I have a list of people that I refuse to cover, They Who Must Not Be Named. Basically, these are folks who occupy a significant role in popular culture, but I consider too trivial for me to write about. (Tabloid fodder)
I have applied this to actors, singers, the entire royal family, and celebrities for no reason at all, such as the the reality show family whose last name resembles an adversary race in later series in the Star Trek franchise.
My standard statement on this is:
Absent some sort of political activity, such as endorsements, running for office (PLEASE GOD NO!!), or their attempting to assassinate someone, they will not be mentioned here.
Well, the first person is coming off the list and it is Britney Spears, of all people, because she is calling for a general strike and a massive reorganization of society, which I think qualifies her for removal from the list.
Also, she is sounding Trotskyite, which means that referencing her will piss off my brother, Stephen, aka Bear who swims:
Britney Spears has called for us to strike.
On Instagram, Spears shared a graphic that included the words, “We will feed each other, redistribute wealth, strike.” Her comment on the graphic “Communion goes beyond walls 🌹🌹🌹” included three roses, the symbol associated with socialist movements in the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond. That, dear reader, is the main thing we needed to tell you.
Spears is a surprising but very welcome ally in the struggle to ensure that our response to the global coronavirus pandemic is a just one. But her meming also points to the fact that this is a very rare and unusual time: a period in which draconian, repressive government measures could be introduced, but there is also an opening for people to demand a better society. Across the globe, quarantined people are increasingly reliant on low-paid workers. Governments are swiftly discovering that the actual backbone of society is the lowest paid and, in the case of the gig economy, those with few rights.
First of all, I'm not sure why I should take offense. I support you choosing the leader of your revolution.
Second, this sort of strike is Syndicalist, not Trotskite. Trotskites traditionally view striking at a way of redirecting the working class energy while still channeling it within the capitalist system, and are profoundly centralist.
("We are an anarcho-syndicalist commune…", "Bloody pessant …", "He's repressing me…come see the violence inherent in the system."