Why do we (our society) keep electing these sorts of people?
Because we value superficiality over depth. Always have, always will.
“I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
21–30 of 193 posts
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#22Why do we (our society) keep electing these sorts of people?
Because we value superficiality over depth. Always have, always will.
People interpret charisma as depth (or at the very least, as being capable). Nobody looks at a charismatic person and says, now there's a real idiot. Even in this story you see it. The author thought he was a genius, even after watching the insanity of a supposedly unprepared speaker trying to wing it.
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#23He must have recognised the seachange of populism and created a persona to suit. Reminds me of the BDG video on Polygon on how to create the perfect E3 presentation. Particularly the part about Gaffes. I suppose this was a long time coming, in marketing circles, it is agreed that "Generation X" was the first "Jaded" generation, and I feel like there's some link there. Marketing to that generation often involves takin…
I think there is truth to that. Author mentions the break from what became spin and polish from the Blair years —where people became jaded and distrusting of that kind of politics.
In the US in prior years it became such a farce (this edifice of careful behavior) that candidates would do handwringing over what color tie to wear and how tall their shoes would make them look and how preened their hair should be. In doing that they all but forgot to speak directly to voters. That’s what Johnson, Sanders and Trump, (among others), like them or not have brought.
People believed too much in the five o’clock shadow myth of Nixon’s initial defeat. That drove politicians away from the realm of realism to polish and spin.
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#24He must have recognised the seachange of populism and created a persona to suit. Reminds me of the BDG video on Polygon on how to create the perfect E3 presentation. Particularly the part about Gaffes. I suppose this was a long time coming, in marketing circles, it is agreed that "Generation X" was the first "Jaded" generation, and I feel like there's some link there. Marketing to that generation often involves takin…
It's been said that George W. Bush already did that decades ago, shedding his New Englander blue-blood upbringing for Texan rustic.
I dunno, I don't think it's very healthy that when presented with a bumbling idiot in a position of power you start to think it's a big ruse and they are actually a genius.
It's best to just assume they are in fact, a bumbling idiot.
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#25Why do we (our society) keep electing these sorts of people?
Because we value superficiality over depth. Always have, always will.
So much of what these populist right wing politicians say is outright, easily verifiable lies/half truths though. It's more like we value anyone signalling that they agree with our already held beliefs far more than the actual truth.
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#26He must have recognised the seachange of populism and created a persona to suit. Reminds me of the BDG video on Polygon on how to create the perfect E3 presentation. Particularly the part about Gaffes. I suppose this was a long time coming, in marketing circles, it is agreed that "Generation X" was the first "Jaded" generation, and I feel like there's some link there. Marketing to that generation often involves takin…
I think there is truth to that. Author mentions the break from what became spin and polish from the Blair years —where people became jaded and distrusting of that kind of politics. In the US in prior years it became such a farce (this edifice of careful behavior) that candidates would do handwringing over what color tie to wear and how tall their shoes would make them look and how preened their hair should be. In doi…
https://youtu.be/b5wfPlgKFh8
'President Reagan (Phil Hartman) acts hopeless and clueless in public, but in private he's an evil mastermind who knows every detail about everything happening in his administration. [Season 12, 1986]'
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like he hacked the societal expectations of what constitutes a speech via social engineering
twice, the exact same way.
Do you run programs only once? If you have a fabulous spicy pickle recipe and it rescues people from depression and cures alzheimer's, do you chance experimenting with the preparation? ;- )
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#28Why do we (our society) keep electing these sorts of people?
In this brilliant speech there may be an answer: https://youtu.be/wSRN8PUhHX0
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#29I am reminded of a post I once read[0] on how coyotes are 'too clever by half'; smart enough to realise how to win each skirmish, but without realising they're losing the metagame.
Johnson strikes me as someone who has learned to 'hack' the skirmishes (e.g. by playing the fool when giving speeches as discussed) in order to win in the short term, but who seems oblivious to (or to be willfully disregarding) the long term detrimental effect his skirmishing has on the UK.
Re: “I thought I'd share this Boris Johnson story with you”
#30If this is true, the man is obviously a genius. That said, the 'act of the fool' mightn't work in operational reality, because if everyone believes he's an unprepared bumpkin, then that's the reality, and he won't be respected. His former editor at the Telegraph had some very harsh words about him, along the lines of 'he only cares about himself, he's totally unprepared, has no idea what he is doing' etc. and I'll ga…
Critically, he was doing it at random awards shows where his expertise wasn't relevant. You could probably pull this off with no risk to your reputation if you pulled together (I.e. put the "pulled together" tape in your mental Walkman) when it was expected of you.