The Rise of the Celebrity Politician
In the opening salvo of the Culture of Chaos we discussed the three spheres present in society — the political sphere, the social sphere, and the cultural sphere. We also discussed that while these spheres have always been interconnected, the nature of today’s technology has exacerbated the concept of culture led idea exploration. This is a problem as we try to apply the ephemeral, unidirectional, and noncommittal nature of culture to the spheres of society and politics. The reason is that the latter two operate under completely different premises. Namely they thrive on consensus building and slow evolution. (This is not necessarily a bad thing considering that human psychology and physiology is wired for iteration at this pace.)
And with that, let’s discuss the rise of the Celebrity Politician. It’s always been a thing and now it’s THE THING. As Capital Hill continues the slide towards a total unintelligible cacophony of self interested representatives, what’s a country to do? You won’t find any prescriptions here. But you might find some syntax party drugs. Let’s see if we can get to a mind meld through the written word y’all!
Politicians as celebrities isn’t actually a new concept at all. From the beginning politicians have, through conquest (think the Romans), birthright (all those fancy monarch types and the surrounding support staff — dukes, advisors, etc cetera), or just good old fashioned political stumping politicians have been celebrities. The figure head was the body politic and well, as we know about most people, they like to look at themselves. The figure head could take the essence of the time and distill it into a platform. Keep that platform flexible (accrete what works, shed what doesn’t) and you keep your position. No one is above the body politic when the people aren’t happy. What better way to do this than to reflect the best attributes of a society back to the constituents? Actually there may not be a better way to stay in power…..we could also call this “pandering.” And oh brother do these guys and gals pander.
While it is true that pandering has always been a page in the political playbook, accountability has been handled differently. Here’s a an example:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the ICE Detention Centers.
Here’s a source that promotes the power of the imagery.
Kind of feels like the moment in T2 Judgement Day before this happens:
AOC’s rise is a really interesting example of celebrity first, politician second. What’s interesting about her is that she came into politics in what feels like the exact correct way: She was not a politician, became fed up, and stepped up. (We will suspend, for a second, that there is a really damn good possibility that she was hand selected by outside sources to become what she is….) However, since her rise she has struggled to gain a toe hold with her political prowess. Instead, she has and continues to rely on her ability to generate click bait to stay relevant. And she is good at it. At hearings we see her step up and say things that get people riled. Frankly, this is admirable, but there is no finishing move to finalize her set up of these folks. AOC, The Squad, and other happenings are marketing. Pure marketing. There is little in the way of meaningful action that is occurring. They feel temporary. This is because these people have jettisoned into the political arena strapped to the Culture Rocket. Once that booster is done. That’s it y’all. We then see the rocket become a fancy firework. Then it is on to the next. No ill will here, just an observation.
Let’s take a look at another example:
Gavin Newsom and the fire photo ops.
This is happening in his state:
And Gavin Newsom takes part in something like this:
At least this photo is tone deaf, at most it’s pretty offensive. I am glad Gavin’s hair gel was able to withstand the heat.
But truly, it is bizarre. In a world where political action is demanded by the constituents and politicians are held accountable, this would not fly. But this is not the world that we live in. Instead, imagery like this can be captured, circulated and observed on an island. It is almost if his constituents do not connect the fact that this person should be accountable. It is a modern meme representing an ephemeral administration with a marketing goal. Politicians can now market themselves to the top. No political success needed. Everyone’s position is a springboard to a higher level. Understood.
But herein is something very interesting: Politicians have been doing this for years…(centuries?) However, they were politicians first and celebrities second.
JFK, Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, hell Abraham Lincoln (double hell — George Washington or triple hell! Genghis Khan)….whether for fear’s sake or to win hearts and minds these guys were heavy marketers. But they were politicians first.
It has indeed been interesting to see the old guard of today’s politicians start to pivot to the leading with imagery and celebrity.
Here’s one that is beyond reproach:
These images are powerful. But holy hell are they patronizing. This is not solidarity. This is media guided pandering. And it is even more unfortunate because they are certainly suggesting they care about these important topics that pretend to represent. But they don’t. They just need soundbites. This is Pelosi attempting to pivot to celebrity. This is a tone deaf political generation finding the door knob to the exit in the dark. They are letting themselves out to pasture. It’s really interesting.
Now, OF COURSE Donald Trump is in these ranks. However, one could also argue that he has pursued his policies doggedly (not necessarily successfully). And of course people like Dan Crenshaw seem to be building a brand that is image sensitive.
Here’s Dan:
I’m snagging a couple of examples from the other side of the aisle to show that image matters and that these folks recognize that. However, it is really interesting that we seem to see more of the flimsy, culture led political wave making from the Left. I have no idea what is going on there….we could certainly explore it with a dive into the nature of media, globalism, the political atmosphere globally, the political leanings of technology, wokeness, etc. I am sure that there are some interesting strings to pull but those are outside of the scope of this note.
Let’s start to bring this home.
It is not as if politicians have not been celebrities. They absolutely were. Kings. Queens, Emperors, Senators, Dictators…..all of them. But it does seem that in the past there was some rationale behind their rise. And that rise then led to celebrity.
We do not live in that world any longer. Now the celebrity can come first and the hollow politician just rides the TikTok rocket into a position that, and only time will tell on this, they just might be able maintain with more hollow imagery.
This is only possible in a culture led world. These folks are “influencers.” But more dangerous than some kid from Oklahoma who’s silly pranks have led to a following, these folks actually have the power to create policy. The problem here is that the political system was set up so that the what politicians accomplish is not so simply overturned. Politics moves more slowly than culture. It would be a challenge indeed for a fleeing cultural moment to create policy that then needs to unwound because it was not a deeply seated need of constituents. Instead it was a cultural moment.
Lastly, and this may be the most important point, accepting this type of absurd behavior (imagery with no accountability or repercussions) holds these people above their constituents. It allows them to be noncommittal and to jump from meme to meme rather than forcing them to do the heavy lifting that policy making requires. Culture has adopted technology much faster than politics. This is a problem as it is a distorts what matters.
The rise of the political technologist (one who drives for deep and meaningful implementation of technology to make government more accessible and easier to interact with) will be our only saving grace. Otherwise our fate will be determined by political click bait.
And that is far less interesting.