Balance At Barstool

Obviously this is a weird time in the world. We are still in that pandemic and now there are riots, protesting, anger, frustration, and uncertainty. And a lot of people come to Barstool Sports to get away from the madness. To turn off their brains for 3 minutes and read a funny blog, get a hot sports take, or see someone pee their pants. Barstool has always been a place where you can get away from the real world and decompress for a minute.

But there is a balance.

I really thought this tweet put it perfectly:

We aren't here to be political. But we're real. What Dave allows us to do is put out our real opinions, for better or for worse. And that's powerful. When something is going on in our lives, you know about it if we want to share it. You've come to know everything about so many Barstool personalities- our childhoods, our friends, family, thoughts, opinions, etc. So when a major, MAJOR national crisis is going on around us, you're going to learn our thoughts on that as well. And that's the beauty of Barstool. 

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But of course there is balance. Some writers or content creators' work (ugh, I shudder using the phrase "content creators" because it sounds so douchey) goes on as normal. Or maybe they don't think it's their place to comment on social issues. Others are more vocal and want to share a video, or a link, or speak out and share their opinions on the world around us. I think both ways are fine. It's a balance.

I think the 100% wrong thing to do would be to completely ignore what is going on. As a platform we do hold some amount of moral responsibility. We can't just sit back and watch the world burn and be like "nah". 

Here's what I've come to realize- it's all about getting informed. Read. Learn. Get educated. So many people are completely unaware of how bad America is for so many people. The lives of people 10 minutes away from you are radically different. My high school was 65% minority. A high school in the same county as me is 90% white. It's crazy how living one neighborhood over can change your entire perspective on life. Even more, can you imagine, in the year 2020, going to school in inner city Baltimore without air conditioning? Half the students do. Can you imagine the system being set up to deny you healthcare because of your race or income?

There's just so much white people don't even realize happens around us. And I'm not saying it's your fault or to feel guilty about it, but now is a great time to learn and decide "yeah, maybe change is needed". That's why I think the #BlackOutTuesday movement is generally a positive thing. Because even if people are doing it solely to fit in, maybe just ONE of their followers will do their own independent research and decide to make positive changes. That's all it takes. One person at a time to try and make the world better, even if it's because Kylie Jenner made her IG a black box for a day.

But balance. 

It's still ok to laugh. To make jokes. I think PFT put it very well:

Things won't change over night, but if we all do a little bit, just a tiny bit, to try and invoke change, the world will become a better place.