I have empathy for incels, though. (In the initial meaning of 'involuntary celibate'.) Nobody tells young men how to date, and sharing information about how to become attractive is considered wrong. It's either Andrew Tate or 'just be yourself and eventually you'll find someone'.
This touches on something I've been thinking about for a while. Liberals and to some extent progressives, have forgotten the "nation" part of nation-state. They've been so focused on tinkering around the edges on economic policy they've forgotten to actually give people something to believe in. To the extent they've focused on a national message, it's been about how the Country (or at least a majority of it's inhabitants) is inherently evil and the focus of nation-building should be for most Americans to shut up, sit down, and pay deference to the identity groups who have been (truly) wronged in the past. To be clear, these identity groups HAVE been wronged in the past. The problem is that this is a TERRIBLE political message if you're trying to run a country because it's inherently exclusionary. Also to be clear, I don't think that Democratic politicians are necessarily promoting this message; rather, they are focused on tinkering around the edges on economic policy and mostly avoiding the toxic cultural messaging coming from the activist groups. But everyone can see that this is the cultural message coming from the base. Instead, you need a Democratic politician to offer a positive, inclusive and compelling National cultural program to Americans that is backed up by the activist groups (easier said than done, of course), and which offers a positive contrast to the dystopia and arbitrary cruelty of Trumpian fascism. We've done this before: I think the template is a mix of FDR style populism with Kennedy style liberal values that include the voters in the care of their country. Just my two cents.
In general, rewards are a far more effective way to shape behavior than punishments. Karen Pryor wrote a good book about this.
Back when the US was a functional country, in the 90s, liberals implicitly understood this, and focused on celebrating good things about US history instead of condemning bad things.
Nowadays liberals talk way more about Confederate monuments than Union monuments, even though twice as many Americans fought for the Union as fought for the Confederacy. It's very sad how we've forgotten the sacrifices of our Union soldiers.
Bad stuff in the past can't be changed. It's very silly how so many on the left have built a political movement around changing the past, when that isn't actually possible. Why do they call themselves "progressives" when they are so obsessed with events from decades or centuries ago? That's not progress, that's regress.
Your two cents is worth exactly that. The assumptions here are both deep and shallow, but all I’m going to say is there is no one to the left of Attila the Hun who gives a single damn about any of this high minded stuff. The ones who don’t have power seek it by any means necessary and the ones that have it seek to keep it by any means at their disposal. In case you haven’t noticed, few are left in the middle, but those that are currently are being labeled “far right.” It’s not only a losing strategy, it has lost. It’s all over but the tiny violin solo.
I love your work! I wonder, have you ever read Anna Kornbluh’s book Immediacy, or the Style of Too Late Capitalism? I would be very interested to see how her insights interact with your interest in Internet culture and memes, as well as your interest in writing critically about them!
This is a fascinating piece about online communities that are marginalized (or at least they seem so) and how they adopt these crazy memes that eventually become common. The feels guy is a perfect internet meme, it’s international and also was started in Poland where it was actually a positive symbol!
This is a brilliant post. I've often thought about how memes are a today's political cartoons, and I'm obsessed that you take the care to analyze them through that lens!!! Idk if you will see this but have you thought of submitting to mainstream American newspapers and magazines at all?? I think sharing your analysis and critique with that audience could be illuminating for some of the older gens that don't have a clue what is going on.
SPLC as a source? Stopped reading right there. But I had already read enough to determine that you could switch out trantifa for groyper and have almost the exact same content
This a great article - the CCRU from Warwick might be relevant here, this was explored in specific, subcultural form, around music and counter culture, concepts of future / past hauntings - emergent in two academic forms, Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and (unfinished) Acid Communism, and Nick Land’s accelerationism and Dark Enlightenment
NB. It’s important to point out Accelerationism was considered both Left and Right - ie. an alchemy that can be used to bring about systematic change, however is illusory and pathological, essentially codifying the sort of psychopathology that ascended during the Cold War, which is to say that practitioners tacitly collaborate, independent of any ideological or group affiliation, more or less For Teh Lulz
Very well done.
I have empathy for incels, though. (In the initial meaning of 'involuntary celibate'.) Nobody tells young men how to date, and sharing information about how to become attractive is considered wrong. It's either Andrew Tate or 'just be yourself and eventually you'll find someone'.
Excellent--as you often have, this illuminates and articulates phenomena that have been hard to describe and therefore to begin to address. Thanks!
this is such a good essay dude, its hard for liberals to reflect on communities they dont understand and are not interested to engage with
Thank you!!
This touches on something I've been thinking about for a while. Liberals and to some extent progressives, have forgotten the "nation" part of nation-state. They've been so focused on tinkering around the edges on economic policy they've forgotten to actually give people something to believe in. To the extent they've focused on a national message, it's been about how the Country (or at least a majority of it's inhabitants) is inherently evil and the focus of nation-building should be for most Americans to shut up, sit down, and pay deference to the identity groups who have been (truly) wronged in the past. To be clear, these identity groups HAVE been wronged in the past. The problem is that this is a TERRIBLE political message if you're trying to run a country because it's inherently exclusionary. Also to be clear, I don't think that Democratic politicians are necessarily promoting this message; rather, they are focused on tinkering around the edges on economic policy and mostly avoiding the toxic cultural messaging coming from the activist groups. But everyone can see that this is the cultural message coming from the base. Instead, you need a Democratic politician to offer a positive, inclusive and compelling National cultural program to Americans that is backed up by the activist groups (easier said than done, of course), and which offers a positive contrast to the dystopia and arbitrary cruelty of Trumpian fascism. We've done this before: I think the template is a mix of FDR style populism with Kennedy style liberal values that include the voters in the care of their country. Just my two cents.
In general, rewards are a far more effective way to shape behavior than punishments. Karen Pryor wrote a good book about this.
Back when the US was a functional country, in the 90s, liberals implicitly understood this, and focused on celebrating good things about US history instead of condemning bad things.
Nowadays liberals talk way more about Confederate monuments than Union monuments, even though twice as many Americans fought for the Union as fought for the Confederacy. It's very sad how we've forgotten the sacrifices of our Union soldiers.
Bad stuff in the past can't be changed. It's very silly how so many on the left have built a political movement around changing the past, when that isn't actually possible. Why do they call themselves "progressives" when they are so obsessed with events from decades or centuries ago? That's not progress, that's regress.
Your two cents is worth exactly that. The assumptions here are both deep and shallow, but all I’m going to say is there is no one to the left of Attila the Hun who gives a single damn about any of this high minded stuff. The ones who don’t have power seek it by any means necessary and the ones that have it seek to keep it by any means at their disposal. In case you haven’t noticed, few are left in the middle, but those that are currently are being labeled “far right.” It’s not only a losing strategy, it has lost. It’s all over but the tiny violin solo.
It might be interesting to make a list of movements which fit in this same mental slot during past eras. Punk rock comes to mind.
Time to lay foundations for an edgy post-groyper movement?
I was actually thinking of bringing in Dick Hebdige’s work here on the punks!
Several years of studying memes as your job... and you "knocked doors for Kamala"?
The epitome of the empty party-climbing careerist nothing?
Even ignoring the elections altogether would have been a more political act!
I love your work! I wonder, have you ever read Anna Kornbluh’s book Immediacy, or the Style of Too Late Capitalism? I would be very interested to see how her insights interact with your interest in Internet culture and memes, as well as your interest in writing critically about them!
This is a fascinating piece about online communities that are marginalized (or at least they seem so) and how they adopt these crazy memes that eventually become common. The feels guy is a perfect internet meme, it’s international and also was started in Poland where it was actually a positive symbol!
What an absolute treat we are in for! One of the “real people” behind Know Your Meme is sharing insights on Substack! Subscribed.
As an old person, these essays are fascinating. Wtf. It's hard to follow all this. Appreciate it though!
The world WAS way better in the 80's and 90's anyone telling you different is lying to you.
So insightful. Thank you.
Very well written. Thank you for this and the solutions!
This is a brilliant post. I've often thought about how memes are a today's political cartoons, and I'm obsessed that you take the care to analyze them through that lens!!! Idk if you will see this but have you thought of submitting to mainstream American newspapers and magazines at all?? I think sharing your analysis and critique with that audience could be illuminating for some of the older gens that don't have a clue what is going on.
SPLC as a source? Stopped reading right there. But I had already read enough to determine that you could switch out trantifa for groyper and have almost the exact same content
This a great article - the CCRU from Warwick might be relevant here, this was explored in specific, subcultural form, around music and counter culture, concepts of future / past hauntings - emergent in two academic forms, Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and (unfinished) Acid Communism, and Nick Land’s accelerationism and Dark Enlightenment
NB. It’s important to point out Accelerationism was considered both Left and Right - ie. an alchemy that can be used to bring about systematic change, however is illusory and pathological, essentially codifying the sort of psychopathology that ascended during the Cold War, which is to say that practitioners tacitly collaborate, independent of any ideological or group affiliation, more or less For Teh Lulz
We need WW3. Incels need to become heroes or die trying
you dont know what you are asking for