Yes, and her legacy is remarkable precisely because so few of the wealthy step up like she did. This why we can't rely on private charity to provide all of our social safety nets -- private charitable giving has never been as consistently generous as Dolly was.
Well, we could if everyone was as good as Dolly was. But if everyone was as good as Dolly was, we wouldn't be having any of the problems we have.
Dolly and other charitable individuals step up because the government was not doing it's job. There are wealthy individuals who see a problem and want to help. That's wonderful. But it's nothing to rely on.
people be like: "wouldn't it be cool if the people who became billionaires by stealing the surplus value created by working people gave some of the money they stole back to the people they stole it from eventually?"
i'm not characterizing dolly this way here - but this is true of most billionaires. it's not surprising that dolly was willing to give away $500-600M given that she didn't steal it in the first place.
Last night I watched a snippet from a decades old interview she did where she talked about her childhood. Specifically that even though they were very poor they learned to depend on each other and depend on the land and their wits. Her humility was baked in from childhood because she was raised in a community that valued being part of that community and having responsibility to themselves but also to each other. Not just valuing being part of the it crowd or some exclusive club or being admired by a bunch of anonymous others. I know some people and communities are still like that but it seems it's becoming harder and harder to find and hold onto.
The problem here is your typical modern super-millionaire/billionaire started life on 2nd (or third) base and considers themselves to be better batters than Hank Aaron. And they seem to be predominately sociopathic.
Besides the fact that her wealth came from the conflict-free realm of music, the only reason her fame is unscathed is that she bent over backwards politically (also that most of the braindead people watching fox news already had a fully formed opinion about her in the 90s). And maybe that could fly in the 70s (when already not embracing state-sponsored "patriotism" could be somewhat of a statement itself) but how tf are you expected to keep a poker face in 2026? Let alone if you are a young woman, and your expectations aren't just opening a bank account and not being forced to marry if I can explain.
Jfc taylor swift had tried the same approach until a few years ago, and just for proto-groypers to start to call her "aryan pop princess".
And god forbid you actually started to donate to concrete liberal or progressive causes, and not just to "orphan children with cancer" hospitals.
OriginalStomper | 15 hours ago
Yes, and her legacy is remarkable precisely because so few of the wealthy step up like she did. This why we can't rely on private charity to provide all of our social safety nets -- private charitable giving has never been as consistently generous as Dolly was.
nickcan | 15 hours ago
Yes, we cannot rely on the kindness of strangers.
Well, we could if everyone was as good as Dolly was. But if everyone was as good as Dolly was, we wouldn't be having any of the problems we have.
Dolly and other charitable individuals step up because the government was not doing it's job. There are wealthy individuals who see a problem and want to help. That's wonderful. But it's nothing to rely on.
dust4ngel | 12 hours ago
> so few of the wealthy step up like she did
people be like: "wouldn't it be cool if the people who became billionaires by stealing the surplus value created by working people gave some of the money they stole back to the people they stole it from eventually?"
i'm not characterizing dolly this way here - but this is true of most billionaires. it's not surprising that dolly was willing to give away $500-600M given that she didn't steal it in the first place.
MyAuraIsDumpsterFire | 11 hours ago
Last night I watched a snippet from a decades old interview she did where she talked about her childhood. Specifically that even though they were very poor they learned to depend on each other and depend on the land and their wits. Her humility was baked in from childhood because she was raised in a community that valued being part of that community and having responsibility to themselves but also to each other. Not just valuing being part of the it crowd or some exclusive club or being admired by a bunch of anonymous others. I know some people and communities are still like that but it seems it's becoming harder and harder to find and hold onto.
Either_Operation7586 | 2 hours ago
Because of the rugged individual pull yourself up by your bootstraps mindset screwed that up
FanDry5374 | 11 hours ago
The problem here is your typical modern super-millionaire/billionaire started life on 2nd (or third) base and considers themselves to be better batters than Hank Aaron. And they seem to be predominately sociopathic.
the6thReplicant | 8 hours ago
They spend every waking minute thinking about how to make more money; manipulate more people; and spending more of their time on social media.
They barely rank as humans at this rate.
the6thReplicant | 8 hours ago
That back-and-white photo of her that I'm seeing pop up everywhere is wonderful.
pladin517 | 13 hours ago
Damn this is how I learned she passed away?
viskoviskovisko | 10 hours ago
I’ve got bad news for you buddy. You seem to be a couple days behind. Tim Curry and Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) too.
mirh | 4 hours ago
Hard disagree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philanthropy_and_advocacy_of_Dolly_Parton
Besides the fact that her wealth came from the conflict-free realm of music, the only reason her fame is unscathed is that she bent over backwards politically (also that most of the braindead people watching fox news already had a fully formed opinion about her in the 90s). And maybe that could fly in the 70s (when already not embracing state-sponsored "patriotism" could be somewhat of a statement itself) but how tf are you expected to keep a poker face in 2026? Let alone if you are a young woman, and your expectations aren't just opening a bank account and not being forced to marry if I can explain.
Jfc taylor swift had tried the same approach until a few years ago, and just for proto-groypers to start to call her "aryan pop princess".
And god forbid you actually started to donate to concrete liberal or progressive causes, and not just to "orphan children with cancer" hospitals.