Key topics:
- Trump is both idolized and demonized, fueling extreme reactions.
- Politics has become entertainment, driven by audience engagement.
- Public discourse is reduced to spectacle, sidelining real debate.
Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.
Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.
If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.
By Viv Vermaak*
I was at a dinner event during which Trump came up as a topic of conversation.
“Biden would have been a better President as a second term!” Someone pointed out that Biden was old and had dementia. “Even if Biden were in a coma, he would have been better than Trump! He is dangerous!” she shouted. I thought her position was a bit extreme. “TDS,” whispered someone alongside her to the rest of the table: “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Trump evil! Trump bad!
I’ve spent time with men for whom Trump is a messiah. Some claim to be atheists, but their cloying sycophancy has all the hallmarks of religion. Committed federalists with libertarian leanings now stridently support the idea of King Trump. They laugh at golden statues of Trump in Gaza, fist-bumping at jokes about buying property there. “TDS,” I think, “but in the other direction.”
Trump good! Trump God!
There is another group of people for whom the US presidential election is the best show on earth, with the greatest characters ever devised. “What fun to watch!” they say. “You can’t make this stuff up!” They tut-tut sadly at the state of America and chuckle at the antics of their leaders. It is a position that affords some level of objectivity as an observer but probably does a more important job of safeguarding you from a TDS label. You can claim not to care as much, and act as if emotionally dispassionate. The problem with this position is that even as a spectator, you have bought tickets to the spectacle. Trump is living rent-free in your head. You are part of the TDS reality show.
What a show! Fight, fight, fight!
If we take a step back and view the situation from the outside, from the vantage point of Mars let’s say, what would we see? We’d see bread, circuses, and the championship rounds in WWE Smackdown. Elon Musk, as much part of the game as the one orchestrating it, made an important observation about human behaviour in what is now called Musk’s Razor: ‘The most entertaining outcome is the most likely.’ Musk’s insight was remarkable, not only for the clarity of the observation, but also for how he proved it to be true by making it true. Politics is no longer a thinking pursuit; it is a consumption product. It is a reality show we choose to spend time on, like putting time aside to play a video game. You pick a character that represents you, assuming all their weapons, point-scoring capacity, and weaknesses. When Trump went on to JRE, the biggest podcast in the world, it not only changed the game, it recorded it and defined the future rules. The tribe had spoken. His appearance tipped the scales because of its content and novelty, but also because it appeared close to the end of the race. This is where traditionally, the hero triumphs after having overcome a particularly difficult obstacle. Viewership skyrocketed. The world responded with a roar. In the famous movie, Gladiator, our hero Maximus decapitates an opponent with two swords simultaneously. He turns to the crowd and shouts at them: “Are you not entertained?!” The crowd goes mad; they are indeed entertained. For much of the population, Trump is an avatar. He is a real-life gladiator fighting in the ring to defeat the evils of the world. I can feel what they feel. He is the maverick, the curveball representing the aspirations of those who either want to be alpha males who might grab the world by the balls and women by the pussy, or people who realise we need a strong leader to sort this mess out. In a world of uncertainty, Trump is a sure thing.
In times of turmoil, people turn to simplistic good-vs-evil narratives. Trump is a great choice for either side. He is the best goodie and the worst baddie, even if he has to say so himself. But has Spartacus become Nero, no longer fighting for freedom but in it for the blood? There’s plenty of that when you swing a blunt axe around. The vengeful malignancy that accompanies Trump’s utterances is a cause for concern. The smack-talk that one appreciates before a cage-fight loses its charm on the podium. I see what they see – a potentially dangerous megalomaniac who shares images of golden statues of himself, smiling as he sunbathes in Gaza. It’s too much. One person quipped: “At least Hitler didn’t try and turn the gas chambers into saunas at a health club.”
Yet Trump is playing for the crowd, for whom the games are ultimately on display. It is all for us. World events are now part of the consumer experience. We classify ourselves into communities in certain group categories, pick our icons and play. It is a way of interacting and socializing with others, becoming a focal resource of interpersonal communications. Maximus’s coach gave him this advice on how to triumph: “Win the crowd.” Elon Musk, aware of this phenomenon, has joined the main players on stage. In WrestleMania, the Undertaker used to enter dressed as a gunslinger with Johnny Cash playing in the background. Musk enters with MAGA merchandise, a Roman salute and a chainsaw. Thumbs up or thumbs down, he scores.
Following Musk’s Razor, it is difficult to predict unfolding events, but one can surmise, taking the crowd’s preferences to their conclusions. Perhaps the great warrior becomes a good king, and peace and prosperity return to the land, making it great again. Alternatively, the hero embraces his dark side, like the Joker in Batman, and is ultimately taken down by those who first adored him. Perhaps the band of billionaires will decide to opt for peace, perchance for war; either way, engaging tales with morals abound.
None of these stories is new or novel, except the part where we as consumers have allowed our personal stories, once crafted through interaction with our own bands of merry men, to take a back seat. No longer do we go on a search for intellectual holy grails together while disagreeing with each other vigorously, yet in good spirit. We’ve forgotten how to talk about important things. We fire off short messages on WhatsApp and fight over social media. Only the most extreme acts and statements get our attention. We live in an ‘experience’ economy, where attention is currency. We have given it to the TDS show.
We’ve all, including Trump himself, gone a little bit mad I think.
But are we not entertained?
Read also:
- 🔒 The Economist: The end of the post-1945 order – Donald Trump has begun a mafia-like struggle for global power
- 🔒 China threatens retaliation through ‘all necessary measures’ as Trump hikes tariffs
- 🔒 RW Johnson: Trump’s power play – A legacy of overreach and global isolation
This article was first published by the Dailyfriend and is republished with permission.
*Viv Vermaak is an award-winning investigative journalist, writer and director. She was the most loved and hated presenter on South Africa’s iconic travel show, “Going Nowhere Slowly’ and ranks being the tall germ, “Terie’ in Mina Moo as a career highlight. She does Jiu-Jitsu and has a ’69 Chevy Impala called Katy Peri-Peri.
