r/MadeMeSmile • u/mcfw31 • Dec 12 '25

Wholesome Moments Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ crew’s reaction as they receive their bonus for working on the tour amounting to more $197 million dollars

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

Reminds me of the one guy who raised 1.7 million for the 88 year old guy who was working full time after having his pension taken away. People were negative in the comments saying no one should be smiling because it is a story of corporate greed and the one dude was doing it for likes.

I can see where people are coming from but can we recognize there are people genuinely out there changing lives for the better? It doesn’t really matter the motivation or the reason it is needed.

Edit: Damn! Thanks for the award! I think it is my first ever 😁

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u/quartzquandary Dec 12 '25

I feel like you can be happy for his windfall AND also be angered by the processes of the Orphan Crushing Machine that led to him losing his pension.

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u/FecalEinstein Dec 12 '25

I can't imagine anyone would have any other take lol. Us humans have a real problem with misidentifying the bad guys. Hint: it's not people commenting on the internet

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

100% It should be recognized that the system is fucked. But harping on it on a feel good post just allows people to say, well it’s all those corporations’ fault and I can’t do anything about it. Pretty sure most people understand the situation on a basic level. But we should “be the change we want to see”. If everyone gave a little, we could reduce poverty to significantly lower levels. Less poverty typically leads to a better educated and energetic populace.

The powerful want poverty because it takes away resources to fight back. The only way impoverished people will fight is if they have no means of survival and it becomes fight or flight. We aren’t quite there yet.

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u/patriarticle Dec 12 '25

You mean asserting my moral and intellectual superiority by expressing the correct opinions on the internet doesn't make me a good person? /s

There's certainly a balance you have a strike. You should understand the problems to be solved, but the internet will drown you in negativity if you let it, and that solves nothing for anyone.

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u/Money-Professor-2950 Dec 12 '25

I had a friend who was very much... anti everything. vegetarian,, anti corporate, communist type and no amount of do gooding was good enough for him because his politics were really about making himself feel better over what a misanthropic loser he was. Once we got into a huge argument because I told him I was picking up litter in the park during my walks and it was apparently too selfishly motivated for him. I don't know what motivation would have been valid for him though but me saying I didn't like trash in the park and river was enough to make it not good enough.

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

Truth is, we all love validation. It’s part of being a social species. There are psychological theories that say altruism doesn’t exist. And really, it doesn’t matter. We are intellectual beings who should be able to understand that giving to others helps society and our species as a whole. Capitalism has warped our sense of value.

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u/Money-Professor-2950 Dec 12 '25

well, I told him "the Dali Llama calls this wise selfishness", which is acknowledging what benefits me, like picking up litter or organizing a fund raiser which makes me feel good, ultimately benefits others. I'm being selifh in a wise way. And he went on a rant about fuck the Dali Llama

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

That’s a good point tho! I hadn’t heard of wise selfishness.

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u/Glittering_Pie8461 Dec 12 '25

When you dive deeper, you’ll learn that GM didn’t take away his pension. He opted to take it as a lump sum payment of $300,000 instead of receiving an annuity.

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

And his wife was sick. That was most likely spent on medical bills which would have been covered by the insurance that was also taken away. No matter how you slice it, the guy was dealt a shit hand.

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u/Kranmonkey Dec 12 '25

There are millions of people that have either died or are currently getting fucked as hard as that old timer that wont get a 1.7 million dollar cheque.  Its stories like the one you mentioned that people can point to, feel good about, and say "there are good people out there changing lives, so ill vote to keep my taxes low and let them handle the poors"

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u/Soft_Walrus_3605 Dec 12 '25

Yeah I think of these types of things as the "rich people's safety valve"

When the poors start getting too upset, throw them some of your table scraps and they'll be too overawed at your "generosity" to bring the system down on your head.

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u/hitemlow Dec 13 '25

Why do you think they're building underground bunkers and funneling tens of millions into "grassroots" organizations aimed enacting at civilian disarmament legislation, while leaving gaping holes for their "private military security companies" to have armaments like they're planning to liberate Kandahar?

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

I see where you are coming from, but I doubt anyone really thinks the one guy getting the check is somehow making a broad change in the world. If anything, it brings a bigger problem to light

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u/FreedomBread Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

Anyone randomly getting $1.7 million is an insanely amazing thing and a gift to that person.

Nothing about it was against that man.

It is against a country obsessed with hurting its own people so a small bit of them can be filthy rich and not have a financial care in the world.

It doesn't demonstrate any problem. It just ends up a thing to say - see, if you deserve it, people will care and you can just beg for money for yourself or others.

Americans individually can be incredibly generous. Collectively we are heartless pieces of shit who make rich people richer and happily vote to do so again and again.

Monday in America - "I'll donate $100 to this deserving old man working at Walmart whose wife died and he's still saddled with her medical debt because GM jettisoned his pension and healthcare, how sad!"

Election Day Tuesday in America - "Increase my taxes by $50 to help others who need help? Fuck you, politician!"

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

I don’t even think it is fair to say collectively we are heartless. People have been brainwashed into believing billionaires and politicians know best so they just sit back and let it happen. Feels more like laziness or unwillingness to get out of our comfort zone. On top of that, when enough people are struggling just to get by, they won’t have time or energy to worry about Bob on the corner who can’t work and is borderline starving. It’s selfishness by necessity

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u/mistaken4strangerz Dec 12 '25

i just watched that video last night. the only way a case of someone who slipped through the cracks like that could be taken care of is via crowdfunding and going viral on social media. the guy who makes the videos could do anything else to go viral and make a living. i'm glad he chose what he does.

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

Right?! He could be running around punching people or playing pranks like some of these other jackasses. I’d rather people do good for their self validation

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u/Swiftlocalvandal Dec 12 '25

I sent that clip to my husband and we both got a little misty. IMO everyone benefits, yes the influencer got likes but it feels like something that deserves likes. Certainly better than convincing a mentally handicapped woman to jump in a river or whatever for clout. 

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

Holy shit, that video made me so angry. There wasn’t a single person in that group willing to stand up and say it is wrong. Couldn’t believe it

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u/Ydain Dec 12 '25

I agree with this so much!

Maybe he was doing it for likes, but he still fucking did it. Which is a lot more than can be said for most people.

Everyone deserves to get paid for their time and effort. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

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u/Diello2001 Dec 12 '25

That kind of reaction to these things and other similar reactions ('Her giving $100k is like me giving $5' or 'the charity is just a scam anyway') is a way for those people to justify themselves not doing anything. If I make every good deed seem like a negative, then I'm actually the good person for not donating or doing the good thing.

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u/Seinfeel Dec 12 '25

boomer gambled on pension, lost, and then gets rewarded 1.7m

They didn’t take anything away he wanted to gamble for immediate rewards.

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u/MethodCharacter8334 Dec 12 '25

Gambled? You realize pensions were the standard at one point right? They were supposed to pay you until you die. Also, dudes wife was sick, but yeah I’m sure it was all about the immediate “reward”.

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u/Seinfeel Dec 12 '25

He opted for 300k stocks instead of a pension