In these wild and uncertain times, the people have looked so desperately for a hero, a leader. Our politicians are going back and forth, our "everyday heroes" such as nurses and doctors and firefighters and paramedics are busy beyond belief, and many of our favorite celebrities are proving to be useless. And yet, not all is lost, for we now have Comrade Britney, bitch.
Britney Spears is, no joke, reblogging an Instagram post that calls for a general strike and wealth distribution. It's an idea that's gone from the fringes of economic ideas to the Instagram page of one of the greatest pop icons of the 20th and 21st centuries. And here's the thing -- if you look down at the bottom, it's a quote attributed to Mimi Zhu. If you get around Google's attempt to autocorrect your search to some older singer, you'll see that Mimi Zhu is not some random Maoist or whatever -- she is actually an artist in her own right, someone who writes healing and loving letters.
So Britney Spears wasn't just pulling from some mainstream philosophy, she was really getting down with us, the proletariat. In case you needed further proof, she included three rose emojis in the post, which is a symbol becoming associated with democratic socialism. She's also been helping those affected by the coronavirus situation, really putting her money where her mouth is -- even though it's in a conservatorship (that's another article for another day).
Zhu, for whatever it's worth, loves that Britney reblogged it, but kinda wishes she'd been tagged. So the previous blue hyperlink there is to her Instagram, and here's her Twitter. Zhu also has a writing newsletter if you're interested.
We may be seeing more of this type of thing soon from other celebrities -- perhaps after they're done singing corny songs in their mansions. Here's hoping.