this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
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First off, the kagi news is a bummer. I've really liked it and picked up a subscription mostly because of some buzz I saw around here, but seeing this news is a shame and setting up some red flags in my mind.
But to answer your question, I think I personally have a couple ways I approach this...
If the evidence someone is transphobic, racist, etc...is from a long time ago (eg someone is digging up ancient tweets to prove someone is some sort of "-ist" today), I tend to give them more grace because people should be allowed to change. I know I didn't have great views on some of this stuff when I was younger and it's easy to forget these celebrities/people in power are fallible human beings. I'll take their response to unearthing these views as a sign of whether or not they're worth supporting going forward. If they're regretful and seem like they're trying to do better, I'm good. The kagi creator seems to not pass this standard for me.
If it's something I want to use/consume and it could impact more than just the individual. JK Rowling is a good example of this. I'd struggle to want to buy any of her books again because I see a clearer line of sight from my purchase to her pocket. But something like Hogwarts Legacy, which I knew I would enjoy and my wife would love, and is made by many people with a passion for her world, I'm OK with it. The line to Rowling is a lot blurrier and impacts people who don't have a say in what project(s) they work on.
It's also easier to ignore or skip smaller scale things like an indie game from a deplorable developer vs. the next Marvel/HP/insert your beloved franchise game from someone equally deplorable. None of this is ever perfect and time and attention are finite resources for all of us. If Harry Potter is how you need to unwind because it's your favorite thing, more power to you. It's not my job nor anyone else's to police the things you like or make you feel bad for liking them.
We should all do our best to try and support good people in a system that incentivizes bad people and give ourselves some grace when we (seemingly inevitably these days) find out those people were actually scum.
I think there's something to be said about timeframe even for individuals who held deplorable views. Purchasing art from a dead artist doesn't go to supporting their life or spreading their shitty viewpoint - instead it will go to a company which holds the rights or an estate which benefits the family. Unless we happen to know the company/estate is deplorable in some way or another, we shouldn't judge them based on the connection with the original artist - after all we don't get to choose our parents and may not hold the same views they do.
100%. And going down that path you can start to enter into the whole "OK, so all companies are bad or do bad things, but I also need to be a functioning member of society."
I can hate what Shell/Marathon/BP are doing to the environment but I also need to make sure my car gets me to work. Google or Apple can enact terrible policies I disagree with but generally speaking I have to deal with them to have a cell phone. Easier when we're discussing a piece of artwork (not a core need in life) but it's where my comment about a system that incentivizes "bad people" really came from.
So I think my moral philosophy is actually closest to show The Good Place now that I see it written out!