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If you're a race car driver who takes sponsorships from Ford to promote car culture and sell more gas guzzlers to the general public, shouldn't your chosen role

If you're a race car driver who takes sponsorships from Ford to promote car culture and sell more gas guzzlers to the general public, shouldn't your chosen role in this system that earn you some ire? That's just "the player playing the game", except the game is a big problem. And if the game is a problem, then so are the players who choose to play it. Maybe that race car driver is a brainlet who would otherwise be living in poverty, so we shouldn't give him too much grief for it. Probably not, but maybe. But the veritasium guy? He's surely a bright guy with plenty of opportunities; he could have chosen another line of work.

raziel2p 5y ago
I think your points are valid, and it's an interesting problem, but I think a few key differences are worth noting. A race driver is a much more elite position. There are less of them than there are Youtubers, and there's a lot more attention on you. A dismissal of a sponsorship could be spun into a big PR move, if they wanted to. Compare that to a single social media actor, you'd have to be an absolute huge name to make any sort of difference, simply because there are so many others out there that will immediately fill the gap you'd leave. Maybe Derek (I had to google his name) would be able to choose another line of work, but what if your passion is to spread knowledge about science and such to the general public? As much as I dislike them myself, I really do believe that social media such as Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, is the best way to achieve that goal today.