Halsey explains why she’s for wealth tax in new series with Bernie Sanders
Halsey is just one of many artists who have voiced their political opinions and beliefs over the years.
Now, the Manic singer is teaming up with Senator Bernie Sanders for a new video series that is all about America’s future and the upcoming general election. On Sept. 30, Halsey and Sanders sat down to discuss greed and wealth tax for their first episode.
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Halsey has openly supported Sanders in the past. Earlier this year, she endorsed Sanders for the 2020 primary election. Although things didn’t go in Sanders’ favor, both Halsey and the Senator have continued to support Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden.
“Bernie was fighting for me before I was even born, because that’s his philosophy—fight for somebody that you don’t know.” –@halsey pic.twitter.com/VtRGLCQflL
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 10, 2020
During their first discussion, both Halsey and Sanders address the greed of America’s top one percent of wealth owners. For Halsey, she opens up about growing up in a “lower class family” and how her life has changed since achieving success with her music.
“My parents dropped out of college to have me, my father is a person of color and mother is white,” she says. “And we grew up in really, really underprivileged situations. My parents had access to medical assistance. I grew up in those scenarios. And now, as an adult, at 26 years old, I’m part of the one percent.”
Halsey further explains how her wealth and inclusion in the one percent hasn’t changed her opinion on a wealth tax.
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“Having that sort of shift in perspective, given the ability to kind of see things from both sides, there’s one thing that I know for a fact,” she continues. “It’s that for me, personally, there is no amount of money that I think is worth personally contributing to the alienation, the disenfranchisement, of millions, hundreds of millions of people across this country. Despite being in the one percent, I support the wealth tax because I believe that the people who oppose it are motivated by greed.”
Despite her income not coming close to what America’s billionaires make each year, Halsey still believes that taxing the country’s wealthiest citizens will help make “hundreds of millions of lives better.”
“The amount of income that I have doesn’t even make a drop in the bucket compared to these billionaires,” Halsey says. “But I wake up every single day and I never want anything. I never need anything in this small bracket of wealth that I exist in. The only reason I could imagine opposing a wealth tax that is going to make hundreds of millions of lives better and save hundreds of millions of lives because the wealth will be more evenly distributed — the only reason I can imagine opposing that is greed.”
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Halsey ends her discussion by saying that billionaires are a “preposterous concept” that must be “eradicated.” She also asks Sanders if he agrees with her that the Biden Administration will protect marginalized communities.
“Biden has a great deal of empathy as a human being,” Sanders shares. “I do know, having talked to him on a number of occasions, he is more than aware of the suffering that is taking place in our country right now.”
The debate on wealth tax is something Halsey has discussed in the past. In fact, fans shared a 2016 interview of Halsey where she talks about the unequal distribution of wealth in America and why things need to change.
morals are morals! ??♀️ https://t.co/k7wIo6pPa0
— h (@halsey) October 4, 2020
For those that haven’t done so yet, you can register to vote here.
Watch Halsey and Bernie Sanders’ discussion on greed and wealth tax below.
What are your thoughts on Bernie Sanders and Halsey’s new video series? Let us know in the comments below.
