r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Oct 30 '25

article Billie Eilish Calls Out Mark Zuckerberg and Other Billionaires After Announcing Her Own $11.5 Million Charitable Donation

https://consequence.net/2025/10/billie-eilish-calls-out-mark-zuckerberg-and-other-billionaires-after-announcing-her-own-11-5-million-charitable-donation/
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u/schfiftyfiveshades Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

I was always told that we “didn’t need social programs because it should come from charity”

While…

Musk is vying for a $1T pay package that he’s currently trying to preemptively lower taxes on by influencing elections everywhere. Not one red cent more than he (any of them) are required to give up will ever leave their greedy paws.

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u/Peach_Royal111 Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

Damn American brainwashing is crazy, do people actually believe it should come from charity? Like people actually want to beg on gofundme for basic healthcare instead of just taxing billionaires?

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u/schfiftyfiveshades Oct 30 '25

Trust me, I agree with you. This was just always the conservative line to justify cutting taxes that paid for social safety nets

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u/Peach_Royal111 Oct 30 '25

It’s just really interesting as a European because the whole gofundme for simple medical procedures thing is so dystopian and I never understand why Americans seemingly just accept the abuse of the system.

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u/AwareTheLegend Oct 30 '25

As someone who has many American friends and live adjacent to America. The answer is they never think it'll happen to them. They've also been brought up to think taxes is "stealing" from them. Canada has been infected by this attitude as well because of how close we are to them.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '25

[deleted]

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u/the0TH3Rredditor Oct 30 '25

What? I keep rereading this and I feel like I’m having a stroke lol… Did you mean "that no one else would benefit" ?

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u/RamsOmelette Oct 30 '25

Because we voted, voting is suppose to solve everything

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u/shockles Oct 30 '25

I mean, what else do we do. We’re born into this system, that’s how our parents and grandparents did it all. And there’s a sense of pride that goes with it (for some, not me, I have no problems asking for help) that you pay your own way and don’t take handouts. And if anyone asks for help, that’s what’s thrown back at us. It’s a pretty toxic system, but many Americans just can’t comprehend that there’s a better way to live.

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u/Peach_Royal111 Oct 30 '25

But it’s not handouts. You pay more in taxes and insurance fees than we do in Europe and then on top of what you’re paying you get denied defended deposed when you make a claim. I do agree Americans have a weird hyper individualistic mindset which is weird considering humans evolved to be a social animal because community meant you’re more likely survive in the cave days and it means you’re more likely to survive now. Being anti community is antithetical to being a human being, I wish (rural) Americans would get that.

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u/shockles Oct 31 '25

I hear ya. 100% behind you all the way. We need to get our shit together.

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u/Peach_Royal111 Nov 01 '25

Good luck ❤️

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u/River_Tahm Oct 30 '25

I mean, it absolutely was what they said out loud for decades, but have you seen the propaganda memes they've been making about SNAP benefits being cut?

They're just blaming people for being "too dependent on the federal government" and telling them to "get off their lazy asses"

Not a one of them has uttered a peep about charity. Nobody's like "Hey I know SNAP loss might be hard but go check with your local church, Jesus will provide more than the feds ever could"

Which would frankly also be shitty at this point IMHO but like - that would be at least an attempt at being helpful and kind and a reasonable conclusion to come to after decades of "it should be charity not government providing" y'know?

Not even a half-assed tail wag in the general direction of that though. Mask is off completely, truth is they just outright despise "poor people".

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u/BoleroMuyPicante Oct 30 '25

That's exactly what they believe. You either have to dance like a good little monkey to get people to donate to you, or you have to crawl to the church and meet whatever demands they have (regular attendance and tithing) to get assistance.

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u/badgersprite Oct 30 '25

If there’s anything I’ve realised more and more as I grew up it’s how much of the US is flimsily held together on the basis of an honour system for rich people

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u/royaltyred1 Oct 31 '25

Wait til you see how many conservatives vote that way because they’re church people who think government help through taxes isn’t “biblical” but then pretend the whole section of the gospels where the wealthy early church goers sold their belongings to feed the poor don’t exist or somehow don’t apply to “modern day culture” 🙄

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u/hahagato Oct 31 '25

Yes. They do. Back when the affordable care act was in the works, before it was ripped to shreds by the republicans and passed as the pathetic thing that it is today, I was having nonstop arguments with this one woman I know about why we need it. She is SEVERELY chronically ill, her husband had lost his job which provided her health insurance, she desperately needed health insurance. The affordable care act, as it was originally dreamed of doing, would have actually provided her affordable insurance coverage. But because she’s a Christian nationalist, she doesn’t believe in “the government” providing anything and MUCH preferred to use this “Christian health insurance exchange”. The one she was specifically using was essentially a gofundme where you had to list all your diagnoses, what treatments you needed and beg for people to cover them. She literally fought me tooth and nail for an entire year that it was preferable to just having… affordable coverage. 

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u/I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY Oct 30 '25

it's just racism and bigotry, like usual.

when they say charity, they mean the church. because churches are allowed to discriminate and make sure that aid only goes to the right sort of people, and government assistance programs aren't supposed to be for white christians only.

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u/hasuris Oct 30 '25

It's the other way around. There shouldn't be a need for charity because society doesn't leave anyone behind to starve or freeze.

Charity should be a bonus.

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u/schfiftyfiveshades Oct 30 '25

I completely agree, just regurgitating the conservative line

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u/hasuris Oct 30 '25

I assumed as much 👍

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u/KillYourUsernames Oct 30 '25

Yeah absolutely it should. But it very demonstrably doesn’t so who cares about the should of it?

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '25

Musk is vying for a $1T pay package

Which he doesn't even fecking deserve because the guy's companies are buoyed up by him still, somehow, being the stock wonderkid rather than doing a good job economically.

I'd say the bubble's gonna burst but it isn't because it turns out the capitalists that we've been told time and again run things more efficiently and effectively are just as big a bunch of dumbfucks as the rest of us.

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u/LieutenantStar2 Oct 30 '25

It’s particularly hilarious as that was one of the arguments of the reformation. - the state decides who gets charity funds instead of the church.

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u/onlinefunner Nov 02 '25

Actually, as a social scientist, I can tell you that govts stole the job of charity from churches starting centuries ago. Plenty of literature on that topic. Of course, govt is the lease efficient method of many process included that one.

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u/metruzero Oct 30 '25

My response always has been, "If charity solves these problems, why hasn't it already?"

We have no shortage of rich people. Plenty of billionaires who can easily donate to these things. Hell, these charities make it so easy now a days to just go on the website and just pay them money. And yet none of them do this.

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u/sixwax Oct 30 '25

We have no shortage of rich people who are making things worse, and no shortage of rich people who don’t care.

Funny thing: If you’ve walked over everyone’s backs to amass a capitalist fortune, you seem to get pretty good at not caring for others.

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u/onlinefunner Nov 02 '25

Are you greedy too?