got elected in the first place, in large part, because of the gimmick, the novelty, the brand recognition. Sure, the bigotry and the crude barbarism appeal for chuds was there too, but that’s what I’m worried about.
My concern is that description, including basically all of the above, has a lot of overlap with a lot of famous-for-being famous “influencer” grifters.
I can’t help wondering if the red team vs blue team of the electoral future of Burgerland will be some shrieking game streamer chud ® 
versus some cold-eyed rictus smiling “philanthropy” grifter (D) 
I ask if there’s something I’m not thinking of that might push back against what looks like an inevitability, short of Giant Meteor 2024 or sufficient Cool Zone events.
As material conditions continue to deteriorate in the imperial core, the influencer presidency becomes more and more certain
Prevent? It has already happened multiple times before Le Orange Man.
Yeah the “influencer” thing isn’t anything new. It’s just this generation’s version of radio stars and Tupperware parties.
Honestly the term “influencer” gives me the ick. Not because of what they do (again, it’s not anything new), but because I notice it gets directed more towards women and their associated treats. Like okay maybe they can chill out with gooning over treats, but maybe look at our own treat gooning. The Chapo hosts are “influencers.” Hasan is an influencer. Twitch streamers? Influencers (yet for some reason arent called that). Even newscasters and radio DJs are influencers for analog media.
Anywho I’m ranting. Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, that one pornstar who ran for governor of Nevada, that other pornstar who actually got elected as governor or mayor of that one place, Al Franken, Jerry Springer, Shirley Temple, and Gary Kasparov are all celebrities-turned-politician.
fwiw I’ve definitely heard male streamers and youtubers like and including Hasan regularly called influencers in media. Less so with podcasters, cos ‘podcaster’ is usually just what they use, but I’ve definitely heard it regularly as a kind of a sex-and-gender-agnostic general catch-all term for “social media streaming personalities” (especially when the personality is more centered and central than the content). I do hate and wince at the term regardless though. It has an especially Bernaysian tinge to it that’s so dystopian to me. The other examples were people who were well known from specific competing or role performances in other jobs through set channels of specific timeframes in specific mediums, and used the notoriety gained from celebrity to garner influence; rather than their influencing being their whole job from the bottom up; with all the parasociality and associated ails and derangements we see constantly of having personality-made-product directly. Idk in some ways it is a little “changing the name of the thing thinking you’ve changed the thing itself” but the full-commodification of personality with 24 hour streams and daily 8-10hour streams and stuff there’s something particularly “indeed becom[ing] the most wretched of commodities” about it to me.
ronald reagan? the actor?!
It can only end with the rise of the Sausage-Seller, who will be elected on an accelerationist platform but will ultimately prove good, leading to the rejuvenation of The People and the expulsion of the demagogues.
Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Pratchett, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Discworld had a very medieval philosophy: that if the Patrician was a good man, the city of Ankh-Morpork would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. … But Pratchett doesn’t ask the question: What was Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler’s tax policy?
Eventually the “influencer” bubble bursts. The money ultimately needs to come from real customers who have disposable income. And
Me, waiting for that eventuality.
Celebrities don’t try to become president until they’re washed up, and they need to be at the end of long careers to be simultaneously both washed up and still remembered enough to spin their fame into an election.
That means we have until at least, like, 2040 before a youtube influencer can pull it off, which gives way more time for Giant Meteor.
The way a decent number of socialist govs do it is by banning public campaigning generally; the main way of accruing voters is by knowing people personally and being involved in the same orgs as them. Obviously people know who is on the ballot and people who know the person personally will know their positions/behaviour, but they can’t pay for political ads, go on their own radio station and say “vote for me for a jar of milk on every shelf” etc etc. There is usually a public forum that everyone is encouraged to go to where you can ask the candidate directly questions. (this varies a bunch, but electioneering as a full time job/advertising position is substantially curtailed if not outright banned)
This will not happen in the US, if it does it is likely the US has stopped existing in its current state.
Also, I feel like UlyssesT knows this so this comment is mostly for other people curious about how socialist elections work.
The way a decent number of socialist govs do it is by banning public campaigning generally; the main way of accruing voters is by knowing people personally and being involved in the same orgs as them. Obviously people know who is on the ballot and people who know the person personally will know their positions/behaviour, but they can’t pay for political ads, go on their own radio station and say “vote for me for a jar of milk on every shelf” etc etc. There is usually a public forum that everyone is encouraged to go to where you can ask the candidate directly questions. (this varies a bunch, but electioneering as a full time job/advertising position is substantially curtailed if not outright banned)
This will not happen in the US, if it does it is likely the US has stopped existing in its current state.
if I die reality ceases to exist
The cessation of the US political party as an entity
under capitalism in the US right now? I can see more unknown rich people getting into buying astroturfed campaigns to create political personas for the national scene and vaulting over any online streamers because they have more connections and probably more money to spend on this stuff, a bit like Vivek Ramaswamy or Nicole Shanahan, wouldn’t surprise me if one of the ‘All In’ podcast guys like David Sacks thought he can run too, this is not really copium though because I’m basically saying that ruthless capitalists would bump off the online narcissists in a competition for limited seats, also this would assume the public stops voting for career politicians, but that’s kind of already happening with the Republicans
I’m expecting rich ghouls to continue gorging on the Earth and everyone else living on it, but I was in the bargaining phase where I wanted them to at least not be child-focused parasocial parasites with doll-like eyes on top of that.
