Mob minds could do with some psychological distancing.
Conversation
I’ve pondered the Thielean anti-democratic turn for a few years now. Trump’s victory in 2016 struck me as both the most democratic and least democratic thing ever.
I’m still firmly for electoral democracy and against authoritarian/monarchical rule. But I’ve updated definitions.
1
1
14
Is the bloc vote of a mass movement in the grips of memetic contagion a democratic mandate? Yes in letter, no in spirit.
Electoral democracy can’t structurally distinguish between mass movements and individual franchise. Should it?
I don’t know but let me try to frame it.
3
4
12
Trump didn’t get 62,984,828 individual votes.
He got 1 vote weighted by 62,984,828 for, and 1 vote weighted by 65,853,514 against. Bloc vs bloc.
Further weighted (some say distorted) by the funhouse mirror of electoral college.
2
5
This was arguably a new phenomenon, despite some historical precedent. It was neither like clientelistic democracy a la Jackson, nor like limited mass movements. It was closer to a 51% sibyl attack. Real humans turned into sock puppets by an idea and forged into something.
1
2
11
Two metaphors come to mind:
1. grasshoppers transformed into locusts by scarcity (did you know locusts are not a separate species? They’re grasshoppers in a special state)
2. Meme pandemic. MAGA as a mind-virus that swept through the population.
1
17
I’m happy to bothsides this argument. Bernie mob is as much locust swarm/mind virus as Trump mob.
The first metaphor suggests one intervention: return to condition of plenty somehow.
The second metaphor suggests another: media distancing.
Two questions: Can we? Should we?
2
2
5
The first intervention I am going to dismiss. “Return to plenty” is not a political choice. It’s a function of optionality created by new technology. You may not agree. Some think there’s plenty already, hoarded. Separate argument. But I’ll punt. We can’t, so should-we is moot.
1
6
The second intervention is interesting. We’ve learned enough in the last few years that we could. I think media distancing to flatten the curve of memetic contagion is possible. We could lower R0 of ideas like MAGA with tech. Question is: Should we?
Quote Tweet
What if a totally toxic dank meme forced media distancing?
Min 6 minutes between tweets, likes. Max 2 retweets per tweet. Non-essential bluechecks required to shut down op-ed/take-tweeting (only essential beat-reporting bluechecks can tweet).
Show this thread
3
1
11
Replying to
in dismissing the first intervention, it's assumed that not everyone will have enough/what they need, right?
and with the second, they also can't form mass movements (or even the appearance/social media illusions of them) around their problems?
where does that energy go then?
1

