Burnwinter wrote:
y va marquer wrote:
So did Trump's and there is a good argument for saying that both are granted Messianic status by devotees and in the eyes of those devotees the truth of any matter is what the leader says it is.
It's like a new religion.
It's scary to my mind.
Well isn't this just like a blanket condemnation of "populism" though?
Corbyn and Trump, both at a personal level and in terms of their political ascent and its possibilities, are different things.
I don't think it's right to catastrophise about political organisation occurring on the internet somewhat outside the window frame of screeching tabloids and dusty "newspapers of record"–never has been. I'm just glad it's not only the alt-right doing it.
The same dynamic that grants new leaders that messianic pull sees them discarded just as quickly. There's an ongoing tension between people's demands to be represented, which can only be expressed so inarticulately at the ballot box, and the strong will not to represent them in the political class.
Corbyn and Trump are clearly different things in terms of their policies and what they represent.
They are clearly different things in terms of personality: one is a decent, intelligent man who has a recognisable and fixed position on a range of issues and a track record of working for communities he represents, the other is a serial abuser, a liar who has no particular interest in politics outside of using it to promote his own interest and sense of greatness.
So in that regard it is not a catastrophe that people have not been unduly influenced by tabloid rags and "dusty" papers of record and Corbyn has risen from the depths to become a viable prospect for PM.
The issue for me is that dynamic responsible for the messianic pull also drives deeper divisions and further polarises people, to a degree that devotees and followers are directed to areas that exclusively re-enforce their own beliefs and demonise the other.
The are even less exposed to points of view contrary to their own and debate is reduced to hostile exchanges and abuse, defining people more in terms of what they are not than in terms of what they are.
In some circles it seems perfectly acceptable these days to hate somebody based on who they voted for in an election.
I look at our situation as Arsenal supporters as a dry run of how these things can develop - the viciousness of Wenger in versus Wenger out, the absolute intolerance of opposing point of views that ended up in fans fighting in the stadium - and that was just football, and people supporting the same team!!
Bring on the new messiah.
