[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Quantum Boy

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.

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.