With the government shutdown persisting, celebs such as the one and only Cardi B have spoken out with their opinions. I watched Cardi's Instagram rant about it, and for me, it raised a larger question — should celebrities be involved in politics?
Besides the current government debate, Kim Kardashian met with the President recently to display her political views surrounding prison reform, and she received both praise and hatred for it. Was it okay for her to be making such a move?
Yes, it's totally okay — and for good reason.
First, if we allowed the silencing of celebrities' opinions, we'd be violating constitutional rights. Sure, not every celebrity is well-informed or speaks intelligently, but young or old, educated or not, poor or rich, every American has the right to speak freely and vote freely.
It's easy to say, "What does Kim know about policy? She needs to shut up," but considering the bigger implications of silencing every questionable opinion, it's dangerous.
Second, celebrities having such vocal power is no different from political figures having vocal power. Maybe younger generations will look up to Lady Gaga for worldly advice when she speaks, but older generations look at presidents and congressmen the same way.
Yes, I know you're thinking, "Yeah, that's because presidents and congressmen have actual political experience." The issue with that justification is that political experience and/or a law degree don't mean a person will have an informed opinion or make informed decisions. Law degrees are given to people who argue best, not to those who research best.
As for politics, I would strongly argue that politics are far more influenced by feelings than logical reasoning or data. And because of this, a poor uneducated illiterate person could hold the exact same political opinions as a wealthy Harvard graduate.
And third, the power of celebrities has proven to be highly beneficial in the bipartisan sense for younger generations. Celebrities push teens through the political door and start their interest in politics, as well as encourage voting every election season. After Taylor Swift encouraged her fans to vote on Instagram, approximately 170,000 people registered to vote within the same 48 hours.
If you still would rather not listen to Cardi B talking about the government shutdown, that's okay! It's your right to not listen. But that doesn't mean we should diminish her right to speak.