Originally Posted by Mystic Mock (Post 11512558)

I have no issue with a Politician having a laugh or smiling, after all they are Human Beings too.

But I don't know if anyone should be voting for a candidate because they make them laugh, especially if their statements consist of "we need the Mexican Government to help us pay to build a wall between us." And "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS!"

And I do say this as someone that does find some of the stuff that Trump says to be funny in a car crash way.

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11512567)

Trump supporters believe everything he says, many are indoctrinated, take a look at Alf

Originally Posted by Maru (Post 11512517)

Maybe it is not a British thing(?), but during times of great stress particularly, we really seem to gravitate towards humor more than anything else compared to other cultures as a means to deal with difficult feelings. That may seem disingenuous to some, but internally we tend (it varies some by person) to think the person is trying to help others relax.

I can't speak for others, as this could be an individual thing for me, but I see the process of campaigning itself as a bit of a joke on one hand because of the amount of forced reactions from both candidates and other people. Yes, certain aspects are serious. Like the debates. Humor wasn't a good feeling then at all. But I think people feel stressed in these times and one default way we can deal with it is to laugh at our predicament. Just think about it, all "good" candidates (past candidates who actually won) have to strike this balance. It is part of the role of leadership. If one can't laugh "with the crew" so to speak, ie their skin too thin or self-importance too inflated, we tend to turn on those leaders fast when they fail because part of the role is to comfort the public. Partially because we start to wonder if they are laughing at us rather than "with" us since they aren't doing the typical thing. But again, that might just be an American thing..

I think Kamala has been coached too much to try to emulate this formula (unfair to her really) and the fact she fails to authentically connect well enough with enough of the populace may cost her the election. Almost all of our Presidents have had that unique charm on some level that causes people to relax. (This is where personality politics does matter) Biden is actually funny as hell if you listen to him enough. Bush 2, for all his issues, was cited often for his charm. He reverted to a scowl after some point of receiving so much criticism that the public stopped really resonating with him. (I credit that to the impression that it gave that he not only lacked empathy but couldn't handle criticism, similar to Trump, he tried to make it into an evil press thing..) TLDR: The ability to laugh and smile indicates empathy and showing empathy is hugely important in mainstream American politics. But it's not something that can be simply emulated... and it's not important in every role, but very important in roles where public relations are a critical service to the position.

BTW, most of this isn't really in reference to Alf's response, just the recipe for political humor part of it...

*Basic edits. My touchscreen is trash.

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock (Post 11512571)

Tbf, I'm not even saying that Trump isn't the better candidate tbf, because both seem lackluster to me.

But I'm curious as to how Trump supporters (in general) don't seem to question anything that he says or does?

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy (Post 11512604)

The short answer here is that late-stage Western capitalism is about cult of personality as much as or more than it is about policy, and probably that way because policy is either so tightly clustered in any meaningful way (which colour of poop sandwich would you like today?) OR simply hot-air promises that never come to pass (and voters know that)... so it is not worth voting on.

Certainly the case in the US and if you look at the UK, we of course have our Borises etc.

Might not seem as obvious with having someone like Starmer now.

Until you remember that his opposition was Rishi Sunak and people were totally done with the Tories. A slice of bread could have won that election. And Farage (another one-man-party cult of personality) got millions of votes.

Originally Posted by MTVN (Post 11512640)

Cults of personality are just a human thing really rather than a symptom of capitalism and uninspiring policies. They've mainly existed in socialist and fascist governments of course so they're actually pretty watered down in our politics. People will always look for idols.

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11512536)

the first thing that people do here is make jokes about disasters etc, it's a basic coping mechanism. People just get way to offended about anything these days

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock (Post 11512558)

I have no issue with a Politician having a laugh or smiling, after all they are Human Beings too.

But I don't know if anyone should be voting for a candidate because they make them laugh, especially if their statements consist of "we need the Mexican Government to help us pay to build a wall between us." And "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS!"

And I do say this as someone that does find some of the stuff that Trump says to be funny in a car crash way.

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11512567)

Trump supporters believe everything he says, many are indoctrinated, take a look at Alf

Originally Posted by Maru (Post 11512747)

It's just good to read that people still seek comfort in humor. Otherwise I think it is very easy to lose the plot entirely. I've come online to read comments and sometimes I wonder if that is something we are losing... I feel like maybe some of the bad humor that is flowing around out there is just an overreaction to years of fear, stifled emotions and general discomfort... which we all went through to be honest, with things like COVID, constant wars and growing economic woes across our respective countries.



FWIW, I didn't watch the video that's been argued about. I just saw the bits about humor, and that clicked for me, especially seeing as we cling so hard to our humor. We take it too far sometimes, I think. I just don't find the cat and dog meme as funny as so many others seem to. (I just like hot dogs and American attempts at being funny while being Capitalist). I want to see what happens *after* the elections, if people still can maintain their humor or not :laugh:... but honestly, I just hope we can eventually move forward.



Part of me wonders how far Trump's reach really would've been without the whole social media thing. As a reference, I speak Japanese and have talked with folk on social back when "Q" was a thing and it was suddenly making waves there? There would all these claims about how some "loved him" greatly (I don't know how that's even possible..) and I thought these had to be bots. But no, there's a contingent of folk there that follow a lot of our politics in this way online. The sad part, they're far more prone to seeing and taking in conspiracies at face value without the ability to crosscheck in English. So some seem see the US as a potential savior against China and the recurring theme seems to center around the belief that the entire Japanese establishment has been subverted/replaced by Chinese interests/a Chinese-approved electorate, thus they "need to be stopped." Shinzo Abe was assassinated around the time that all was trending. Shinzo was a Trump ally, iirc, so I've always wondered somewhat if there was even a connection. But honestly who knows. I know jack sh** about Japanese politics, only the US connection part of things and some nuclear. I always find it interesting listening to people talk about their own beliefs. I read and follow a lot of modern day cults, but have seen what the foreign language barrier does to accuracy, so usually only stick to things closer to home and that can be referenced from native sources :laugh:

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11512615)

have you not seen trump supporters wearing the ear bandages because he got shot, have you not seen them wearing nappies because trump does? It's a cult

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11512759)

The world has not caught up with the impact of social media. The problem is that democracy demands free speech and that was great in the days without mass instant, unfettered communication. It just doesn't work now. We need to re-define democracy

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy (Post 11516656)

It's like they've taken the very essence of being a basement dwelling incel/angry mid life crisis cuck bro and simmered it down into a thick, oozing soup. Incredible.

Originally Posted by Alf (Post 11516718)

Incels don't try to lock up or shoot dead their political opponents.

Originally Posted by Crimson Dynamo (Post 11516663)

or

I am jealous of his success

:joker:

Originally Posted by bots (Post 11516760)

Folk are walking out of trump's rally's early and he can't fill a decent sized venue. That doesn't mean that folk wont vote for him, but i can't see him getting anywhere near the votes he got at the last election

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy (Post 11516754)

Would I like a billion $ or so? Sure. Would I want to go to bed at night feeling like Elon Musk? The lonely kid at school still looking for pals so desperately that he had to buy an entire social network and then try to Piggyback off Donald Trump's fanbase? Not a chance. But I get why you wouldn't understand that Trumpette.

Lonely, lonely men :(

Originally Posted by Jordan. (Post 11516777)

In high school terms he really is that unpopular kid bullies use to their advantage in exchange of him feeling like he's part of the group. Like they only come over to his house to steal all his parents alcohol.

Originally Posted by Jordan. (Post 11516777)

In high school terms he really is that unpopular kid bullies use to their advantage in exchange of him feeling like he's part of the group. Like they only come over to his house to steal all his parents alcohol.