It's definitely interesting that in a media-tired global consciousness that seems to value authenticity so highly, some of the most obvious successes that were catapulted into success on the back of their "authenticity" weren't very authentic (or at least, didn't care much about lying to our faces) - Trump, Bolsonaro, Boris, etc.
But I feel like beyond their talent for using negative authenticity (THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN), they also managed to paint themselves neatly into an antihero role, which seems interesting from a psychological perspective as well, in a society where a lot of people have adopted a sort of "It's me (and my family) against the world - that's gone mad!" type of general stance against the world/global society as a larger concept. So it feels like they're also confirming their world view in some symbolic sense through their speech and actions, even if they're outright lying or contradicting themselves by their actions, what they stand for in the minds of their supporters is seen as almost more authentic than any actual person could be in a regular one-on-one conversation.
At the same time, I take issue with the concept of authenticity as a concept, as I feel that nobody has a congruous personality/ego that they understand that they can bring out at will, rather people are always in some sense acting based on their own interpretations of what's appropriate (including trying to show courage and openness in certain situations, like a one-on-one conversation with another sensitive person) based on their values and community. (I tend to agree with Hans-Georg Moeller's philosophy on profilicity.) There's also the well-known psychological phenomenom of the "consistency bias" (where people think they have a much more consistent self-view than they do) and how different people act and think just based on their hunger levels or lack of sleep, or the last book they read.
Of course, this is a lot easier to believe on an intellectual level. In reality, I still prefer people who show the traits that I have been trained to appreciate by my society and upbringing ("real sincerity," openness, courage), and I also feel a lot better when I act according to those values myself, regardless of whether or not I am actually successful. (This inner mental "peace" with your learned values, I think, is what comes across when you're having an "authentic" one-on-one conversation.)
Valuable reflections, Ragnar, thank you. The idea that we might like certain leaders because they confirm our "mad world" hypotheses is really useful. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.
Jewish messianism has been spreading its poisonous message among us for nearly two thousand years. Democratic and communist universalisms are more recent, but they have only strengthened the old Jewish narrative. These are the same ideals.
The transnational, transracial, transcultural ideals that these ideologies preach to us (beyond peoples, races, cultures) and are the daily sustenance of our schools, in our media, in our pop culture, at our universities and on our streets, have reduced our bio-symbolic identity and ethnic pride to their minimal expression.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are death cults that originated in the Middle East and are completely alien to Europe and its peoples.
Sometimes one wonders why the European left gets along so well with Muslims. Why does an often openly anti-religious movement side with a fierce religiosity that seems to oppose almost everything the left always claims to stand for? Part of the explanation lies in the fact that Islam and Marxism share a common ideological root: Judaism.
Don Rumsfeld was right to say, "Europe has shifted on its axis," the wrong side has won World War II, and it is becoming clearer by the day . . .
What has NATO done to defend Europe?
Absolutely nothing.
My enemies are not in Moscow, Damascus, Tehran, Riyadh or some ethereal Teutonic bogeyman, but in Washington, Brussels and Tel Aviv.
Jake’s got a great video essay series on how telling it straight can be mixed in with intentional lies, incentive-caused truth-stretching, and everything in between in a process called kayfabe. https://youtu.be/SZpBvfBxLxc?feature=shared
Courage and vulnerability remind me of the value of signaling being commensurate with its cost.
Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have every right to say what they like about Israel and the genocide of Palestinians as elected members of the US House of Representatives; they never took an oath to serve Israel . . .
I voted for Ron Desantis (R-FL) to be governor of Florida, not ambassador to Israel.
The recently ousted Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who took at least a dozen votes to get elected speaker, traveled to Israel immediately upon his election, declaring to the Israeli Knesset that the USA is steadfastly committed to supporting Ukraine in their war against Russia . . .
Was he running for speaker of the Israeli Knesset too?
Following his ouster . . . McCarthy (R-CA) traveled abroad again, this time to England, and expressed his open contempt for the white Republicans who make up the majority of the GOP and praised Democrats for their diversity during a debate at Oxford in the wake of his ouster as House Speaker . . .
Is he now running for the Prime Minister of the U.K.?
Nevertheless, he is free to go on media tours bashing white people and lobbying for Israel, because he has now resigned from the US House of Representatives . . . I can only conclude that the collective RINO butthurt over former Speaker McCarthy is all about the Israelis who have hijacked the American deep state war machine.
It has become so painfully obvious, especially where you have someone like Nikki Haley wagging her finger and shouting down Vivek Ramaswamy in a presidential debate on live national television when the questions of this Ukrainian war against Russia and any mention of Israel are concerned, that the United States government has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Israeli Political Action Committee.
I like it, though it's a heuristic that is easier to hijack (as in making the speaker believe that they're being authentic) than most realize. Be careful with giving examples (names without an example of context) though, you can alienate people and they might not be as good of exemplars of your theory as you think.
Interesting theory Ruben.
It's definitely interesting that in a media-tired global consciousness that seems to value authenticity so highly, some of the most obvious successes that were catapulted into success on the back of their "authenticity" weren't very authentic (or at least, didn't care much about lying to our faces) - Trump, Bolsonaro, Boris, etc.
But I feel like beyond their talent for using negative authenticity (THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN), they also managed to paint themselves neatly into an antihero role, which seems interesting from a psychological perspective as well, in a society where a lot of people have adopted a sort of "It's me (and my family) against the world - that's gone mad!" type of general stance against the world/global society as a larger concept. So it feels like they're also confirming their world view in some symbolic sense through their speech and actions, even if they're outright lying or contradicting themselves by their actions, what they stand for in the minds of their supporters is seen as almost more authentic than any actual person could be in a regular one-on-one conversation.
At the same time, I take issue with the concept of authenticity as a concept, as I feel that nobody has a congruous personality/ego that they understand that they can bring out at will, rather people are always in some sense acting based on their own interpretations of what's appropriate (including trying to show courage and openness in certain situations, like a one-on-one conversation with another sensitive person) based on their values and community. (I tend to agree with Hans-Georg Moeller's philosophy on profilicity.) There's also the well-known psychological phenomenom of the "consistency bias" (where people think they have a much more consistent self-view than they do) and how different people act and think just based on their hunger levels or lack of sleep, or the last book they read.
Of course, this is a lot easier to believe on an intellectual level. In reality, I still prefer people who show the traits that I have been trained to appreciate by my society and upbringing ("real sincerity," openness, courage), and I also feel a lot better when I act according to those values myself, regardless of whether or not I am actually successful. (This inner mental "peace" with your learned values, I think, is what comes across when you're having an "authentic" one-on-one conversation.)
Valuable reflections, Ragnar, thank you. The idea that we might like certain leaders because they confirm our "mad world" hypotheses is really useful. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.
Jewish messianism has been spreading its poisonous message among us for nearly two thousand years. Democratic and communist universalisms are more recent, but they have only strengthened the old Jewish narrative. These are the same ideals.
The transnational, transracial, transcultural ideals that these ideologies preach to us (beyond peoples, races, cultures) and are the daily sustenance of our schools, in our media, in our pop culture, at our universities and on our streets, have reduced our bio-symbolic identity and ethnic pride to their minimal expression.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are death cults that originated in the Middle East and are completely alien to Europe and its peoples.
Sometimes one wonders why the European left gets along so well with Muslims. Why does an often openly anti-religious movement side with a fierce religiosity that seems to oppose almost everything the left always claims to stand for? Part of the explanation lies in the fact that Islam and Marxism share a common ideological root: Judaism.
Don Rumsfeld was right to say, "Europe has shifted on its axis," the wrong side has won World War II, and it is becoming clearer by the day . . .
What has NATO done to defend Europe?
Absolutely nothing.
My enemies are not in Moscow, Damascus, Tehran, Riyadh or some ethereal Teutonic bogeyman, but in Washington, Brussels and Tel Aviv.
https://cwspangle.substack.com/p/pardonne-mon-francais-va-te-faire
Enjoyed this :)
Jake’s got a great video essay series on how telling it straight can be mixed in with intentional lies, incentive-caused truth-stretching, and everything in between in a process called kayfabe. https://youtu.be/SZpBvfBxLxc?feature=shared
Courage and vulnerability remind me of the value of signaling being commensurate with its cost.
Thanks Stephen, will check it out!
Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have every right to say what they like about Israel and the genocide of Palestinians as elected members of the US House of Representatives; they never took an oath to serve Israel . . .
I voted for Ron Desantis (R-FL) to be governor of Florida, not ambassador to Israel.
The recently ousted Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who took at least a dozen votes to get elected speaker, traveled to Israel immediately upon his election, declaring to the Israeli Knesset that the USA is steadfastly committed to supporting Ukraine in their war against Russia . . .
Was he running for speaker of the Israeli Knesset too?
Following his ouster . . . McCarthy (R-CA) traveled abroad again, this time to England, and expressed his open contempt for the white Republicans who make up the majority of the GOP and praised Democrats for their diversity during a debate at Oxford in the wake of his ouster as House Speaker . . .
Is he now running for the Prime Minister of the U.K.?
Nevertheless, he is free to go on media tours bashing white people and lobbying for Israel, because he has now resigned from the US House of Representatives . . . I can only conclude that the collective RINO butthurt over former Speaker McCarthy is all about the Israelis who have hijacked the American deep state war machine.
It has become so painfully obvious, especially where you have someone like Nikki Haley wagging her finger and shouting down Vivek Ramaswamy in a presidential debate on live national television when the questions of this Ukrainian war against Russia and any mention of Israel are concerned, that the United States government has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Israeli Political Action Committee.
https://cwspangle.substack.com/i/138320669/fight-your-own-wars-you-kikesucking-zionist-ass-whores
I like it, though it's a heuristic that is easier to hijack (as in making the speaker believe that they're being authentic) than most realize. Be careful with giving examples (names without an example of context) though, you can alienate people and they might not be as good of exemplars of your theory as you think.