PS: I also specifically noted that I wasn’t suggesting getting rid of your ad blocker. I think the ad-driven surveillance capitalism model is a scourge on humanity, and I hope, for your sake, that you never have to see another ad, or be tracked by some creepy spy network ever again. But you, like many other people in tech, conveniently ignore the practically limitless sources of entertainment you can pay for directly and use your distaste of ad-driven platforms to not pay artists at all. And then, people usually talk about it like is some kind of activism rather than pure entitlement. Is especially great when people cite how poorly those platforms pay artists to justify not paying artists at all. lol
I live in a country where more than 80% of my salary goes to redistribution. That redistribution also finances artists through grants, education.
I do not believe in your rather narrow sighted way of thinking about how one pays for the artists - that is has to be private, directly for the service, and on commercial terms.
Especially since "me and many people in tech" has probably supported artists way more than you ever will by watching a Sneakers ad.
I don’t think those payments should be private either, but they are. You can’t stop paying people because you think they should be publicly paid, if they’re not going to be publicly paid instead. And unless the content you consume is all made by artists that live under that system, what your system does is irrelevant. As convenient as it would be for our circumstances or identities to relieve us from our duty to deal fairly with other people, it doesn’t. In fact, it’s the first defense we reflexively cite when justifying something we do wrong.
The fact that you’re using your residence in a country with more humane economic policy as justification for treating people with the exact opposite principles exemplifies that.
Stop the mental gymnastics. You feel entitled to people’s art, and your self-image of being a good person with the right political ideals absolves you from what you consider to be a minor indiscretion in simply taking it. You’re wrong.
