So, I absolutely love everything about this article.
I think what I love about this aesthetic is that it is so unapologetic.
Like, yeah, they want to be hot and don’t care if someone thinks it’s “too much” or déclassé.
I’m probably biased because I grew up on a farm in Iowa but the thing I like about the “Midwest car dealership owner” class is that well many of them are quite wealthy….they aren’t too good to come over for chili and watch the Husker game.
PS- The book Madness Under the Royal Palms is a fascinating look into Palm Beach 🏝️
This was a good one, chuckled at the Ole Miss reference because I've been at Ole Miss in the Grove surrounded by Trumpers and it is the vibe.
I do think the MAGA coalition won't hold and will prove as unstable as the Obama coalition if not worse in some ways. I also believe some of what is happening is just the mass of the population learning how to have relationships on social media and how to use or how they are used by the algorithms. People didn't like being scolded online as it has had more and more real world consequences . It might be that we are seeing a mass adjustment to a new thing, like a massive immigrant wave might have required some adjustments in the last century which has cultural and political implications.
Chess, most interestingly, is fascinating in its capacity to enable the study of cross-cultural hierarchies in a nascently multicultural setup. What I mean by this is, if we compare any two players from different, entirely bifurcated tournament rings and figure out what the win probability is for one against the other, their ELO scores basically enable us to know the win probabilities of just about everyone on the servers. Well, maybe you need a few more measurements to get the standard deviation or skill expression, but in theory, even a single measurement should provide you a significant amount of information.
I mention this because, as you can see, and it's exemplified quite well in Trump World, there are different aesthetic sensibilities pursued by Americans in different social milieus. The RFK musculature but questionable skin health and gravely voice would be completely out of place in academia and the more refined presentation on old-school Wall Street types is antithetical to the visible plastic surgery or tan product usage in the Fox News sphere. What the Trump parade does, however, capture is that all these people do succeed in, or almost succeed in, apotheosizing the aesthetics of their respective constituencies, all of which coincidentally have a place in the Trump coalition.
It's yet another way Trump is disintermediating the legacy media. Aesthetics is a way to cut through selective editing and bad faith questions... especially when you still have all the Boomers that watch the nightly network news shows.
This also raises the question of how the "greater 2010's" will potentially age. Assuming Trump is successful in establishing a new cultural equilibrium a la Reagan, the "2010's" (really late Obama to Biden COVID era) could become a retrospective cultural black hole on par with the mid to late 70's.
Kash Patel is a good example of your heteronormative-but-inclusive, multiracial whiteness concept. He fit the masculinist aesthetic more than Vivek Ramaswamy and so survived the first round of purges.
Tom Homan is another iconic figure just for his ‘skullcrusher’ aesthetics: imposing build, icy stare, military and merciless vibes.
I hate Trump and MAGA in general, but, good piece. The irony of the MAGA aesthetic being perhaps the one closest to what America signifies explains a lot.
One more thought: this aesthetic used to have its home on the left- JFK, even Bill Clinton were considered handsome by female voters, and Democrats had plenty of celebs who were more than comfortable being attractive for the hell of it. The right has SNL-church lady types and weirdo accountant looking types.
Don't be fooled by the esthetics, the cosmetics, the Image manipulation: it's all window dressing. Stage Magic. Pay close attention to the substance--the power moves of the Policies. If Donald Trump had a sincere interest in being vindicated on his claims of having the 2020 election stolen from him by fraud, he'd be emphasizing nonpartisan inquiry and insisting on transparency. But Trump isn't doing that. He's firing anyone who has done any investigative work on any of those cases, and he's apparently intending to replace those career professionals with flunkies of his own choosing. Which is to say that Trump is acting like a guilty criminal trying to muddy up--and possibly even damage--any evidence that undercuts his claims of an intentional plot within the FBI and the Department of Justice to deny him an election victory in 2020.
Good article, but what is one to do if one is a Trump supporter who isn't a jock, model, or nerd? Just watch from the sidelines? Plenty of dull, fat, and even ugly (MTG) people in the Trump coalition, for instance.
Seems like above all else, Trump values loyalty and ass-kissing, though. You can be a past renegade, like JD was, just so long as you grovel on your knees, beg Trump's forgiveness, and thoroughly lick Trump's ass this time around. A jock, model, or nerd who doesn't lick and suck Trump's ass probably wouldn't be welcomed in the Trump coalition.
If you want to see an example of how Trump, or at least his supporters, treat an attractive person who stands in their way, just take a look at what happened to Officer Caroline Edwards:
Neither of these men can grow a beard, and between them they must have a metric ton of Botox. Anyone who thinks *this* is the image of masculinity needs a father figure and a hug.
So, I absolutely love everything about this article.
I think what I love about this aesthetic is that it is so unapologetic.
Like, yeah, they want to be hot and don’t care if someone thinks it’s “too much” or déclassé.
I’m probably biased because I grew up on a farm in Iowa but the thing I like about the “Midwest car dealership owner” class is that well many of them are quite wealthy….they aren’t too good to come over for chili and watch the Husker game.
PS- The book Madness Under the Royal Palms is a fascinating look into Palm Beach 🏝️
Totally. I’ll check out that book — thanks.
This was a good one, chuckled at the Ole Miss reference because I've been at Ole Miss in the Grove surrounded by Trumpers and it is the vibe.
I do think the MAGA coalition won't hold and will prove as unstable as the Obama coalition if not worse in some ways. I also believe some of what is happening is just the mass of the population learning how to have relationships on social media and how to use or how they are used by the algorithms. People didn't like being scolded online as it has had more and more real world consequences . It might be that we are seeing a mass adjustment to a new thing, like a massive immigrant wave might have required some adjustments in the last century which has cultural and political implications.
Chess, most interestingly, is fascinating in its capacity to enable the study of cross-cultural hierarchies in a nascently multicultural setup. What I mean by this is, if we compare any two players from different, entirely bifurcated tournament rings and figure out what the win probability is for one against the other, their ELO scores basically enable us to know the win probabilities of just about everyone on the servers. Well, maybe you need a few more measurements to get the standard deviation or skill expression, but in theory, even a single measurement should provide you a significant amount of information.
I mention this because, as you can see, and it's exemplified quite well in Trump World, there are different aesthetic sensibilities pursued by Americans in different social milieus. The RFK musculature but questionable skin health and gravely voice would be completely out of place in academia and the more refined presentation on old-school Wall Street types is antithetical to the visible plastic surgery or tan product usage in the Fox News sphere. What the Trump parade does, however, capture is that all these people do succeed in, or almost succeed in, apotheosizing the aesthetics of their respective constituencies, all of which coincidentally have a place in the Trump coalition.
Brilliant observation.
Man, love this topic. Great read!
Thanks Joel, it was fun to write. Just decided to let er rip.
It's yet another way Trump is disintermediating the legacy media. Aesthetics is a way to cut through selective editing and bad faith questions... especially when you still have all the Boomers that watch the nightly network news shows.
This also raises the question of how the "greater 2010's" will potentially age. Assuming Trump is successful in establishing a new cultural equilibrium a la Reagan, the "2010's" (really late Obama to Biden COVID era) could become a retrospective cultural black hole on par with the mid to late 70's.
Good piece.
Kash Patel is a good example of your heteronormative-but-inclusive, multiracial whiteness concept. He fit the masculinist aesthetic more than Vivek Ramaswamy and so survived the first round of purges.
Tom Homan is another iconic figure just for his ‘skullcrusher’ aesthetics: imposing build, icy stare, military and merciless vibes.
Absolutely. Homan has notable Nebraska-90s-Oline physiognomy. https://www.volumepigs.com/p/make-farm-ball-great-again
I hate Trump and MAGA in general, but, good piece. The irony of the MAGA aesthetic being perhaps the one closest to what America signifies explains a lot.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Last thought: would the shift still have happened, ironically, if Kamala won? She is, after all, a conventionally attractive woman.
No, the vibe shift definitely would not have happened under Harris. It would’ve gotten worse (I say this as someone who voted for her)
One more thought: this aesthetic used to have its home on the left- JFK, even Bill Clinton were considered handsome by female voters, and Democrats had plenty of celebs who were more than comfortable being attractive for the hell of it. The right has SNL-church lady types and weirdo accountant looking types.
What happened?
Don't be fooled by the esthetics, the cosmetics, the Image manipulation: it's all window dressing. Stage Magic. Pay close attention to the substance--the power moves of the Policies. If Donald Trump had a sincere interest in being vindicated on his claims of having the 2020 election stolen from him by fraud, he'd be emphasizing nonpartisan inquiry and insisting on transparency. But Trump isn't doing that. He's firing anyone who has done any investigative work on any of those cases, and he's apparently intending to replace those career professionals with flunkies of his own choosing. Which is to say that Trump is acting like a guilty criminal trying to muddy up--and possibly even damage--any evidence that undercuts his claims of an intentional plot within the FBI and the Department of Justice to deny him an election victory in 2020.
Yes — Trump uses his aesthetic finesse to distract from his bad behavior.
Good article, but what is one to do if one is a Trump supporter who isn't a jock, model, or nerd? Just watch from the sidelines? Plenty of dull, fat, and even ugly (MTG) people in the Trump coalition, for instance.
Seems like above all else, Trump values loyalty and ass-kissing, though. You can be a past renegade, like JD was, just so long as you grovel on your knees, beg Trump's forgiveness, and thoroughly lick Trump's ass this time around. A jock, model, or nerd who doesn't lick and suck Trump's ass probably wouldn't be welcomed in the Trump coalition.
If you want to see an example of how Trump, or at least his supporters, treat an attractive person who stands in their way, just take a look at what happened to Officer Caroline Edwards:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Edwards
With guys like Josiah lippincott and captive dreamer.
I doubt Trumpism can last longer than trumps term.
https://open.substack.com/pub/benthams/p/some-people-are-just-evil-and-their?r=3otlpe&utm_medium=ios
Neither of these men can grow a beard, and between them they must have a metric ton of Botox. Anyone who thinks *this* is the image of masculinity needs a father figure and a hug.
It's very satisfying to see good looking, well-groomed people again.
And tell your friend I'll take the good-looking midwestern car dealer men. They're hawt.
This seems incredibly shallow. Let's see results. So far, they are pretty stunning.
It’s an article on aesthetics. Go complain about the wetness of water.
Jesus Christ, that’s what RFK looks like without his shirt on!?
Usha won’t be on the cover of Vogue and we all know why.
Why, because she's part of the Trump admin - or something else? I can see the media making her the one acceptable figure in that respect. Vogue's already written favorably about her https://www.vogue.com/article/4-things-to-know-about-usha-vance