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Money for somethin'

Taylor Swift is a rich chick.

A very rich chick.

The 24-year-old US country-pop singer just placed first on Billboard's list of music's top earners, bringing in just north of S$50 million over the past year from her concerts, records and other sundry endeavours and beating the likes of Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi.

It's an absolutely astonishing amount of money to make for looking pretty and singing nice.

That said, I don't begrudge successful musicians their heaping mounds of cash.

Unlike the vast majority of wealthy people, musicians actually bring pleasure and joy to the world.

Unlike the vast majority of wealthy people, they're useful.

They don't exploit, oppress, cheat or con the masses; they just make us feel good.

How could there possibly be a more noble calling?

In case you think I'm being flippant or even contrarian regarding the relative value of pop stars, let me lay some knowledge on you.

Time Magazine just did an article on the myriad ways music contributes to our well-being and it's a total eye-opener.

BENEFITS

Here are just a few of the benefits:

1) Music is relaxing

2) Music makes us more determined

3) Music soothes pain

4) Music facilitates romance

5) Music makes us smarter

6) Music reduces crime

There's more, but you get the idea.

What do bankers really contribute to our lives? How about real estate speculators? How about widget manufacturers?

The only people who are as important as musicians are doctors, farmers and sanitation workers.

In fact, it's possible to imagine a utopia in which we're all musicians, doctors, farmers or sanitation workers.

I'd imagine it being like a beautiful elf village and we could all wear robes and stuff.

Taylor Swift would be our queen, our goofy Galadriel.

Swift even looks like an elf, with those slanted eyes and slim legs.

Hmmm....

The point is, I think that we're lucky there are some Taylor Swifts in the world to balance out the Rupert Murdochs.

We need lovely and creative rich people to compensate for the trolls, so the world doesn't become one big troll kingdom.

Have fun in your bouncy castle filled with hunnids, girl.