This is a valiant attempt to turn what is currently a profoundly alienating force in progressive politics into something positive. But I can't help feeling that a much more helpful and potent strategy would be for all celebrities to just shut the fuck up about political matters altogether.

It has been abundantly clear for some time now that rampant income inequality and cultural dispossession have been key drivers of the Trump vote. What clearer reinforcement of that victimhood could there be than to have a roll-call of millionaire celebrities lining up to complain about social injustice from the comfort of their LA mansions?

The progressive coalition needs to formulate a collective vision built around ordinary people and the pursuit of the common good. If celebrities prize that ambition over whatever good feeling they derive from their counterproductive and often performative interventions, they would stay out of the fray (or, as this article exhorts, be incredibly judicious about what they choose to say and when).