Looking forward to it. With the mention of schadenfreude I learned there is a word that means 'taking joy in other people’s successes' Freudenfreude. Those Germans have a word for everything.
There is significant overlap in the Venn diagram of those who take joy in what they should be ashamed of, and those who whine about freedom of speech while simultaneously ranting on public forums. Their cognitive dissonance stems from a complete lack of self-awareness and reflection, but also an obliviousness to those around them rolling their eyes in contempt.
Shame is actually a self-protection mechanism in that when we feel it it usually want to stop feeling it, and that usually requires both self-reflection and outward contrition. The people who take joy in their shame have obliterated within themselves any concept of reasonable behaviour towards others - treat others as you would be treated means nothing to them - and replaced it with the worst behavioural driver of all: "because I can". If that is not truly "elitist" behaviour, I'm not sure what is.
IMO this has been coming on gradually for a long time. Part of the "no such thing as bad publicity" perspective. Locally I think it really got a kick-along with Tony Abbot (him of the red Speedos and raw onions) who I remember banging on endlessly about this or that proposal being "virtue signalling", where once upon a time it would have just been "leading". Most of his later arguments (and those of most of the conservative politicians who've come after) strike me as "vice signalling". No doubt trying to "own the libs" whatever that means.
When popularity is now driven by amoral word-grinding machines bent on "engagement", rather than human editors at least notionally interested in truth and public benefit, it pretty much follows, right?
Great timing for this column. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. There are things that would have been career ending even 5/6 years ago. Now, people dig in and use the scandal as part of their brand. Suspect social media, polarisation and the total lack of trust in institutions all have played a role.
In America, a 30 year steady diet of BS from Fox News/rush Limbaugh means the right now think that anything which doesn’t suit their agenda is a plot from the “elites”.
The Beetrooter, Gladys to offer you my personal data jiggy call me string cans. The shark with a cock the longest boardshorts can't cover lapping up 18th hole oil spills. Fuck me, put the world in the bin and Grace Tame and Moz can close the lid.
Tangentially to this is what happens after they've embraced their villainy? I saw a tweet that said something along the lines of 'Vance will one day try to walk all this back and he won't be able to.' The subtext being 'good, because that mofo can go die in a fire', but you get the point.
I wonder if the people doubling down on their shame in order to get the attention realise that this will become their entire personality forever? That in a few years time they're not going to be able to smile and admit that it was all a cynical act for clicks and they didn't mean any of the horrific shit they said, that the shrivelling contempt with which they will be held by the world will define them more permanently than their unrepentant villainous cosplay? And more importantly, that there's no money in being regarded as more disgusting and contemptuous than dogshit on a pristine lawn?
Vance has already done a complete 180 on every position he held 2 years ago - will he try to go full circle once he's out of power again? It's gonna be interesting 🤣
It is a source of perpetual shame that this numbskull is my senator. Fortunately, I can say with a straight face that I never voted for his dumba*s, or his tangerine master. WTF is so tough about leadership that you can look at a person and be like, "This guy has zero leadership potential," and either vote against said douche or as a minimum, withhold your vote? JD is the epitome of what we knew in the service as a "sh*thouse lawyer," or a kid, usually an E-4, who thought he had all the angles worked and could outsmart his chain with some stupid BS he got from a misreading of the regs. Interesting that JD WAS an E-4 in the Corps and took the sh*thouse lawyer mentality to Washington. If he'd stuck around a little longer, maybe he would have realized that the regs were written for a purpose, and it's usually a bad idea to find ways around them. Looking forward to the debate between the E-4 and the E-8/9. This will be interesting.
BTW, not a slam on E-4s in the audience. If you were an E-4, then you know that's a dangerous rank. You've been around long enough to think you know what's going on, but you haven't had the time or leadership experience to know the "why" behind what your chain does. I've worn the "Sham Shield (a nickname for Specialist rank in the US Army)," so this is first-hand info. But then I progressed to two more levels of NCO rank and then into commissioned officer stuff, and I shake my head at the sh*t I pulled as a junior enlisted troop.
How about the German AfD-Führer? "Björn Uwe Höcke is a right-wing extremist German politician. Höcke has been chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Thuringian state parliament since 2014 and, together with Stefan Möller, spokesman for the AfD Thuringia regional association. In March 2015, he co-founded the right-wing extremist party group Der Flügel."
During the last electoral term, Höcke's immunity was lifted for several investigations. It was the Gera public prosecutor's office request, in order to investigate the suspicion that Höcke had denigrated the German state in a speech in Gera on October 3, 2022.
In addition, Höcke was recently found guilty in two proceedings before the Halle Regional Court for using symbols of unconstitutional organizations. However, both judgments are not yet final.
I recommend you watch 4 Corners on Monday to watch more of the smelly brown stuff boiling out of the sewer.
Must be the week for it - Ferret Steinmetz did an interesting piece on callout/cancel culture, mob mentality, and fundamentalism earlier this week - might be worth a read if you haven't already stumbled over it. https://theferrett.substack.com/p/sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry
Oh, I see. I just stepped in to thank you 🙏🏻 JB for that wee tasty morsel of story telling about Lucinda’s ‘the badass’ back story. I didn’t think to arrive with BYO zeitgeist plate to share. Apologies man. Anyways, when those tardy editors finish messing about with the broth - Please Sir. I want some … more!
Ah I wrote a thing about almost this exact topic a few months back for David Farrier’s Webworm newsletter. Roughly, the argument is that in an attention economy the shameless and sociopathic are kings; if you’re normal enough to feel shame then you’re going to have a hard time competing against the sort of people who’ll happily eat shit if it gets eyes on them. https://open.substack.com/pub/webworm/p/stop-engaging-with-morons
There was a bit of food disk horse on Twitter this week when some I-swear-to-God actual Nazi referred to 'dirt spices' as something she didn't require because there are other cuisines which taste good.
Still not 100% sure what she meant by dirt spices .
Not sure if she felt shame or is just a coward, but she seems to have hidden my response saying that a chiko roll doesn't count as a cuisine
I think you are right about attention being today's currency. During the UK election there were people throwing milkshakes and other things at Nigel Farage. One of the people doing the throwing turned out to be an Only Fans model.
The issue being that she threw a milkshake at Farage to get enough attention to bring people to subscribe to her Only Fans account. We had something similar happen here in the ACT when someone managed to have a confrontation with the Cookers who descended on the ACT to protest vaccination and other government mandates (I wished that they would go driving without their seat belts and find out why the government made wearing seatbelts mandatory but that is another story).
I think some people will eventually work out that having attention paid to you is a dual edged sword. When it is for good behaviour it is mostly good but for bad behaviour or other circumstances it will be a curse. Though here's another issue if people like the candidate who refer to themselves as a black nazi are making those claims to people who are supportive of such claims then what the rest of us think won't be of any consequence unless it motivates people to vote these people out!
All of Sky News?
Lulz
Looking forward to it. With the mention of schadenfreude I learned there is a word that means 'taking joy in other people’s successes' Freudenfreude. Those Germans have a word for everything.
There is significant overlap in the Venn diagram of those who take joy in what they should be ashamed of, and those who whine about freedom of speech while simultaneously ranting on public forums. Their cognitive dissonance stems from a complete lack of self-awareness and reflection, but also an obliviousness to those around them rolling their eyes in contempt.
Shame is actually a self-protection mechanism in that when we feel it it usually want to stop feeling it, and that usually requires both self-reflection and outward contrition. The people who take joy in their shame have obliterated within themselves any concept of reasonable behaviour towards others - treat others as you would be treated means nothing to them - and replaced it with the worst behavioural driver of all: "because I can". If that is not truly "elitist" behaviour, I'm not sure what is.
IMO this has been coming on gradually for a long time. Part of the "no such thing as bad publicity" perspective. Locally I think it really got a kick-along with Tony Abbot (him of the red Speedos and raw onions) who I remember banging on endlessly about this or that proposal being "virtue signalling", where once upon a time it would have just been "leading". Most of his later arguments (and those of most of the conservative politicians who've come after) strike me as "vice signalling". No doubt trying to "own the libs" whatever that means.
When popularity is now driven by amoral word-grinding machines bent on "engagement", rather than human editors at least notionally interested in truth and public benefit, it pretty much follows, right?
Great timing for this column. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. There are things that would have been career ending even 5/6 years ago. Now, people dig in and use the scandal as part of their brand. Suspect social media, polarisation and the total lack of trust in institutions all have played a role.
In America, a 30 year steady diet of BS from Fox News/rush Limbaugh means the right now think that anything which doesn’t suit their agenda is a plot from the “elites”.
The Beetrooter, Gladys to offer you my personal data jiggy call me string cans. The shark with a cock the longest boardshorts can't cover lapping up 18th hole oil spills. Fuck me, put the world in the bin and Grace Tame and Moz can close the lid.
Tangentially to this is what happens after they've embraced their villainy? I saw a tweet that said something along the lines of 'Vance will one day try to walk all this back and he won't be able to.' The subtext being 'good, because that mofo can go die in a fire', but you get the point.
I wonder if the people doubling down on their shame in order to get the attention realise that this will become their entire personality forever? That in a few years time they're not going to be able to smile and admit that it was all a cynical act for clicks and they didn't mean any of the horrific shit they said, that the shrivelling contempt with which they will be held by the world will define them more permanently than their unrepentant villainous cosplay? And more importantly, that there's no money in being regarded as more disgusting and contemptuous than dogshit on a pristine lawn?
Vance has already done a complete 180 on every position he held 2 years ago - will he try to go full circle once he's out of power again? It's gonna be interesting 🤣
He is the epitome of the "if my values don't resonate with you, I have others" meme 😂
It is a source of perpetual shame that this numbskull is my senator. Fortunately, I can say with a straight face that I never voted for his dumba*s, or his tangerine master. WTF is so tough about leadership that you can look at a person and be like, "This guy has zero leadership potential," and either vote against said douche or as a minimum, withhold your vote? JD is the epitome of what we knew in the service as a "sh*thouse lawyer," or a kid, usually an E-4, who thought he had all the angles worked and could outsmart his chain with some stupid BS he got from a misreading of the regs. Interesting that JD WAS an E-4 in the Corps and took the sh*thouse lawyer mentality to Washington. If he'd stuck around a little longer, maybe he would have realized that the regs were written for a purpose, and it's usually a bad idea to find ways around them. Looking forward to the debate between the E-4 and the E-8/9. This will be interesting.
BTW, not a slam on E-4s in the audience. If you were an E-4, then you know that's a dangerous rank. You've been around long enough to think you know what's going on, but you haven't had the time or leadership experience to know the "why" behind what your chain does. I've worn the "Sham Shield (a nickname for Specialist rank in the US Army)," so this is first-hand info. But then I progressed to two more levels of NCO rank and then into commissioned officer stuff, and I shake my head at the sh*t I pulled as a junior enlisted troop.
How about the German AfD-Führer? "Björn Uwe Höcke is a right-wing extremist German politician. Höcke has been chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Thuringian state parliament since 2014 and, together with Stefan Möller, spokesman for the AfD Thuringia regional association. In March 2015, he co-founded the right-wing extremist party group Der Flügel."
During the last electoral term, Höcke's immunity was lifted for several investigations. It was the Gera public prosecutor's office request, in order to investigate the suspicion that Höcke had denigrated the German state in a speech in Gera on October 3, 2022.
In addition, Höcke was recently found guilty in two proceedings before the Halle Regional Court for using symbols of unconstitutional organizations. However, both judgments are not yet final.
I recommend you watch 4 Corners on Monday to watch more of the smelly brown stuff boiling out of the sewer.
Must be the week for it - Ferret Steinmetz did an interesting piece on callout/cancel culture, mob mentality, and fundamentalism earlier this week - might be worth a read if you haven't already stumbled over it. https://theferrett.substack.com/p/sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry
Oh, I see. I just stepped in to thank you 🙏🏻 JB for that wee tasty morsel of story telling about Lucinda’s ‘the badass’ back story. I didn’t think to arrive with BYO zeitgeist plate to share. Apologies man. Anyways, when those tardy editors finish messing about with the broth - Please Sir. I want some … more!
You and me both, Thor.
Ah I wrote a thing about almost this exact topic a few months back for David Farrier’s Webworm newsletter. Roughly, the argument is that in an attention economy the shameless and sociopathic are kings; if you’re normal enough to feel shame then you’re going to have a hard time competing against the sort of people who’ll happily eat shit if it gets eyes on them. https://open.substack.com/pub/webworm/p/stop-engaging-with-morons
There was a bit of food disk horse on Twitter this week when some I-swear-to-God actual Nazi referred to 'dirt spices' as something she didn't require because there are other cuisines which taste good.
Still not 100% sure what she meant by dirt spices .
Not sure if she felt shame or is just a coward, but she seems to have hidden my response saying that a chiko roll doesn't count as a cuisine
This is honestly the weirdest thing I've heard of this week.
"Dirt fk*n spices?" WTF is that? Where do these lunatics come from, and why do they have these stupid social media megaphones?
I think you are right about attention being today's currency. During the UK election there were people throwing milkshakes and other things at Nigel Farage. One of the people doing the throwing turned out to be an Only Fans model.
The issue being that she threw a milkshake at Farage to get enough attention to bring people to subscribe to her Only Fans account. We had something similar happen here in the ACT when someone managed to have a confrontation with the Cookers who descended on the ACT to protest vaccination and other government mandates (I wished that they would go driving without their seat belts and find out why the government made wearing seatbelts mandatory but that is another story).
I think some people will eventually work out that having attention paid to you is a dual edged sword. When it is for good behaviour it is mostly good but for bad behaviour or other circumstances it will be a curse. Though here's another issue if people like the candidate who refer to themselves as a black nazi are making those claims to people who are supportive of such claims then what the rest of us think won't be of any consequence unless it motivates people to vote these people out!
Oh that Farage story is gold.
Big Oil
Big Tobacco
Martin Shkreli
Simon Cowell
Gordon Ramsay
Also, I think the framing of the US prez race as pro wrestling is very useful.
Pharma bro is in my notes
Isn't Jordan Peterson still making money out of this schtick?
We need a shame bell ringer like Game of Thrones had. Be a great job. I’d sign up.