politics is astrology for incels.

Anti-politics.

I am a political writer. I have been blogging about politics since I was 12 years old. I find politics interesting, as does anyone reading this article. But I am also introspective, and a bit self-hating. As a result, it takes a political junky like me to accurately and viciously deconstruct the uselessness of political pornography.

At the same time, if we are to be fair, such a vicious deconstructions must also be psychoanalyzed. “It’s all useless bro” is a nihilistic cope of the weak who fail to achieve their goals. Just because some individuals might be politically useless does not mean that politics itself is useless. In order to avoid political pornography, to gain self awareness, and to live an examined life, each individual must know themselves and understand their relationship with politics. For most, politics is just astrology for incels.

porn and politics.

The existence of pornography does not eliminate the reality of sex. Real people have real sex every day. Right now, someone somewhere is getting impregnated: this is the most real form of sex. Less real is non-reproductive sex. Even less real is virtual sex, and less real than that is pornography. Similarly, politics exists on spectrum from most real to least real. In the same way that sexting can lead to real sex, or vice versa, political pornography also has a tenuous relationship with “real politics.”

A man can consume millions of hours of pornography and never inch closer to real sex, let alone actual reproduction. Similarly, it is possible to consume millions of hours of political pornography and never affect or change political reality. I would also extend this metaphor into the religious realm: it is possible to collect thousands of icons, trinkets, to memorize religious trivia, to attend church on a daily basis, and to never approach anything resembling a “divine experience.”

spectator sports.

Politics is like sports. There are, in the entire world, a few thousand players who actually play the game at the highest level. The rest of us are mere spectators. It is entertaining, and taps into the deepest human desires for identity, telos, tribalism, and belonging.

“You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” Now let’s reverse that. “You may care about politics, but politics does not care about you.” Both of these statements are true in different contexts.

In the first case, politics intimately affects every facet of our lives, even if we claim to be “apolitical.” As Ted Kaczynski discovered, you cannot even hide in the woods. The loggers will come for you. Politics is unavoidable. You may think you are a colorblind moderate, but actually, colorblindness is white supremacy.

In the second case, your political opinions, on an individual level, do not matter at all. It is true that tens of thousands of votes do theoretically have an impact on electoral politics. But no one’s political opinions are formed in a vacuum. Political opinions are necessarily tribal. Independent voters may seem to be decisive in elections, but their votes are swayed by smear campaigns and propaganda that comes from dedicated, hardcore minorities.

masses don’t matter.

In 2016, many people didn’t vote for Hillary because of how she treated Bernie — by American standards, an extreme communist. These Bernie-bros could be described as moderates, centrists, or independents, but they were still motivated by an extremely obscure and niche corner of American politics.

From 2009.

Or, they didn’t vote for her because of PizzaGate. PizzaGate required the infrastructure of 4chan and 8chan, thousands of dollars in server hosting costs, and advertisers to make the websites profitable. On the second layer, each of the “researchers” into PizzaGate was dedicating hours of their time to scanning Instagram pages, compiling evidence, reposting images, connecting the dots like Glenn Beck.

Just like astrology, millions are interested, but very few actually dedicate their lives to understanding the magic behind the mirror. Few people have “astrological agency;” most people just have a casual interest in astrology. Similarly, becoming a person with “political agency” is not possible for the vast majority of people.

Part of the reason why men are obsessed with politics and women are obsessed with astrology is that both genders are looking for sources of psychological stability to latch onto. To understand how we got here, let’s look at the forces of instability in our society which only seem to get worse.

ghosting as war-rape

When a woman has multiple one night stands, she begins to have an intimacy crisis and loses her sense of self. Each time the man leaves her, in terms of our evolutionary history, this would be equivalent to the following:

1. A band of pirates invades, killing her family. They ravish her and leave.

2. Another band of pirates comes, kicking the corpses of her dead family. They ravish her and leave.

3. A third band of pirates comes, throwing the corpses of her dead family off a cliff into the ocean. They ravish her and leave.

4. A fourth band of pirates fishes the corpses of her dead family out of the ocean, puts on a ghastly Halloween display. They ravish her and leave.

Most historical “one night stands” were part of Dionysian sex cults, or pre-Indo-European matriarchal poly-cules. However, in those cases, the slutty partners would at least get to cuddle afterwards and wave hello at the next orgy. Today, the Tinder hookup ghosting carousel does not even allow for the courtesy of a “let’s get breakfast” post-hookup ritual.

The problem here is not “sluts.” People have been having “casual sex” since our last common ancestor with bonobos. The problem is not the casual sex, it is “ghosting.” Tribal societies do not allow for “ghosting,” where everyone knows everyone, unless you introduce the concept of rape as a weapon of war. The trauma of being ghosted by Chad after a Tinder hookup is the trauma of war-rape.

This insensitivity to the victims of war-rape is necessary to shock my male audience into understanding how destabilizing modern sexual behavior is for women. Even black women, who originate from a more Dionysian, polyamorous continent, complain about the lack of commitment from men. It is deeply painful for women of all races and cultures to be ghosted.

Thanks to the magic of Instagram and mass social media, it is no longer necessary for a woman to be a “slut” in order to lose her sense of reality and stability. Alienation and rejection can be experienced “vicariously” through e-dating.

Women are inherently political, but in a very different way from men. Women are inherently conservative. This is not to say that they do not long for danger, adventure, and excitement — but these experiences are almost always mediated through their connection to a male love.

Once a woman becomes a mother, she seeks familiarity, certainty, and comfort. This is why women love interior decorating — it is a ritual of self-signaling: “I am ok, I am safe, I am in control.” When you see a woman’s house which is extremely well-decorated, know that she is overcompensating for some kind of trauma in the same way that a middle age man with a Ferrari and a big gun is compensating for trauma.

Men post their Ferraris and guns to social media to scam other men who have similar levels of anxiety over their masculinity. Similarly, women will create entire magazines dedicated to interior decorating to appeal to other women who are anxious about the lack of control their have over their space. The constant anxiety for men is, “Am I dangerous enough? Sexy enough? Strong enough?” The constant anxiety for women is, “Do other women like me? Is my style in fashion? Do these curtains look tacky?” Men seek the approval of other men, women seek the approval of other women.

Two magazines targeted at men’s anxieties and women’s anxieties.

Women, like men, can become anxious at any time, but it tends to get worse with age. Whereas men tend to be anxious about their active abilities (strength, erections, money), women tend to be anxious about their ability to control their environment in a seemingly chaotic and ever-changing world. This is where astrology comes in.

Anxious women consult schizophrenic self-help columns to win back a sense of stability. Whether you believe in astrology or not, women are interested in it for the same reason that men buy dick pills. Both are seeking a relief from the sense that they are “out of touch,” “losing it,” “having a mid-life crisis.” Your dad bought that sports car or boat, while your mom became a certified yoga instructor.

politics as interior decorating.

Incels who pursue politics have similar motivations. The term incel refers to a man who is a romantic failure, but more broadly, it is a pejorative for a whole swath of men who are generally unsuccessful, alienated, and alone. They see politics as representative of what they are missing: power, collectivism, and identity.

A nerd who obsesses over sports doesn’t become strong; a fat guy who watches football doesn’t lose weight; a porn addict doesn’t get laid; and an incel who lives and breathes politics will never impact the world around him.

When you ask me my political opinions, and you try to force me into the label of fascist, conservative, communist, or liberal, you are the same as the astrology girl who gets angry when I refuse to tell her my sign. In both cases, the attachment to weak or even harmful conceptual systems exposes a void in that person’s identity. They have nothing real in their life, and so they cling harder to the simulacra.

I have contempt for this way of life because I hate what it does to people. It is infectious like herpes, disgusting like Ebola, repulsive like a fungus. I see millions of men jacking off to political Only Fans, and I am horrified in post-nut clarity. At least we know porn is fake. These people really believe their own lies!

I love beauty, nature, strength, and health. The more I can be surrounded by beauty, nature, strength, and health, the better. Whatever achieves this is good. Whatever promises this but does not deliver is evil.

My political ideology is about as important as my favorite color, my favorite celebrity, my astrology chart. If you believe in these things, obsess over these things, ask me these things, you are not going to make it. You are my enemy. You’re part of the mass of sheep who want me to participate in a masochistic psychodrama at my expense for the benefit of a few political grifters and e-celebs. You’re in the gutter, you’re drowning in sewage, and you want to drag me down with you. Misery loves company!

Mass politics is a product of democracy. In feudal Europe, no peasant asked another, “how do you think things should be run? What religion should we have? Who should we choose as a leader?” To ask these questions would be mental illness. It is the same today. To promote, profit off, and participate in this is to spread parasites in the minds of the mentally ill masses.

Every political position is a psychological operation. It is a mind virus and a war on your soul. It is the reduction of humanity to ballot boxes. Do you support the blue geriatric boomer or the red geriatric boomer?

Politics is a dirty and vicious game. Few are cut out for it, in the same way that very few people will ever make money gambling, playing the stock market, or trading crypto. Some of it is luck, some of it is connections, and some of it is the willingness to do anything and everything to win.

People born with the mindset necessary to win politically will not be dissuaded by this essay. Their brains are built to reject doubt in any form, so they can single-mindedly pursue victory. These are the only people who will ever actually have an impact on politics. The rest of you are just spectators.

The fact that most people are spectators to politics shouldn’t be a message of despair, but of liberation. Instead of trying to be someone you are not, or getting caught up in someone else’s game, focus on your skills, your accomplishments, your love, hope, dreams, and passions. If politics is not your purpose for living, find what is.