Like, get yourself a bigger bottle, and some better bootstraps! Amirite?
Fucking-A, Dave. At least Kurt never sold out.
Die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. Kurt punched his card before it could happen to him too.
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Agree 100%
I’m sure it was presented to the band like this “hey will you do a private show for a dump truck of money?” Of course the answer is yes. As if he has any way of knowing what’s going on inside a company, who’s specifically on the invite list - come on…. He’s a rock star - he plays shows for money, bitches, and blow. That’s all there is to it - he ain’t the villain here.
Rock probably died that day
It died a long time before that.
Seriously. This is as shitty as the Right boycotting Budlight.
Go ahead & burn your FF tunes. Hell make a social media post about it. It’ll do good, we promise.
Why don’t you wait & see what Dave does with money? Anybody know what his charitable interests are?
Y’all just want to burn some one & you’ll burn your heroes as easily as your villains. Buncha fuckin’ assholes.
To be fair the right boycott things for being inclusive. I like to boycott things for being divisive or shitting on the little guy.
Does it matter? To the companies and people I boycott, probably not. But I know I’m not giving my money to people I don’t agree with.
I guess my point is, in what way is Foo Fighters playing for Amazon divisive?
Amazon was going to pay someone to perform at that show & that performer, regardless of whether it was FF, was not going to convince Amazon to give that money to employees that deserved it.
So what exactly did the Foo Fighters do to earn this level ire? You’d rather Amazon gave that money to another performer?
If everyone really feels that strongly about FF taking this gig, then start a campaign telling FF how you think the money should be spent.
I’d certainly consider that a better use of everyone’s anger.
Divisive. Just look at these comments.
The argument if it’s not them it’ll be someone else is pretty weak.
I may as well rob my neighbours house, if it isn’t me it might be someone else aye?
Yeah I’d rather they give it someone else if it goes against FF morals. I certainly would have turned it down if I were them.
Look, congratulations on being able to turn down a paycheck from Amazon. I myself would absolutely take that paycheck from Amazon.
But I digress… So, back to the topic at hand.
In what way is any of this FF’s fault? What have FF done to divide anyone? Perform?
Amazon wanted a concert. Amazon got a concert. Amazon was going to get a concert, regardless of who performed.
Your argument is that FF are fault because… because why? They should’ve turned it down?
Who should have performed for Amazon then?
If that argument is so weak, you go right on ahead and tell me who the ethical choice would be for an Amazon concert? Dua Lipa? Green Day? Chris Brown?
You know what? Your right. Every single established musical act should have displayed the mental fortitude & character to turn down Amazon’s money.
The key word there is SHOULD, but should isn’t always realistic.
Be mad at Amazon. I’m with you on that. But blaming a band because you don’t like person who signs their check is pretty self defeating in my opinion.
The Foo Fighters don’t owe any of us shit & our opinions on their income streams are irrelevant.
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Keep in mind the prevailing sentiments of any post are heavily influenced by who shows up first. In this case, a number of people showed up with opinions antagonistic to your beliefs. It’s not necessarily representative of the community, just the majority of the people in the comment section at that time. Those with beliefs that run contrary to the prevailing theme in the comment section may decide just not to comment instead of being involved in conflict, further reinforcing the bias.
The right boycotted bud light because they were being transphobic. We are simply calling attention to the fact that Dave Grohl does not need the money and doing a show for Amazon execs is a decision he didn’t have to make. I’m not boycotting him, I don’t suddenly hate him and want him to die or something. So please do not compare me to the bigots who decided that a few beer cans showing someone who is trans was basically the end of the world.
Many of us are critiquing his decision and some of you are really upset by it for some reason. We have that right and it’s a valid thing to point out. Would you not judge him for playing a trump rally?
Right, but you have no clue how FF will use that money & you’re willfully ignoring that Amazon has already infected the music industry.
Your moral outrage at FF completely ignores that the band lost a drummer & cancelled a tour on the heels of a global pandemic. You have no idea what their debt to cash ratio is and whether they intend to use that cash to keep costs down for fans or maybe even help Taylor’s family with it.
This thread has seen half of a story, chosen their villain, and are now willing to jump on anyone who might show a modicum of patience and empathy.
So go ahead, call out the Foo Fighters for taking dirty Amazon money… but you still only have a story.
I have a feeling Foo Fighters/Dave Grohl must mean a lot to you and this must be a very difficult discussion for you to have. I’m not really sure I deserve the snipes you are taking at me so I’ll just leave it there. Hopefully you’ll understand the response to it isn’t as binary as your making it out to be, and that you don’t need to be so angry/hostile for people questioning the decision of a successful musician. It’s just a discussion about what we perceive as social responsibility.
I’m not a fan of the Foo Fighters I think they’ve already sold out & while I don’t dislike them, I’m not a fan.
What’s difficult about this conversation is that everyone else has made it black & white, over whether Amazon’s money is tainted.
That’s everyone’s only argument, Amazon money is bad & the Foo Fighters shouldn’t have taken it.
But… that argument ignores the nuance I’m trying to point out.
That money was going to be given to a band or musician for concert full of gross Amazon execs. Full stop. That is all it was ever going to be used for by Amazon & neither you or I can stop it.
So if the Foo Fighters shouldn’t have taken that money, than who should have received it? What band would you prefer to have played for Amazon?
That concert was going down with it without the Foo Fighters. So if not them, then who?
Well for starters, he played a private show for Amazon execs.
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I have no skin in this game dude, I don’t hate Dave Grohl suddenly. I just think this performance was incredibly tacky. You’re way too defensive about this.
He’s a performer. Who he performs for does matter to some degree. If he played Trump’s inauguration, for instance, people would rightfully judge the decision.
It’s not like he needs the money at this point. He can be a little more discerning.
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I see. Easier with bootlicking champ… Why is u worshiping another man like this. Its uncouth
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Why is u mad tho
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Didn’t he and the band literally promote AIDs conspiracy theories at concerts?
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Yeah NBD at all! Lol
Imagine stanning for such a mid band
I dunno. Man’s getting paid to play music. If he takes that money and does something better with it. That’s still a positive. Don’t be a hipster lol
Live a life of luxury with small portion going to annual donation for PR and tax purposes…
Bootlickers jfc
In case you haven’t noticed, EVERY SINGLE FOO FIGHTERS CONCERT SUPPORTED CORPORATE OVERLORDS. The tickets you bought? Corporate Overlord sold 'em to you. The tunes you bought? Corporate Overlord. The venue you went to? Sponsored by a corporate overlord. The Beer you drank at the venue, the fucking merch you bought, hell, even the fucking parking fee you coughed up went to a corporation. You don’t get to enjoy music anymore without supporting corporate overlords.
You’re being an antagonistic asshole and you know it. And you use the term bootlicker incorrectly.
Bro… I don’t go to concerts because fuck rent seeking parasites. Small venues only chief.
I don’t pay for corporate music. If I like the artist and they accept payments. I will pay direct.
I am sorry you can’t imagine a world without sucking some rich dudes’ dicks.
Simping for some celeb on here… I don’t even know who these clowns are. They had like one hit wonder in 2000s. Wtf is u so worked up over?
Your the one all worked up calling people corporate bootlickers. Pretend all you want that you don’t live in a world where you don’t support corporations to enjoy music. Pretend all you want that your not doing the same exact shit your complaining about. Your sucking off some rich dude just to for whatever reason avoid giving money to a corporation and instead give it straight to rich dudes pocket. Weirdo is acting like he doesn’t listen to his shitty music on YouTube music or Apple or whatever corpo platform. Keep pretending you would even know half the artists you do without corporations allowing them to advertise it on an app you use on your cellphone.
Jfc… You make so many assumptions that’s more telling about you than anything.
Protip: selfhosting and Yarr ;)
Protip2: don’t give money to gereatirc clowns, give money to up and coming talent who is a actually developing instead of milking their fame
So once a musician becomes popular, you switch to up and coming talent? Major hipster and superiority complex vibes from your posts.
Don’t research every small venue you visit to make sure it’s not part of some giant corporation?
You sound angry about the world.
Calm down their puddin, ain’t nobody trying to eat your pie.
Go on about yourself with your bootlicking antagonistic bullshit.
Every musician who releases music works with corporate overlords jackhole.
Tell me, what noncorporate music playing device do you listen to your tunes on?
When you buy a beverage at your non-corporate venues, whatcha drinkin’ their pal?
Dave Grohl didn’t steal your rent money & you have fucking clue rock & roll is, Junior.
Lemmy skews heavy 30+ so most people here will never understand. But I’m right there with you.
The tickets you bought? Corporate Overlord sold 'em to you.
Never bought them, i can sneak into anything worth being at.
The tunes you bought? Corporate Overlord.
Never bought them other than physical copies direct from the label that only has 5 artists.
The venue you went to? Sponsored by a corporate overlord.
Never went, any “venue” I’ve been to was come and go.
The Beer you drank at the venue
Didn’t buy it, made and brought it.
the fucking merch you bought
Never bought it
hell, even the fucking parking fee you coughed up went to a corporation.
I go to venues through piblic transit so i can get intoxicated
You don’t get to enjoy music anymore without supporting corporate overlords.
I’ve been contributing to small fedi artists just because they’re small fedi artists.
You’re being an antagonistic asshole and you know it. And you use the term bootlicker incorrectly.
If you even want to talk about you insecurities that you project, I won’t offer myself because you already made up your mind about who I am before you finished reading this. Get help. Twat.
Imagine if they gave some or all of it to an Amazon union drive. A prank of historical proportions
Kurt wasn’t offered millions for a private show.
For those not upset and see the band “just playing a gig”, what would be a line that you personally would consider too far? Would you be ok with them doing a private show for Netanyahu and his cabinet? Would a private show for Trump and his Republican lackeys be ok? How about Nestle CEO and its board, but none of its workers? Would a private show for the Proud Boys be ok if they had a “dump truck full of cash”?
What harm are they doing though? They’re being paid to do a private concert, not donating to their super PAC. It goes without saying that lavish spending on executives when people are being laid off is super gross, but at the end of the day I dont think the band did anything worth being chastised for.
Well I guess I’ll be adding the Foo Fighters to my list of people that won’t be getting any money from me.
Does it matter? Sure it matters to me. I can sleep better knowing I’m not contributing to things I don’t agree with.
I expected better from Dave Grohl but here we are.
Obviously it’s entirely your prerogative what artists to support, but I’m having a hard time understanding how the Fighters of the Foo accepting money from rich douches changes how you feel about them. Now, if they took an Amazon record deal and wrote a bunch of garbage jingles or something, then yeah, id bail on em too. But in this case, I don’t hink theyve done anything they havent done 1000x before; Played on a stage for a few hours, shook some hands, took some photos, and went home with some extra zeroes in their bank account.
It changes how I feel about them because I refuse to support people that don’t hold the same morals as me.
I’m not saying they can’t perform here, just that their actions have consequences and they have to deal with that.
Does it matter in the grand schema of things? Not at all, but I know what my beliefs are and where I want to put my money.
Perhaps one day there will be a line that is over your moral boundary and I would support your right to make that choice.
Oh, I do the same for other things and didnt mean to imply you should do anything differently, everyone has their “line”. I’m just saying maybe you dont have to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The Foo Fighters, particularly Dave Grohl, are some of the more humanitarian artists out there. Dave himself routinely puts on BBQs to feed the homeless. So considering your comment about actions having consequences, they’ve earned a little bit of wiggle room in my eyes.
But regardless, I respect ypur opinion and enjoy your weekend!
I think this is an interesting point. What if they gave a concert and a murderer attended? Should they leave if they found out who was there?
Of course it’s more personal when it’s a private concert, but this is Amazon not Gaddafi. They are kind of supporting the company, but who’s working as an Amazon executive just for the concerts? I’m sure they have free gym memberships or something too. Should the gym ban them?
Just to carry this train of thought forward… What type of device (make/OS) did you compose this post with? Unless you found a way to pass tcp via… I don’t know… clay you dig up in your back yard, it’s pretty hard to avoid ecological damage and morally-questionable employment practices. Participating in damn near any way with any economy makes all of us complicit, and at this point all we’re arguing is to what degree makes each of us uncomfortable.
So if we can’t completely remove ourselves from every terrible company in society we shouldn’t even try at all.
That’s pretty apathetic don’t you think.
If we can’t stop all murders, why bother prosecuting any aye.
This is such weird logic. The Foo Fighters are millionaires that have a ton of leeway with what shows they do because they don’t really need more money to survive. The guy that frames houses probably isn’t working for a morally great company but that dude starves without the job.
And yet the Foo fighters and specifically Dave do benefit concerts raising millions and actually cook and feed disadvantaged people by the thousands. They also do (at last I knew) an annual multi-day trolling of the westboro Baptist church compound, which is a great thing imho.
Now, what is the measure of a man? Is it a sliding scale? Is it just the sums? Sure, that house framer has smaller sins, but does he have a smaller positive impact? Does it matter?
As I said in my last sentence, we’re all just arguing degrees.
That’s a completely different argument…
Something about monkies with lots of bananas? Dave’s got 330 million bananas and just got a few hundred thousand more. Hoarding is only bad when people I don’t like do it.
Oh, dont get me wrong, most anyone hoarding that much wealth is an asshole by default, but theres a lot worse out there than those guys. Hell, just this year Dave BBQed for 24hrs to feed the homeless, and has done many such events over the years.
Look, I despise Amazon and Jeff bezos. I avoid Amazon and work hard to find products from retailers that aren’t Amazon storefronts. But at some point, unless you’re self-employed and completely self-sustaining, you’re 1) whoring yourself out to somebody, and 2) sucking the knob of capitalism somewhere.
All we’re left to argue is matter of degrees.
Seems like it’s just fanboyism and they can’t stand that a band they care about (or at least enjoy) has sold out to the absolute worst degree. People are right in that all bands sell out to a certain point (“All you know about me is what I’ve sold ya, dumb fuck/I sold out long before you’d ever even heard my name/I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit/And then you bought one” – Hooker with a Penis, Tool), but when you specifically accept a gig that is just some elitist executive party for a company that treats its employees like shit, you’ve gone too far.
Fuck the Foos. And stop making it political (“lol, liberals”) – bullshit, this is just rampant band fanboyism.
Bands who break through walls with speakers
Not just try to sell you sneakers
You want bands who wanna sell you things
Or bands who wanna tell you things?
- Jeffery Lewis and the Rain, WWPRD
One of the last punk dudes still making a statement instead of doing shows for 50 year old execs.
And stop making it political
It’s political because caring about people who aren’t rich is political.
The fact that you think it’s a certain side that does this is the only reason you think it’s political. And you’re wrong about it.
I’m not talking about just politicians. I’m talking about all conservatives. And yes, only one “side” is like that. It’s their defining trait.
I honestly don’t care who they play for, as long as it’s not at the cost of of any regular scheduled gig.
Right? The concert is not the problem. The problem is who is paying for it/who is deserving of this (or any other) company benefit.
Though I guess there is an argument to be had that the performers are enabling class exploitation instead of standing in solidarity. Then again, it’s entirely plausible that the performers don’t know any of these details.
I think that anything benign that separates evil people from a significant portion of their cash is fine by me. That’s millions of dollars they can’t use to break up unions, or replace human workers with AI, or pay for campaign ads (or hush money, or legal costs). And it’s not something that’s aiding them in those pursuits, so it’s generally just money they’re losing.
I think. That’s just my initial idea.
I definitely agree but it still hurts, a lot.
This is way past the point for me, but I’m not a good musician or famous and part of how I draw lines may be contributing factors.
Personally, I’d think it would be much for impactful to play for whoever, then donate all the proceeds to some important cause. Telling e.g. Netanyahu no to a Foo Fighters concert isn’t going to make him change his mind about anything. But giving the concert will take money away from him and give it to something important.
I consider Amazon to be only average evil. Now if they did a concert for Nestle…
Depends on how they’re paying for it and if I could donate most of it to causes that actively oppose them. IMO it’s like buying Chicks CDs to burn them. But the money, which is the real power here, flowed in one direction that day.
The ruling class needs a very poignant reminder that their perceived value is entirely manufactured by the working class, on whose shoulders they stand. These people have no real value if the people they exploit are able exert their own agency.
Fuck these parasites. And as a matter of course, fuck the foo fighters.
Yeah, call me when consequences actually happen.
Oh look everyone it’s part of the problem.
We have to all work together to give those consequences. Workers need to act as a united force to push back against the ruling class. Checking out hurt the movement. Help us show them the consequences.
History has a way of repeating itself. Best we can hope for is a soft reset. It will always be this way until human avarice is somehow ejected from our genome.
Most of the people in those concerts are employed. They’ll have stock with Amazon, as does everyone working for Amazon on a full time, permanent contract.
You do realise Amazon is a public company, don’t you? If your country allows fractional shares, you could become an owner of Amazon for £10.
Is the “ruling class” anyone who has a report at Amazon?
https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/6039327
" if you’re under retirement age and quit your job tomorrow, do you have enough assets to comfortably live out the rest of your life"
This gets to it. Basically bourgeoisie is the owning class and proletariat is the class that can only survive via labor, but as the post says it’s a bit more complicated these days. You could have a business owner or landlord who gets the same amount of paycheck as say a high-paid tech person, or actor, or doctor, or something. And the former is petty bourgeois and the latter is not, because the former owns assets and the latter, if they lose their job, will before long need to find another one in order to survive.
Now you could have someone getting a wage that’s been high enough for a long enough time that they have been able to acquire assets that could bring in income, which changes things somewhat. But the main thing to analyze is the relationship to resources, land, and means of production.
Oh well see that would actually require communication and commitment.
We don’t do that. Something about needing that job that they definitely won’t pull out from under us to pay those bills that never go up.
They should pour out a piss bottle for the warehouse employees who couldn’t attend.
To think this is a problem with just Amazon is silly. This is every American corporation. The executives of every major corporation in this country treat themselves very very well on company dimes while their workers all languish in starvation wages. The only way to fight this is to raise the minimum wage to something that is livable for the average worker. The government needs to force these companies to behave. They will never and I mean abso-fucking-lutely never choose to treat their workers with respect and dignity by paying them a decent living wage.
And the politicians that are in all of their pockets will never ever go against their corporate masters. The only way to make them listen is to get every single American to acknowledge that this is something that is needed and then push their politicians to do it or threaten their jobs by voting for someone else. This goes for both Democrats and Republicans, not quite equally but there’s definitely a few Democrats that need to be replaced.
My last job, we removed two departments and fired them all, then forced to have a “virtual retreat” to save money. Three months later, they showed a PowerPoint how this was their best year ever.
By that point, I was already looking for a new job.
Bentonville AR is being turned into a bicyclists haven. To the tune of Arkansas laws are making it that bicyclists don’t have to pay attention to traffic laws. That’s neat, wonder why… Ah. And while bicycling is one of the better things I guess billionaires can do, in the region buying bicycles are far beyond affordable anymore to a walmart wage because it’s gotten so over the top fancy, and the Waltons literally have a helicopter with a bike rack to fly out to the trails. My dad is irritated because of how often it shakes his house as it goes over.
Same city, Alice Walton had a really nice museum built in the area that was surely out of the good of her heart… Ah. Unless really local, one might not know of her nickname “Drunken Alice” where she has a history of dwi’s and wrecks, including one where someone was killed, yet somehow nothing seems to stick.
Yea… I’ve got a bit of an axe to grind with the Waltons having grown up in their personal playground, I agree with you to think this is a problem with just Amazon is ludicrous, and despite only living a state away it’s amazing to hear how people bitch about Amazon, it’s chokeholds, it’s problems, its wrecking of the country, and gives a full pass to Walmart. We live in an oligarchy.
Completely unrelated to my bitching about Walmart, but a perfect example of execs doing this nonsense and how I got in trouble because I can’t stop snarking: Worked for a medical testing facility, ran by a doctor. Said doctor buys himself a brand new shiny Lamborghini, then through the whole email has an announcement that for one day for 4 hours where any of the staff can get a picture with the Lambo and share on the company page. Now I met said doc once during training, but otherwise worked 3rd shift with two other people, he certainly never showed up when we had issues.
So when the day happened, it was one of those I commented it’s the first time I think I’m glad that 3rd shift gets ignored on any staff events. Think about it for a second, then ask the others “Who has the newest car?”, turns out was a Nissan Juke. So each of us go out and get a picture with the Juke, then sent the pictures in to where people were supposed to send in the pics with the Lambo. Turns out they got 4 pictures, the 3 with the Juke, and 1 with the Lambo. Got told by our manager said doc was pissed and to keep our heads down.
True, this problem is everywhere.
While you’re breaking your back, they’re getting paid millions to eat sushi off of a porn star’s back.
The only way to fight this is to raise the minimum wage to something that is livable for the average worker.
Then what do you do when only the Amazons and Walmarts of the world with the deepest pockets can afford that, and small business basically ceases to exist, as a result? People talk a lot about ‘if you can’t pay a livable wage you don’t deserve to be in business’, but the same people also complain about monopolies and lack of choice at the same time. How do you propose this be reconciled?
Also, no one’s ever going to be able to begin to enforce a “living wage”, even if they wanted to, until that wage is given a concrete definition–at the very least, a formula with variables to account for cost of living differences across the country. Until then, all this clamoring for a “living wage” is completely pointless.
You break your back for pennies while they get millions a second to eat sushi off of a porn star’s back.
Rookies. The real wealth gets to eat sushi off a porn star’s front!
I want this sushi dinner to be the tits, Charlie!
The funny thing is that people always forget about old money - people who don’t know what work is or what actual money is. And who see billionaires as just mere peasants.
There is a lot of old money where I grew up, and it was funny hearing about Blackrock trying to buy their properties. They would offer these people ten times the value, but old money was just “but, that’s just a little bit more money in the money bin. I have a massive house and estate to look at the peasants. Why would I bother?”
And now imagine old money in Europe. For example, the British aristocracy owns at least 30% of land in England (that’s the official number, but Land Registry doesn’t have information about who owns 15% of land at all and it is most likely owned by aristocracy as well). And England has a leasehold system. So if Blackrock would come to a king or some lord to buy some of their land, the land would be sold to them easily as a long term lease, for like 100+ years. And then Blackrock would also pay yearly rent on top of that. Because you ain’t buying shit here, dirty peasant.
Another thing to keep in mind is that old money here have their wealth for over a thousand years. They’re not simply entrenched, they’re a part of the fabric of the country itself. They have all kinds of exceptions in the laws and regulations and exist above everyone else not only in social status, but also in economic and political status as well.
People can hate the rich as much as they want, but there’s a layer in the society which doesn’t care about the existence of the rich and the poor. And they are all related to each other through centuries of strategic marriages, so basically one incredibly large family spread across the whole of Europe.
Just more for the guillotines. Still massively outnumber them.
The only way this gig is ethically justifiable is if the support act is a guillotine.
Rage Against the Machine doing this concert would just be Tom Morello beating every one of them to death with his guitar.
I’d pay for that. Let’s start a Kickstarter.
no hed be doing the same as foo fighters actually. playing a gig
Someone hasn’t heard the Tom Morello don’t you know who I am story haha
no but i did hear of the rage against the machine charging outragelously high prices story
They charged outrageous prices for their last tour. I never cared for them, so it didn’t impact me.
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I wonder when “selling out” or being called a “sell out” stopped being a thing. It happened during my lifetime for sure. Now basically everyone everywhere you look in the music business not only is one, but the public seems to not even consider it an option to not sell out, and I think most people dream of being able to be a sell out themselves so much they pardon others preemptively and almost instinctively.
But like in this case, Dave Grohl is already a multimillionaire, does he really have to further prostitute himself for Amazon cash?
It fell victim to the “gig economy”, now it’s less “Selling out” and more “Get that bag”
they might be under contractual obligation to do what the record label says
🤷 and maybe someone was holding his dog hostage until he performed, but that pic doesn’t look like someone who is having a terrible time fulfilling his label obligations
i was never a fan anyway, couldn’t care less
I’ve got another confession to maaake
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Dave is a businessman first and foremost. I wonder how Pat is dealing with this sort of shit.
FF (fuck 'em) whoring themselves for Amazon execs isn’t the main story here. It’s the disgusting exploitation of labor for profits. Organized destruction of unions and workers rights had made this tale an everyday, everywhere occurrence. Long ago there was a time when the news would report about main street and wall street as being more intertwined. Today their well being is in opposite directions. From symbiotic to parasitic.
It seems to prefer coercion as a method to keep people producing rather than inspiring them and earning their best.
Ambush style layoffs remove the feeling of safety, making people desperate to prove they shouldn’t be next. With this approach, Amazon embraces a timelessly blood-curdling rationale: nothing concentrates the mind like a credible threat.
Annual attrition targets for a fixed percentage of people every year create a survival mentality. No one wants to be the slowest gazelle when the lion comes around again, so everyone runs faster. Classic coercion.
Dave is making money. Don’t blame him.
I quit a company for this. We wouldn’t give our star performers raises, but they somehow managed to pull off a 7 million dollar one week party for the whole company. It would’ve been something like 100k per employee had they just handed out bonuses.
We lost a wave of talent after that and their stock dropped 80%. I’m glad I cashed out when I did.
Dave is making money. Don’t blame him.
Tf kinda brain dead excuse is this?
Acting immorally is okay if you’re making money?
This is truly mind-obliterating stupidity.
Ya… being paid to perform isn’t immoral. Honestly, I hope he took a ton of cash from Amazon for the show.
Amazon is the crowd doing evil crap. Their immorality doesn’t automatically spread to everyone they interact with. Especially, people that aren’t actually aiding their efforts. This one is corporate waste
FFs took a huge paycheck of blood money that they could’ve easily turned down. They’re in it too.
Yeah plus it’s not like they’re a new band desperate for cash and a big break - without doing any maths, I’m pretty sure Dave & Co. could easily turn down evert corpo gig that comes their way from now until forever, and still be out there living the high life.
Yes…I’m sure FF is intimately involved in Amazon internal politics. I’m sure they were made aware of every person fired to pay for their show before it was booked last year.
It’s a gig. A highly paying gig. They don’t fucking care who’s in the audience.
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I’d say you need a better grip on reality, but that would imply you had one to start with
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My guess is that the argument is that participating in society does not equal endorsement of the system we live in. This is how musicians make money. By playing music to who pays for it.
That said, I myself am of two minds about them taking the money.
It would be easy for the Foo Fighters to not take that gig. They’re doing fine either way.
It’s also possible for musicians to take a stand for change.
It absolutely does equal endorsement.
I’ll make my life harder to avoid companies and people I don’t support.
Have a fucking backbone and stand up for what you believe in. Why should we contribute to the things we abhor?
Do you think you it’s justified perform for these people if they getting paid?
Don’t blame him because he’s just “making money”? Might as well not blame the execs with that logic. They’re also just making money, right?
With this particular concert, no, they’re spending company money (which otherwise could have gone to employees) for themselves.
He’s not your average guy working to put food on the table lol. For someone of his status, his image being hurt from this is far more expensive than whatever they’re paying them for.
7 million could’ve paid 100k per employee? Impressive for a 70 person company to host such an expensive party then.
Er…shit…was off by half…it was 50k an employee.
The real question is, how many pee bottles did they force Dave Grohl to fill in order to make his song quota in time?
