I encountered a twitter thread discussing the situation with Lizzo, the singer, about the potential theft of her food. If you haven’t heard, Lizzo sent a now-deleted tweet that was a screenshot of the Postmates app with a caption claiming that she had her food stolen by a Postmates driver. In the end, Lizzo would apologize, realizing she had jumped to an unfounded conclusion and it seems more likely the order was misplaced. In response, there were many people angry with the star, claiming that she should not have made such a big deal over losing food that she could repurchase. Furthermore, she should have reported the issue through the app if anything, but not have posted the identity of the driver for the world to see. The latter reasoning I can agree with, but the former idea is why I am writing this article. The thinking that Lizzo should just have reordered the food lead to multiple tweets by a twitter user named ‘queersocialism,” such as “all rich people are bad, even the seemingly nice and “woke” ones. Goodnight!”, “and this is why I say this, rich people/celebrities, as a result of their socio-economic-political position, are *willfully* inhibited from recognizing the nuances and material realities of class struggle & warfare, in which they’re complicit in.”, but the quote that really sticks out to me is “working class people taking from rich people is not simply “stealing,” it’s justice.”
Stealing…justice. The two do not seem to be in anyway correlated, but for the first time in my life someone has done the impossible and linked them together.. Perhaps even more impossible is that there are thousands of people who feel just as she does (just look at her follower base). Growing up, I was taught that no matter what, stealing was wrong. “Keep your mitts to your shit, away from my shit, unless you would like to get hit” ruminates through my brain and I can’t help but feel this way. I understand Lizzo can reorder food, but since when should her being upset over having something of hers being stolen be a bigger indictment on her character than the actual thief?
As I attempt to expand my worldview, and understand, albeit most of the time not agree with others’ opinions, I will do the same here. It seems some feel as if the rich are stealing from the poor regardless of their occupation. I am unable at first to imagine how Lizzo, an R&B singer is contributing to the possible poverty the Postmates driver finds herself in- I mean they don’t even work in the same field. But then through further thought, the ideology of the extreme left comes to me. Lizzo by virtue of being wealthy from her successful music career is seen as stealing from the less fortunate who are in need of resources. It does not matter that Lizzo did not know this person existed prior to the incident, the mere fact that there are people who are in need makes Lizzo’s economic status a sin.
There is this “idea of “perfectly balanced, as all things should be,” from the awesome Avengers Endgame movie. The lead character, Thanos, uses a knife to demonstrate to a toddler the idea of peace. He states that there can be no lopsidedness in anything we do, or else the knife representing life will tilt over and cut us.
I wrote this paper not to back my view of free-market economics, that affords everyone to make their own choices, as I believe freedom of choice is the most American trait. But rather, I wish to generate discussion on how we talk about those who believe our free choice is infringing on the rights of others. At the same time as those in agreement with the thief, ask is it really fair that restrictions be put in place to stop some from rising to the top economic class, making us all equal..wouldn’t that infringe upon our rights of self-advancement and improvement, and stop us from recognizing those who are truly exceptional in intelligence and work? What is the line that can be drawn, so that we are in agreement that taking what isn’t one’s stuff is not okay and that wanting to provide the best life for yourself is not meant to directly hurt others. At the end of the day, the normal human cares more about themselves than strangers. Though, perhaps I am wrong and if so I want to know?
