When I was a young teenager, a schoolmate talked her father into paying for her to travel to Vancouver and attend the Beatles concert. Being a good father, he also bought her a reel-to-reel tape recorder so that she could record the evening. I was very impressed because a reel-to-reel tape recorder was high on my list of “things I must have.”When she returned home from “like the most exciting thing e – verrrr” she regaled us with the highlights of the concert and then disgusted me by reporting that, in the excitement of the moment, she pitched the tape recorder onto the stage. Such a waste. Much later in life I wondered what it must be like for a musician to suddenly spot a tape recorder arcing its way out of the lights towards his head. I thought the Beatles were a passing fad that had a particularly dumb name. I give this information to declare that my evaluation of what passes as superb popular entertainment is not valid. I make lousy stock picks as well.Today, if one is to believe the CBC news, the world is about to shift on its axis in a way reminiscent of the coming of the Beatles. Taylor Swift donchaknow. I know next to nothing about Ms. Swift, other than that she seems to enjoy wearing her underwear in public. To remedy this data hole, I did some research.Apparently, Ms. Swift is a “thing” and there is a human subspecies known as “Swifties”. She writes her own songs and has a legion of prepubescent fans who have an equal predilection for wearing their underwear in public. Ms. Swift has converted her fandom into a financial juggernaut and is wealthier than Croesus. Good for her. But does weird sartorial taste and an ability to put on an expensive and hugely profitable show translate directly into an above average IQ and remarkable political intelligence?The fact that she endorsed President Joe Biden was interpreted as a doomstrike weapon against Donald Trump. Teen Vogue wrote an article laying out the political journey of our hero. I suppose the hard-hitting reportage responded to the demands of her twelve-year-old acolytes. In truth, Ms. Swift may be a thoroughly lovely person and probably just wants to be left alone to write poems for young girls and make billions of dollars. What I am reacting to is the hype around her. Like the Beatles before her, I suspect the hype is mostly generated by others. The CBC breathlessly asks if we are “ready for it.” Define “it”. Does a poorly clothed, fabulously wealthy diva singing puerile songs need the free marketing hype offered by a Crown corporation spending my taxes? We are told that some Toronto roads have been renamed in her honour. Importantly, we now know that BoBo the Swiftie Drag Queen is picking up some extra gigs, and breast pumps (but little else) will be allowed into Rogers Center. Parents are given detailed safety instructions to make the evening a happy one. All of this is silly and shallow. But it is not bad. I just don’t like my taxes being abused by paying for such reporting. Are we to believe that a Taylor Swift concert is the only time that the Rogers Center is sold out? Do we care about BoBo’s business model? I can assure the CBC editors that I didn’t need the gem of information regarding breast pumps.Here is a question for the executives of the CBC. Are you “ready for it”? In this case, "it" is defined as a complete funding cut. Your fanboy benefactor (no doubt a Swiftie) has a level of popularity that threatens single digits, and the probable replacement is popular precisely because he threatens your funding. As Ms. Swift sings, “You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.”[4] Pick up your game. Just saying.
